‘Egay’ damage to farms balloons to P512.9 million

INUNDATED Farms planted to rice in Oriental Mindoro were not spared from the floods spawned by heavy rain brought by Typhoon “Egay.” —Photo from Mdrrmo Bulalacao facebook page

Agriculture damage wrought by Typhoon “Egay” (international name: “Doksuri”) has ballooned to P512.9 million as of Friday, from only P62 million previously reported even as the typhoon already exited the Philippine area of responsibility, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

In its latest bulletin, the DA said Egay affected 51,926 farmers from the earlier reported 3,679.The DA estimated the volume of production loss at 19,488 metric tons (MT) spanning 58,104 hectares of agricultural areas.

“The increase is due to the updated reports from Ilocos Region and Mimaropa, and additional reports from Cagayan Valley and Western Visayas,” the agency said.

The affected commodities include rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock and poultry. The agency is expected to record additional losses in the sector due to the typhoon as it assessed reports on the ground.

Corn took the biggest hit with P358.4 million, accounting for more than half of the total losses. The volume loss is pegged at 14,990 MT covering 39,825 hectares.

Rice came second with P152.5 million. Livestock and poultry as well as high-value crops sustained damage worth P1.6 million and P366,000, respectively.

The sectors hit due to the typhoon, which ravaged certain parts of the country in the last few days, was higher than the P53.1 million recorded on Thursday wherein 2,303 farmers and fishers were affected at that time.

Likewise, the amount was higher than P50.84 million worth of damage caused by Tropical Depression “Amang” in April.

Losses from Egay lower

Egay’s impact on the industry, however, was lower than the P1.3 billion in losses brought about by the combination of low pressure area, Intertropical Convergence Zone, shear line and northeast monsoon (amihan) that hit the farm sector early this year.

In Metro Manila, locally produced rice is priced at P37 to P60 per kilogram as of Friday, slightly lower than P38 to P50 per kg in the same period a year ago, according to the DA’s price monitoring.

Imported rice is being sold at P42 to P58 per kg compared with P38 to P59 per kg last year. Imported regular milled rice is unavailable.

Tilapia prices ranged from P105 to P160 per kg from last year’s P120 per kg while milkfish (bangus) is sold at P140 to P240 per kg from P160 per kg.

A kilo of local round scad is retailed from P220 to P260 compared to P240 the previous year.Imported round scad, available only in Guadalupe Market, is sold for P200 per kg.

The DA earlier said the Department of Budget and Management added P1 billion to the quick response fund to provide support to affected farmers and fisherfolk. INQ

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