Crop damage estimate from Rolly upgraded to P5.79B
AGRICULTURAL DAMAGE caused by Typhoon Rolly (international name: Goni) was estimated at P5.79 billion, against the previous estimate of P5.01 billion, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In a bulletin, the DA said the typhoon affected 48,682 farmers across 127,298 hectares of farmland. Lost agricultural output amounted to 177,091 metric tons (MT).
Farm losses have been reported in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Central Luzon, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon (Calabarzon), Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan (Mimaropa), Bicol, and Eastern Visayas.
Affected commodities include rice, corn, high-value crops such as abaca and coconut, livestock, and agricultural facilities.
Losses to high-value crops amounted to P2.05 billion, with 97,130 MT of lost production volume. Some 11,218 hectares were affected.
Damage to rice amounted to P1.18 billion, equivalent to 64,254 MT of lost produce, affecting 23,009 hectares of farmland.
Losses to the abaca crop were reckoned at P1.02 billion, with 12,918 MT in lost production across 39,790 hectares.
Other damage estimates were: coconut P569.81 million, agricultural facilities P516.58 million, fisheries P341.32 million, corn P63.55 million, livestock P49.18 million, and agricultural machinery P875,000.
Combined with Typhoon Quinta (international name: Molave), which preceded Rolly and caused P2.66 billion worth of losses, total agricultural damage has been valued at P8.46 billion.
The two typhoons affected 106,540 farmers and damaged 223,772 hectares of farmland.
However, the totals are set to increase as losses from the most recent storm, Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco), have yet to be validated.
As of Thursday morning, the DA said it has not yet received any reports of agricultural damage and is awaiting updates from its regional field offices.
According to the DA, rice production areas damaged by Quinta and Rolly amount to 106,833 hectares.
Some 76.44% or 81,663 hectares were planted during the 2020 wet season, while the remaining 23.56% or 25,170 hectares were due for harvest in the 2021 dry season.
“Furthermore, Quinta and Rolly caused a combined volume production loss of 176,249 MT for palay (unmilled rice), which amounts to 2.10% of the fourth quarter projected palay production of 8.40 million MT,” the DA said in the bulletin. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
