Agricultural damage from Fabian, monsoon climbs to P533.5M

DAMAGE to agricultural production resulting from the southwest monsoon enhanced by typhoon Fabian (international name: In-Fa) has increased to P533.54 million from the previous estimate of P285.73 million, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.

The DA’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center said the volume of production loss is currently estimated at 9,511 metric tons (MT).

The rains also affected 22,516 farmers and 30,926 hectares of agricultural areas across the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), Bicol Region, and Western Visayas.

“Affected commodities include rice, corn, high value crops and livestock. These values are still subject to validation,” the DA said in the bulletin.

Losses for rice reached P489.03 million, with 7,890 MT of production volume lost and 29,206 hectares of agricultural lands affected.

Damage to corn was valued at P26.06 million. Production volume loss reached 986 MT while 468 hectares of farmlands were affected.

Losses to high-value crops amounted to P18.16 million. A total of 635 MT of production volume were lost while 1,252 hectares of agricultural areas were damaged.

Livestock and poultry losses reached P287,610. Production volume loss included 97 heads consisting of swine, duck, and chicken.

Meanwhile, the DA announced that the movement of agricultural produce remains uninterrupted as there were no reported damage to road networks and bridges in affected regions.

“The DA, through its regional field offices, is conducting further assessment and validation of damage and losses brought by the southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Fabian in the agri-fisheries sector,” the bulletin said.

“Moreover, the DA is in close coordination with concerned national government agencies, local government units and other concerned offices for the impact of the southwest monsoon, as well as available resources for interventions and assistance,” it added. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave