RETAKEN The Candaba swamp, which farmers turned into rice fields, regains its lost territory below the Candaba Viaduct Bridge in Pampanga. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — The agriculture sector has so far sustained the largest loss this year after Typhoon Egay (international name: Doksuri) wiped out P4.47 billion worth of commodities, although the typhoon-ravaged parts of the Philippines for less than a week.
In a report, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said the weather disturbance affected 170,510 farmers and fishers with the total volume of production loss pegged at 152,041 metric tons covering 195,539 hectares of agricultural areas.
The death toll caused by Egay rose to 29, 14 of which were from the Cordillera Administrative, including the two newly reported deaths, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in its report on Friday.
Egay dealt a fatal blow to rice and corn. Aside from high-value crops, livestock and poultry and fisheries, irrigation systems, agricultural and fishery infrastructures, and fishing paraphernalia were likewise affected.
Rice incurred P1.75 billion in losses with the affected area at 111,547 ha and the volume of production loss at 42,754 MT. This is equivalent to 0.21 percent of the total annual production target volume for rice at 19.76 million MT.
In the case of corn, damage totaled P1.74 billion, affecting 95,658 MT of produce on 81,998 ha of land. This represents 1.03 percent of the total annual production target volume for corn at 9.30 million MT.
DA assistance
The typhoon hit infrastructure amounting to P354.92 million; high-value crops, P296.58 million; fisheries, P175.39 million; and livestock and poultry, P154.27 million.
Affected regions are the Cordillera, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Soccsksargen and Caraga. Egay’s impact on the sector is significantly higher than the P50.84 million worth of damage caused by Tropical Depression Amang in April.
Meanwhile, the DA has prepared assistance for distribution to affected farmers and fishers, including P65.3 million worth of rice seeds and fertilizers and P94.7 million worth of corn seeds and pesticides.
It is providing assorted vegetable seeds amounting to P39.6 million as well as tilapia, carp, and catfish fingerlings totaling P62,000.
The DA is also giving P1.9 million for the repair and maintenance of damaged motorized boats.
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