Decision making in agriculture and insurance as a risk management tool

Business or any other activity in agriculture is at higher risk comparing with other sectors. Accordingly, agricultural risk is associated with negative outcomes stemming from imperfectly predictable biological and climatic variables. These variables include natural adversities (for example, pests and diseases); climatic factors are not within the control of agricultural producers. So in agriculture it is very important to identify, evaluate and manage risk, only then decisions made in a farm will bring profit and other positive results. Consequently, this article presents the main steps for making effective decisions in agriculture. Secondly, it introduces one of the most effective risk management tools – insurance. This article presents insurance types and systems, their advantages and disadvantages. And, finally, it illustrates how the scenario analysis method for making decisions in agriculture can be used. The main advantage of the scenario analysis method is that it can evaluate qualitative and quantitative information. Using the scenario analysis method, it is possible not only to evaluate each risk or group of risks, but also to evaluate the performance of management tools and to decide which insur-ance type is the most useful. Key words: decision making, agriculture risk, insurance, scenario analysis metho