DA: Goring’s agri damage soars to P898.4M

Typhoon Goring's damage to the agriculture sector has reached nearly P900 million, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Saturday.

Based on the bulletin issued by the DA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center, as of September 2, the damage and losses incurred by the farm sector grew to P898.4 million, higher than the P504.4 million reported as of September 1.

"The increase is due to the updated reports from Cagayan Valley and Western Visayas," the DA said.

Goring affected 24,979 farmers and 34,979 hectares of agricultural land.

In terms of volume, production loss stood at 39,011 metric tons (MT).

"The affected commodities include rice, corn, high-value crops, livestock, and poultry," the DA said.

Rice is the most affected commodity, with a total value loss of P751.1 million, equivalent to 29,337 MT of crops destroyed on 29,255 hectares of farmland.

Corn followed with P139.2 million worth of damage and a volume loss of 9,466 MT in 5,693 hectares of area destroyed.

For high-value crops, the amount of value loss totaled P5.5 million, while volume loss stood at 207 MT on 31 hectares of land.

The livestock and poultry sub-sector incurred P2.3 million worth of losses, accounting for 916 heads of cattle, carabao, goat, chicken, swine, sheep, and duck killed.

"The DA, through its RFOs (regional field offices), is conducting assessments of damage and losses brought by ‘Goring’ in the agriculture and fishery sectors," the department said.

The agency added that it continuously coordinates with concerned national government agencies, LGUs, and other DRRM-related offices for the impacts of the typhoon as well as available resources for interventions and assistance.

The DA said it made available the following interventions to those affected by the typhoon:

• P100 million worth of rice, corn, and assorted vegetable seeds
• Drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry
• Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) with a loanable amount of up to P25,000 payable in three years at zero interest
• Quick Response Fund (QRF) for the rehabilitation of affected areas

Goring exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Wednesday evening as Severe Tropical Storm Hanna, which is now a typhoon, entered the country’s weather monitoring zone.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News