The Department of Agriculture on Wednesday reported that the total damage and losses due to Supertyphoon Rolly is now at P 2.94 billion.
In a bulletin, the agency said the damage and losses affected 31,496 farmers and 65,999 hectares of agricultural areas as of 6pm of November 4.
The agency said the volume of production loss is now at 125,664 metric tons. It said the affected commodities include rice, corn, abaca, high value crops (assorted vegetables, cassava, banana and other fruit trees), livestock and agri-facilities in Central Luzon, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas.
“The increase in values is attributed to the update reports from CALABARZON and Bicol Region, particularly in abaca,” the bulletin said.
Abaca farmers lost 12,918 MT lost with a total value of P1 billion.
With the recent typhoons, Catanduanes Gov. Joseph Cua has said the full-year abaca output may decline by at least 30 percent now. Abaca is the main product of Catanduanes.
Bulk of the losses was also incurred by rice farmers who lost 56,740 MT of produce worth P1 billion.
This was followed by high value crops, which recorded P789 million worth of production loss with an estimated affected volume of 53,461 MT in 5,454 hectares land.
The volume of production loss on corn is now at 2,545 MT affecting 1,171 hectares of land with P51.7 million in a value.
For Typhoon Quinta, the agency, meanwhile, said there are no changes in the P2.5 billion amount of damage and losses as of November 4.
Moreover, the DA said the agency is still in close coordination with concerned agencies to provide assistance to affected farmers and fisheries.
It said the government has allotted P400 million quick response fund (QRF), which can be utilized for rehabilitation of areas affected by the supertyphoon.
The agency added the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) has available funds to pay for the agricultural losses and will fast track processing of crop insurances of farmers affected by the typhoon.