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
MANILA, Philippines — Damage to the agriculture sector caused byTyphoon Egay (international name: Doksuri) has reached over P1.5 billion, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Sunday.
In its 2:00 p.m. bulletin, the DA-Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM), the damage and losses due to the typhoon climbed from P1.36 billion on July 29 to P1.54 billion on July 30.
The report revealed that affected farmers and fisherfolk likewise increased to 99,272 farmers.
The typhoon damaged plantations of rice, corn, other high-value crops, livestock and poultry, and fisheries with a volume of production loss of 66,075 metric tons, spanning 110,086 hectares of agricultural land.
“These values are subject to validation. Additional damage and losses are expected in areas affected by the continuous rain and strong winds brought by Egay,” the DA said.
Its regional field offices, the Da added, are continuously assessing the impact of Egay in the crop and fishery sector and have coordinated with local government units and other DRRM-related offices.
Among the resources / assistance packages made accessible by DA to affected farmers and fisherfolk are the following:
- 111,873 bags of rice seeds
- 14,426 bags of corn seeds and 2,582 kilograms of assorted vegetable seeds
- Drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry
- Fingerlings assistance to affected fisherfolk
- Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program
- P500 million worth of Quick Response Fund (QRF) for rehabilitating affected areas