Case Study
Late Blight disease in Potato
Background
Late Blight is a lethal potato disease. In 2006 PepsiCo contract farmers lost 60 % of their crops due to this bane. It was difficult to extend cover under existing Crop Insurance programs due to moral hazard.
What We Did
- Analyzed & found high correlations between location, humidity, and temperature.
- Created an index to cover blight risk specific to the region.
- Installed weather stations to minimize basic risk; critical for extending this kind of cover
Impact
- Successfully ran the project for 10+ years
- Covered 10000+ potato farmers
- Enabled risk-free investment of small & marginal farmers in smart technology
- Demonstrated how insurance can be used by contract farming companies to sustain their farmer base