Farm damage from 3 typhoons nears P10B

The agriculture industry found itself again at the center of a series of calamities as the combined toll of typhoons “Quinta,” “Rolly” and “Ulysses” to the sector is now almost P10 billion.

More reports are coming in from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) regional offices as more provinces are able to regain power supply. As of Friday afternoon, the combined amount of damage and losses caused by Quinta and Rolly reached P8.46 billion while the preliminary estimate for Ulysses was at P969.8 million.

This brings the losses to P9.43 billion so far. Agriculture Secretary William Dar said they were expecting Ulysses’ damage tally to hit P1 billion given the devastation it left to the provinces of Rizal and Bicol.

Some regions such as Bicol and Calabarzon were devastated simultaneously by Quinta, Rolly and Ulysses, leaving no room for farmers and fisherfolk to at least salvage whatever was left of their farms and equipment.

Others did not only see their livelihood clobbered but also lost their homes.

The DA’s disaster risk reduction management council reported that about 147,059 stakeholders were affected by the three typhoons and battered 275,013 hectares of agricultural areas. The estimated production loss currently stood at 385,463 metric tons across rice, corn, high-value crops, fisheries and livestock.

Irrigation systems and other agricultural facilities were not spared, which means additional expenses for repairs.

Other regions affected by the calamities were Cordillera Adminstrative Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Zamboanga Peninsula.