The damage caused by Typhoon Ursula (international code name Phanfone) to the farm sector has climbed to almost P1 billion from P782.97 million, following additional reported losses incurred by farmers in the regions of Mimaropa, Western and Eastern Visayas, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
In a bulletin report issued on Monday, the DA’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (DA-DRRM OpCen) said over 62,000 farmers and fisherfolk have incurred losses amounting to P999.4 million due to Typhoon Ursula.
“Updated reports from Mimaropa, Western and Eastern Visayas, particularly for rice, corn and high- value crops, caused the increase in the total damages and losses,” it said.
As of Monday, 2 p.m., the volume of production loss on rice, corn, high- value crops, livestock and fisheries has now reached 17,659 metric tons (MT), affecting 17,165 hectares and 62,197 farmers and fisherfolk, according to DA-DRRM OpCen.
“There are also reported damages and losses on agri-infrastructure,” it added.
Based on the DA-DRRM OpCen’s report, the fisheries sector suffered the brunt of Typhoon Ursula’s damage as it accounted for almost 60 percent of the recorded losses.
About 43,813 fisherfolk lost P587.41 million worth of produce and fishing gears.
The typhoon’s damage to the rice sector was estimated at P200.56 million with 8,524 MT of produce in 12,957 hectares of farms being affected, according to the DA-DRMM OpCen’s report.
As for the corn sector, 1,969 hectares of land with an estimated output of 110 MT worth P20.16 million was damaged by Typhoon Ursula, the report added.
“Concerned DA Regional Field Offices [RFOs] are crafting their respective rehabilitation and recovery plans for areas affected by the typhoon,” it said.
“Furthermore, the DA RFOs are still conducting field validation on the extent of the impact brought by Typhoon Ursula in the agri-fisheries sector,” it added.