FARM damage caused by the southwest monsoon, enhanced by Typhoon Fabian (international name: In-Fa) rose to P615.72 million from the prior estimate of P533.54 million, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
In a July 29 bulletin, the DA’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center said those affected totaled 24,596 farmers and 30,916 hectares of farmland in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), Bicol and the Western Visayas.
“The volume of production loss is at 9,777 metric tons (MT). Affected commodities include rice, corn, high value crops, livestock and poultry, fisheries, and agri-infrastructure. Likewise, other affected regions are also conducting their validation of damage and losses,” the DA said.
Losses to rice amounted to P502.6 million, with 7,726 MT of lost production volume and 29,052 hectares of affected farmland.
Damage to corn hit P38.41 million. Some 1,332 MT of production volume was lost while 580 hectares of farmland sustained damage.
Losses to high-value crops were estimated at P47.85 million, with 719 MT in lost volume lost and 1,288 hectares affected.
Damage to fisheries amounted to P14.17 million while losses to agricultural facilities totaled P9.50 million, and to livestock and poultry P3.16 million. – Revin Mikhael D. Ochave