The Department of Agriculture (DA) said farmers and fishermen incurred more losses as Typhoon Ulysses (international name Vamco) had damaged crops and other agricultural products valued at P2.107 billion.
Ulysses affected over 62,500 farmers and fishermen in 6 regions, days after Typhoon Quinta (international name Molave) and Supertyphoon Rolly (international name Goni) battered their farms and fishing grounds.
In its latest damage assessment report, the DA said Ulysses struck 58,320 hectares of farms and caused a combined production loss of 93,219 metric tons (MT).
“The affected commodities include rice, corn, high value crops, fisheries, and livestock. [It also affected] irrigation facilities, machineries and equipment, and agricultural infrastructure in Cordillera Administrative Region [CAR], Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarazon and Bicol Region,” it said on Sunday.
Of the reported damage, the rice sector accounted for 42.3 percent. Ulysses affected 37,360 hectares of farms and 63,805 MT of rice valued at P890 million, according to the DA.
This was followed by high value crops at an initial damage estimate of P513 million as Ulysses struck 7,845 hectares with an estimated output 24,588 MT, the DA added.
The damage to the corn sector is initially pegged at P109 million. The typhoon affected 13,114 hectares and 4,827 MT of corn.
Cagayan Valley, which suffered its worst flooding in four decades due to the successive typhoons that struck the Philippines, is the country’s second largest rice-producing region and accounts for 14 percent of national output. It is also the country’s top corn producer as it accounts for 23 percent of annual production.
The National Irrigation Administration-Magat River Integrated Irrigation System said as of November 15, Magat Dam continues to release water as its reservoir remains at critical level. NIA said, however, it has opened only one spillway gate at two meters wide.
The NIA-MARIIS said it has advised the residents of Isabela and Cagayan provinces as early as November 9—about two days before Ulysses made its first landfall inPatnanungan, Quezon—that the agency will start releasing water to ease pressure on the water level of the dam.
Last week, the DA said about 106,540 Filipino farmers and fishermen have incurred combined losses of P8.4 billion after Typhoons Quinta and Rolly struck the Philippines.
The DA said Quinta and Rolly affected 223,772 hectares of agricultural areas in CAR, Regions 1, 2, 3, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Regions 5, 6, and 8.
Volume of production loss was pegged at 326,566 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, damaged crops and other agricultural products valued at P5.79 billion. It affected 48,682 farmers and 127,928 hectares of farms and caused an estimated output loss of 177,091 MT.
Quinta destroyed P2.6 billion worth of crops and affected 57,858 farmers and fishermen and 96,474 hectares of agricultural areas, 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, or 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 hectares 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. has a P1-billion indemnification fund.
The DA said it has released assistance worth some P200 million to farmers and fishermen in typhoon-hit Bicol region, including Catanduanes province which suffered the brunt of Rolly.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes