Egay’s damage to agriculture exceeds P3 billion

DELUGE IN THE NORTH Torrential rains and gusty winds whipped up by Typhoon “Egay” (international name: Doksuri) left a trail of destruction across northern Luzon. In La Trinidad, Benguet, a stretch of Pines Park Diversion Road has gone underwater and the province is “in dire need of help,” according to Benguet Representative Eric Yap. (Photo from La Trinidad municipal government)

MANILA, Philippines — The damage wrought by typhoon Egay (international name: Doksuri) on the country’s crop and fishery sectors has climbed to P3.17 billion.

Based on the 2 p.m. bulletin of Department of Agriculture – Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM), Egay has affected 146,260 farmers.

The farm workers are in Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), Western Visayas, Soccsksargen (Cotabato, Sarangani, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat, General Santos City), and Caraga.

The department reported that ruined commodities include rice, corn, livestock, poultry, and fisheries.

“Damage and losses in rice amounted to P1.34 billion with the affected area of 98,887 hectares (ha) and volume of production loss at 38,917 metric tons (MT) or 0.20 percent of the total annual production target volume for rice at 19.76M MT,” DA said.

“For corn, the damage amounted to P1.03 billion with an affected area of 70,003 ha and volume of production loss at 55,513 MT or 0.60 percent of the total annual production target volume for corn at 9.30M MT,” it added.

Total damage is expected to go up, as DA’s regional field offices are assessing Egay’s impact on the two agricultural sectors.

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