Typhoons leave P1.8 billion damage to agriculture

MANILA, Philippines — Damage to agriculture in areas hit by recent typhoons climbed to P1.8 billion with the crop industry having the largest amount of losses, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said over the weekend.

A report from the DA-disaster risk reduction and management operation center showed that typhoons Henry, Inday and Josie left P1.79 billion worth of damage to rice, high-value crops, livestock and fisheries.

Among the crops, rice incurred the largest amount of losses at P1.41 billion, covering 97,016 hectares or about 20,242 metric tons (MT).

It affected 51,834 farmers in the Ilocos region, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog and Western Visayas.

Seedbeds were also affected as the typhoons destroyed and washed out 6,983 bags of rice.

Central Luzon was the most affected region in terms of damage to rice production at P771 million.

Pangasinan’s P493 million in losses in rice production were the largest in the region.

Damage to the fishery sector and its facilities reached P236 million and affected 1,731 fishers, most of whom are in Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Central Luzon and the Cordilleras.

High-value crops such as coffee, oil and coconuts incurred P74 million worth of damage, covering 759 hectares of plantations.

Losses in corn production reached P61 million and affected 1,847 hectares in Bataan, Negros Occidental, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac and Zambales, or an estimated production volume loss of 4,350 MT.

The livestock industry incurred P4 million in losses, particularly those in Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan.

The DA committed P180 million worth of interventions for the rehabilitation of damaged farms and fishery areas.

It has released 32,000 bags of certified and hybrid seeds and 100 bags of corn seeds for the affected farmers.

The agency said it is ready to extend loans and financial assistance to farmers.