The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday said it is ready to provide the assistance needed by farmers who incurred losses due to the onslaught of Typhoon Karen (international code name Sarika).
According to data released by the DA on October 19, the rice sector bore the brunt of Karen as it registered a production loss of 229,482 metric tons (MT), valued at P2.81 billion.
The DA said rice farmers in Region 3, or Central Luzon—considered the rice granary of the Philippines—incurred the biggest loss. The typhoon destroyed a total of 167,869 MT of rice, valued at P2.21 billion, planted in Region 3. Rice farmers in Tarlac were hardest hit, as they lost P1.05 billion worth of crops.
The DA said it could immediately provide the seeds needed by rice and corn farmers. As of Sept. 21, the DA said its seed buffer stock in 8 regions reached a total of 255,868 MT. Of the figure, 246,240 MT are rice seeds, while 9,628 are corn seeds.
Among the regions, figures from the DA showed that the largest seed buffer stock is in Region 2, which accounted for 63,848 MT, followed by Region 1 (50,851 MT).
The DA also said Region 3 has a total seed buffer stock of 37,731 MT; Region 8, 29,139 MT; Region 5, 15,284 MT; the Cordillera Administrative Region, 13,900 MT; and Region 4A, 13,806 MT.
Production losses incurred by farmers due to Karen inched up to P2.98 billion on Wednesday, according to the latest data from the DA. The DA added that a total of 239,818 MT of crops planted in 284,730 hectares of agricultural lands in Regions 1, 3, 4A and 5 were affected by the typhoon.
Aside from rice, the DA said Karen also destroyed 5,685 MT of high-value crops with an estimated value of P117.58 million. Corn crops damaged by the typhoon reached 4,651 MT, worth P60.34 million.
The DA had expressed confidence that crops planted in more than 98 percent of affected areas have chances of recovery. The agency is currently conducting field validation of the data it collected.
Karen exited the Philippine area of responsibility on Monday. But a strong typhoon is threatening areas that have yet to recover from the devastation caused by Karen.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Supertyphoon Lawin (international code name Haima) has intensified into a supertyphoon. Pagasa has raised Signal No. 5 over Cagayan and Isabela on Wednesday.