AGRICULTURAL DAMAGES and losses incurred by regions affected by tropical storms Urduja and Vinta amounted to P1.24 billion, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported on Thursday.

Estimated volume of production lost from both storms reached 28,737 metric tons (MT) and affected 58,876 hectares (ha) in the regions IV-A, V, VII, IX, XI, XII, and XIII as of Thursday morning, a report released by the DA said.

Of the affected commodities, rice took the biggest hit, next to high value crops, corn, cassava, and livestock.

A total of 6,048 MT of rice, worth P609.29 million was lost during the typhoon, affecting 31,749 farmers and covering 50,793 hectares. High value crops posting

P443.92 billion or 18,322 MT in losses, affecting 2,141 hectares of 5,915 farmers.

Corn took the third-largest hit, costing 1,895 farmers a total of P103.74 million or 4,261 MT in losses. Total affected area for corn reached 5,734 hectares.

Cassava took the least hit, losing 106 MT and costing 571 farmers a total of P5.44 million.

The value of damages for agri-infrastructure facilities also went up to P73.95 million, cranked up by the damaged diversion dams, the research and experiment stations, and fishery facilities in Region VIII.

LOSSES FROM URDUJA
As of Thursday morning, DA reported that the damage caused by Urduja reached P1 billion, affecting 39,636 ha with an estimated production volume loss of 23,934 MT.

“The decrease in the values are attributed to the validation done on the ground by Region VIII, specifically on rice and cassava areas,” it read.

No changes were reported for rice losses, which reached 5,393 MT worth P471.93 million due to Urduja. Likewise, corn, which account for P13.12 million of the damages, also remained the same.

There was an increase, however on the value of losses from high-value products, due to the new reports on bananas in region VIII, bringing the total number of losses to P437 million.

Livestock and poultry contributed an estimate of P6.65 million incurred from 3,158 animal heads, most coming from the poultry sector.

VISTA DAMAGE
On the other hand, the damage from Vinta amounted to P234.91 million worth of agricultural products which covered 19,240 hectares and had an estimated volume of 4,803 MT.

DA attributed this to the heavy losses of rice in regions IX and XIII as well as the damages in high value crops and livestock in Region XIII.

“[Rice] now accounts to the largest share of losses at 58.47% or P137.37 million. Area affected is at 15,847 hectares,” the report read. “However, the volume loss still remains at 655 metric tons since the additional affected rice in Region XIII are mostly on their new planted to seedling stages.”

Corn, which contributed the second largest share in damages from Vinta at P90.62 million, did not have any changes as well from the previous report.

For high-value crops, a total of P6.91 million worth of bananas, rubber and pechay in Region XIII contributed to the losses, covering only 1 hectare and 69 MT. Livestock and poultry took the least hit with 42 heads of backyard chicken worth P147,700 in Region XIII. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

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