CROP damage from Typhoon Vamco has reached P2.53 billion, with the rice sector taking the biggest hit, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

About 44% of rice worth P1.11 billion was affected by the typhoon, while 28% of high-value crops worth P702.64 million were damaged, it said in a bulletin. About 23% of fisheries worth P585 million was lost, it added.

Other affected commodities were livestock and poultry, irrigation facilities, machinery and equipment, and agricultural infrastructure in Luzon.

The agency said the typhoon, locally named Ulysses, had affected about 71,400 hectares of agricultural land, with a production loss volume of 109,117 metric tons.

About 73,000 farmers and fisherfolk were affected by the typhoon, which submerged many parts of Luzon island last week.

The agency would make crop reserves from regional offices available to affected farmers and fishers, drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry, and loans for survival and recovery. It would also offer an indemnification fund under the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp.

Meanwhile, the estimated cost of damage on power facilities has risen to P107.52 million, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said on Sunday evening.

About 97 areas still didn’t have electricity and were undergoing restoration works, the agency said in a statement.

Electricity had been fully restored in 195 cities and municipalities in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, MIMAROPA, Bicol and the Cordillera Administrative Region. Power had been partially restored in 184 areas.

In a separate advisory, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said two Luzon-based transmission lines were still unavailable as of Monday morning.

These are the Carig-Solana-Tabuk 69-kilovolt (kV) line in North Luzon and the Real-Infanta 69-kV line in South Luzon, it said. — Angelica Y. Yang

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