Measures of Efficiency of Agricultural Insurance in Italy, Economic Evaluations

Risk management policy in agriculture has become particularly prominent nowadays, considering the evolution of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and climate change. Moreover, the Word Trade Organization places constraints on it. In this context, (1) the aim is to analyze the causes of the loss of effectiveness of the Italian insurance system, unable to deal with the specific coverage demand from agriculture. (2) The analysis is carried out through the economic evaluation of convenience in adhering to the instruments offered by the insurance market to winegrowers in the Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin (DOCG) area of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene. (3) The study highlights that the subsidized coverage alone is not the most adequate measure of agricultural policy. Adhering to preferential programs implies the drafting of a supplementary insurance policy to minimize the loss function. (4) The current insurance system impasse demonstrates that the producer hardly accepts to policies which do not convert into an immediate income benefit. The European risk management regulation confirms its limits in terms of usefulness and efficiency of the agrarian policy. (5) The prediction of probabilistic increase of severe-weather patterns makes the search for innovative risk assessment models more urgent, models which can combine the different needs of stakeholders: farmers, insurance companies, and society.