Initial supertyphoon damage to crops at P138M

Residents walk by debris on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, a day after powerful Typhoon Yolanda (international name: “Haiyan”) slammed into Tacloban city, Leyte province. Yolanda has destroyed a total of P138.6 million worth of crops in the Bicol and Mimaropa regions, according to preliminary data from the Department of Agriculture. AP PHOTO/AARON FAVILA

MANILA, Philippines—Supertyphoon “Yolanda” has destroyed a total of P138.6 million worth of crops in the Bicol and Mimaropa regions, according to preliminary data from the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Monitoring by the DA’s field units showed that as of Nov. 9, Yolanda laid waste to a total of 9,857 metric tons (MT) of rice, corn and high-value crops on some 5,500 hectares of farmland.

Of the damage to crops, around 90 percent consisted of 8,817 MT of palay worth P124.1 million. The Bicol region alone lost a total of P89.2-million worth of palay.

Worst hit was Camarines Sur with 4,495 MT, or P60.9-million lost. In terms of potential palay harvest, Sorsogon lost P23.2 million; Masbate, P4.8 million; and Albay, around P316,000.

In the Mimaropa region, Yolanda destroyed P34 million worth of palay from Occidental Mindoro and P893,000 from Oriental Mindoro.

Also, the supertyphoon flattened a total of P9.3 million, or 435 MT, of high-value crops in Masbate, Camarines Sur and Oriental Mindoro.—Ronnel W. Domingo