DA won’t lower targets despite ‘Sendong’ damage

TACLOBAN CITY—Floods brought by Tropical Storm “Sendong” destroyed at least P11 million worth of palay in Leyte, but regional officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said the damage would barely make a dent on the projected palay production of the province.

Rufino Ayaso, regional agriculture operations officer, said farms in 10 towns in Leyte had been flooded when Sendong struck, destroying palay in 2,733 hectares of the province’s 57,000 ha of rice fields.

The palay, he said, were in their vegetative stage, or had just been planted.

The floods, however, brought losses to at least 2,593 farmers in the towns of Tanauan, Carigara, Capoocan, Dagami, Dulag, Jaro, Julita, Mayorga, Tabon-tabon and Javier.