TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Fubon Property and Casualty Insurance has launched a “banana plant crop” insurance scheme in cooperation with the Executive Yuan’s Council of Agriculture (COA).

The scheme will ensure protection for farmers in Kaohsiung and Pingtung, where plantations are regularly damaged during Taiwan’s typhoon season. It utilizes drone technology to survey crops; a first for the insurance company, the Liberty Times reports.

Farmers can apply for the scheme from now until May 31. 50 percent of the costs are covered by the COA, and for farmers in Pingtung, a further 25 percent is subsidized by the local county council.

Legislator Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) called on banana farmer to join the scheme during a launch meeting today (Friday, April 19).

The program has been tailor-made for banana farmers in Taiwan, Fubon Property and Casualty Insurance said. Once a typhoon warning is issued and any local weather station reports wind speeds of over 17.2 meters per second, the survey procedure is immediately initiated.

Aerial photographs will be taken, and claim potential can be interpreted in cooperation with experts at the Agricultural Research Institute, Fubon said.

The premium is around NT$42,000 per hectare, said Fubon, and there is no limit to the number of claims allowed during the insurance period.