Agri damage due to Ferdie hits P1.09B

The damage and losses incurred by the agriculture sector following the onslaught of Typhoon Ferdie and the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat have breached over a billion pesos.

In a weather situation bulletin, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said the combined effects of Ferdie and enhanced Habagat stood at P1.09 billion.

The combined weather disturbances affected 24,512 farmers in Mimaropa, Western Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula with a volume of production loss at  50,913 metric tons (MT) and 24,247 hectares of agricultural areas.

“Meanwhile, there are no reported damage and losses for Tropical Cyclones Gener and Helen,” the DA said.

Rice is the most damaged commodity, accounting for 95.35% or P1.04 billion.

This was followed by corn at 2.27% or P24.76 million.

The remaining 2.38% of losses is attributed to high value crops at P20.36 million, while livestock and poultry accounted for P3.32 million and irrigation facilities at P2.30 million.

“These values are subject to validation,” the DA said.

The DA said that, through its Regional Field Offices and in collaboration with affected local government units and concerned disaster risk reduction and management offices, it is “actively engaged in conducting thorough validation and assessment on the impact of the Enhanced Southwest Monsoon and TCs Ferdie, Gener, and Helen in the agriculture and fisheries sector.”

“Best possible efforts are also being undertaken to carry out assistance and appropriate interventions to the affected farmers,” the agency said.

“Furthermore, price monitoring is being conducted for possible changes in the prices of agricultural commodities,” it added.

The Agriculture Department added it continues to provide support for farmers affected by the situation such as the following:

• Bags of rice, corn and vegetable seeds and bio-control measures from the Regional Field Offices
• Up to P25,000 loanable amount from the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), payable in three years at zero interest
• Available funds from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) to indemnify affected farmers

“The DA DRRM Operations Center will continuously provide updates regarding the Combined Effects of the Enhanced Southwest Monsoon and TCs Ferdie, Gener, and Helen,” the DA said. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News