Julian damage to agriculture now at P607M

WASHED OUT A temporary bridge connecting Barangay Nalasin to the town center of Solsona in Ilocos Norte is destroyed by floodwaters caused by heavy rains dumped by Supertyphoon Julian on Monday. —Photo from Alfonso Jeziel de los Reyes/contributor

MANILA, Philippines — The damage to the country’s farm sector due to Supertyphoon Julian (international name: Krathon) has reached P607.38 million based on the bulletin issued by the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday.

The figure was 10.1 percent more than the P551.81 million reported by the DA on Oct. 4.

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The number of affected farmers in the Cordillera, Cagayan Valley, and Ilocos regions numbered 33,110, while 25,407 metric tons of agricultural commodities were damaged, spanning 17,344 hectares of land.

Rice accounted for most of the damage at 70 percent or P427.65 million of the total. Infrastructure was next at P100 million, of which P92.68 million were irrigation facilities. —Jordeene B. Lagare