ABOUT 106,540 Filipino farmers and fisherfolk have incurred combined losses of P8.4 billion due to the damage caused by Typhoons Quinta and Rolly to the agriculture sector, based on latest Department of Agriculture (DA) estimates.
The DA said as of 5 p.m. of November, Quinta and Rolly affected 223,772 hectares of agricultural areas in CAR, Regions I, II, III, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Regions V, VI, and VIII.
Volume of production loss is now pegged at 326,566 metric tons (MT), which covers rice, corn, high value crops, fisheries and livestock, according to the DA. It added that it also recorded damage to irrigation and agricultural facilities.
Rolly, the strongest typhoon so far this year, caused P5.79 billion worth of losses to the agriculture sector, affecting 48,682 farmers and 127,928 hectares of farms with estimated output loss of 177,091 MT.
Quinta caused P2.6 billion in farm losses affecting 57,858 farmers and fisherfolk with 96,474 hectares of agricultural areas and 149,475 MT of volume loss,according to the DA.
“The affected commodities include rice, corn, high value crops, livestock and agri-facilities in CAR, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas,” the DA said.
In the rice sector alone, both Quinta and Rolly caused the loss of 176,249 MT of palay, which is about 2.1 percent of the projected 8.4 million MT output in the fourth quarter.
“The damaged palay production areas from both TY ‘QUINTA’ and STY ‘ROLLY’ is at 106,833 ha wherein 76.44 percent (81,663 ha) of these areas were planted this 2020 wet season cropping, while the remaining 23.56 percent (25,170 ha) were planted for the 2020-2021 dry season cropping.,” the DA said.
The DA said it has prepared a P400-million quick response fund for the rehabilitation of the areas affected by Rolly, while the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) has a P1 billion fund to indemnify farmers’ losses.
“The Department of Agriculture, through its Regional Field Offices, have already conducted field monitoring and validation of the damage and losses brought by Quinta and Rolly,” it said.
“Moreover, the DA RFOs (regional field offices) are currently crafting their rehabilitation and recovery plans for processing under the Quick Response Fund and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund,” it added.
Tugon Kabuhayan, an advocacy group, earlier said the losses incurred by farmers due to Rolly as reported by the DA could be understated as it doesn’t take into account the “consequential damage” to farmers’ lives.
The group said the DA should also look into the damage caused by typhoons to the life of the farmers such as the loss of production opportunities like crops that will not bear fruit until after a year or even more.
Tugon Kabuhayan urged the government to come up with a more proactive crop insurance package and aggressively expand the number of farmers’ covered by their programs.
The group also proposed that the government look into providing farmers with small-scale storage and drying facilities that could be established at the barangay or municipal level to help farmers during times of typhoons.
Such facilities, the group explained, would allow farmers to cope easier as their crops such as palay could be dried faster and be sold immediately to earn money.
The DA earlier announced that it has released some P200 million worth of assistance to farmers and fisherfolk in typhoon-hit Bicol region, notably Catanduanes, to help victims cope with the devastation. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/11/11/da-rolls-out-p200-million-aid-to-bicol-farmers-and-fisherfolk-as-luzon-braces-for-ulysses/)
Image credits: Nonie Reyes