Paeng damage to agri sector hits P3.4B

The town of Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte was submerged in a deep flood due to the wrath of Tropical Storm Paeng (international name: Nalgae).

The essential farm sector continues to reel from the impact of Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” (international name: Nalgae) as the amount of recorded losses keeps on increasing.

In a report, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that agricultural damage was at P3.41 billion as of Tuesday, up from the P3.16 billion reported on Saturday.

READ: Infrastructure damage due to Paeng exceeds P4.5 billion — NDRRMC

Paeng affected 89,142 farmers and fishers in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Central Mindanao and Soccsksargen.

The volume of production loss was estimated at 207,854 metric tons spanning 89,011 hectares of land.

“Affected commodities include rice, corn, high-value crops, fisheries, livestock and poultry. Damage has also been incurred in agricultural infrastructures, machineries and equipment,” the DA said.

Paeng’s impact on the essential sector eclipsed the P3.12 billion in losses wrought by Supertyphoon “Karding” in September and the P1.13 billion worth of damage left by Severe Tropical Storm “Florita” in August.

It also surpassed the P594.02 million in damage reported earlier following the onslaught of Tropical Depression “Maymay” and Typhoon “Neneng.”

Rice damaged most

Rice accounted for more than 60 percent of the accounted damage at P2.05 billion, followed by high-value crops at P717.68 million.The DA said it was continuously coordinating with the national government, affected local government units and other disaster risk reduction and management-related offices on the impact of the tropical cyclones, as well as available resources for interventions and assistance.

It added that it was ready to distribute P1.74 billion worth of rice seeds, P11.57 million worth of corn seeds and P20.01 million worth of assorted vegetable seeds, on top of P176,000 worth of animal heads, drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has also allotted P30 million for the repair or replacement of damaged fishing boats.

The Quick Response Fund and P400 million from the Survival and Recovery Loan Program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council can be tapped as well, with a loanable amount of up to P25,000 payable in three years at zero interest. INQ