AGRICULTURAL damage caused by Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) was estimated at P969.8 million o Friday, against the previous estimate of P124.3 million, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In a bulletin Friday afternoon, the DA said the storm caused the loss of 58,897 metric tons (MT) of produce, affecting 40,519 farmers across 51,241 hectares of farmland.
Losses were reported in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region), CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon), Central Luzon, and Bicol.
"The increase in value is attributed to additional reports from the Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley, as well as updated reports from Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and Bicol Region," the DA said.
Segments of the industry that were affected were rice, corn, fisheries, high-value crops, and livestock. Damage was also reported to agricultural facilities, irrigation facilities, and equipment.
Rice accounted for 53.3% of the total losses, followed by high-value crops at 42.6%, other agricultural commodities at 2.7%, and corn at 1.4%.
Damage to rice amounted to P516.9 million, with 36,479 MT in lost output and 33,836 hectares of affected farmland.
Losses to high-value crops were valued at P413.1 million on volume of 22,220 MT over 7,211 hectares.
Damage to corn was pegged at P13.7 million, with 10,193 hectares of farmland were affected and lost volume of 197 MT.
Losses to livestock were estimated at P5.6 million.
Other reported losses were P3 million for fisheries and P193,000 for agricultural facilities.
Damage estimates are still expected to rise with DA regional offices still validating losses. —Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
