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Insuring crops from space: the potential of satellite-retrieved soil moisture to reduce farmers’ drought risk exposure

Author

Listed:
  • Willemijn Vroege
  • Janic Bucheli
  • Tobias Dalhaus
  • Martin Hirschi
  • Robert Finger

Abstract

Crop producers face significant and increasing drought risks. We evaluate whether insurances based on globally and freely available satellite-retrieved soil moisture data can reduce farms’ financial drought risk exposure. We design farm individual soil moisture index insurances for wheat, maize and rapeseed production using a case study for Eastern Germany. We find that the satellite-retrieved soil moisture index insurances significantly decrease risk exposure for these crops compared to the situation where production is not insured. The satellite-retrieved index also outperforms one based on soil moisture estimates derived from meteorological measurements at ground stations. Important implications for insurers and policy makers are that they could and should develop better suited insurances. Available satellite-retrieved data can be used to increase farmers’ resilience in a changing climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Willemijn Vroege & Janic Bucheli & Tobias Dalhaus & Martin Hirschi & Robert Finger, 2021. "Insuring crops from space: the potential of satellite-retrieved soil moisture to reduce farmers’ drought risk exposure," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(2), pages 266-314.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:erevae:v:48:y:2021:i:2:p:266-314.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/erae/jbab010
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mengmeng Qiang & Manhong Shen & Guanjun Xia, 2023. "The effectiveness of weather index insurance in managing mariculture production risk," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(2), pages 245-262, April.
    2. Tappi, Marco & Nardone, Gianluca & Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano, 2022. "On the relationships among durum wheat yields and weather conditions: evidence from Apulia region, Southern Italy," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 11(2), July.
    3. Bucheli, Janic & Dalhaus, Tobias & Finger, Robert, 2022. "Temperature effects on crop yields in heat index insurance," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Nordmeyer, Eike Florenz & Danne, Michael & Musshoff, Oliver, 2023. "Can satellite-retrieved data increase farmers' willingness to insure against drought? – Insights from Germany," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    5. Schmidt, Lorenz & Odening, Martin & Schlanstein, Johann & Ritter, Matthias, 2021. "Estimation of the Farm-Level Yield-Weather-Relation Using Machine Learning," 61st Annual Conference, Berlin, Germany, September 22-24, 2021 317075, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    6. Wanglin Ma & Hongyun Zheng & Peng Yuan, 2022. "Impacts of cooperative membership on banana yield and risk exposure: Insights from China," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 564-579, June.
    7. Robert Finger & Nadja El Benni, 2021. "Farm income in European agriculture: new perspectives on measurement and implications for policy evaluation," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(2), pages 253-265.
    8. Matthieu Stigler & David Lobell, 2021. "Optimal index insurance and basis risk decomposition: an application to Kenya," Papers 2111.08601, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2023.
    9. Martínez-Salgueiro, Andrea & Tarrazón-Rodón, María-Antonia, 2020. "Is diversification effective in reducing the systemic risk implied by a market for weather index-based insurance in Spain?," MPRA Paper 119924, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 May 2021.
    10. Nordmeyer, Eike Florenz, 2023. "German farmers' perceived usefulness of satellite-based index insurance - Insights from a transtheoretical model," 97th Annual Conference, March 27-29, 2023, Warwick University, Coventry, UK 334557, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    11. Schmitt, Jonas & Offermann, Frank & Söder, Mareike & Frühauf, Cathleen & Finger, Robert, 2022. "Extreme weather events cause significant crop yield losses at the farm level in German agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. Schmidt, Lorenz & Odening, Martin & Schlanstein, Johann & Ritter, Matthias, 2022. "Exploring the weather-yield nexus with artificial neural networks," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

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