OVER 11,000 farmers in four regions have lost P299.44 million in earnings due to damage brought by Tropical Depression Usman over the weekend, according to the latest assessment of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
A report released by the DA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (Operations Center on the evening of December 31 showed that damage to the farm sector due to Usman grew by P104.08 million, from the previous reported P195.36 million on December 30.
“The increase in overall values is attributed to the reports in rice and high-value crops in the provinces of Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon,” it said in the report, which was updated as of 5 a.m. of Tuesday.
The DA report noted that Usman damaged 13,862 hectares of farms with an estimated volume loss of about 9,606 metric tons (MT). It affected around 11,231 farmers.
Losses in the rice sector, which suffered the brunt of the typhoon damage, reached P266.98 million with an estimated volume of 7,496 MT in 12,858 hectares of farm.
About 9,622 rice farmers in the provinces of Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon and Samar
were affected.
Damage to high-value crops was valued at P31.48 million with an estimated production loss of about 2,098 MT in 441 hectares in Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate and Sorsogon. The damage thus far reported included production losses from fruit trees, assorted vegetables and root crops.
Furthermore, some 276 corn farmers lost 11 MT of produce planted on 563 hectares in Albay, Camarines Sur and Masbate, which was valued at P976,267.
The figures are still up for validation, according to the DA.
Rice distribution
THE National Food Authority (NFA) on Tuesday said it has released a total of 6,262 50-kilogram bags of rice for victims of Typhoon Usman in Regions 4, 5 and 8.
Bulk of the volume or around 5,785 bags, were distributed in the hardest-hit areas of Bicol region, according to the NFA.
The NFA said as of December 31 noon it has issued 1,350 bags of rice in Albay, 406 bags in Camarines Norte, 2,075 bags in Camarines Sur, 150 bags in Masbate and 1,804 bags in Sorsogon.
Region 4 has received 432 bags of rice from the NFA, while Region 8 got 45 bags.
The NFA said their operations centers have been activated as early as December 27 to anticipate Usman’s projected landfall.
All NFA offices in Regions 4, 5, 8 and other provinces along the track of Usman are also open 24/7 to respond to any need for rice for relief operations.
“Our employees are rendering overtime work far from their families during the holidays to ensure that we can provide quick response to any need for rice,” NFA OIC Administrator Tomas R. Escarez said.