SUBMERGED Rice fields in Candaba, Pampanga, are flooded due to rains dumped by Typhoons “Egay” and “Falcon” in July. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
The country’s farm sector continues to reel from the aftermath of Typhoon “Goring” (international name: Saola), which hit the country last month, as losses surged to P1.14 billion as of Wednesday.
In its latest bulletin, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said the typhoon had affected 35,006 farmers in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Western Visayas regions.
The volume of production loss due to heavy rains and floods was pegged at 51,283 metric tons on 44,928 hectares of agricultural land. It is uncertain whether the agriculture sector’s losses due to the recent weather disturbance will reach or come close to the P4.6 billion in damage caused by Typhoons “Egay” (Doksuri) and “Falcon” (Khanun) in July, as the DA is still assessing the impact of Goring on the sector.
Yet, it already exceeded the P1.3-billion worth of losses brought about by the combined impact of the low pressure area, intertropical convergence zone, shear line and northeast monsoon (“amihan”) on the farm sector early this year.Rice accounted for 85.7 percent of the total losses with P979.42 million. The typhoon wiped out 41,238 MT of crops spanning 38,949 ha of land.
Corn came in second with 13 percent, valued at P148.06 million. This covers 9,723 MT planted on 5,911 ha of land.
The DA noted that most of the damaged rice and corn were in the reproductive and maturity stages.
Other typhoon-affected commodities include high-value crops (P12.5 million) and livestock and poultry (P2.59 million).The DA is prepared to distribute P100-million worth of rice, corn and assorted vegetable seeds, as well as drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry.
Farmers, it said, may tap funding from the DA’s Quick Response Fund for the rehabilitation of affected areas.
The Agricultural Credit Policy Council, through its Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program, is offering a loan of up to P25,000 to farmers payable in three years at zero interest.
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