DA: Damage to crops reaches P10B in wake of cyclones

The damage to agriculture due to successive tropical cyclones—from Kristine to Ofel—has reached more than P10 billion, the Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday. 

According to Bernadette Reyes’ report in “24 Oras,” the amount excludes the damage incurred during the onslaught of Pepito that exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Monday.

“Yung mga agri area natin, supposedly to be nakaka-recover after some delubyo, find themselves na nahihirapan na maka-recover,” said DA spokesperson Arnel De Mesa. 

(Our agri areas are supposed to be recovering following the recent disasters, but they find themselves having a hard time doing that.) 

“Grabe yung damage. Historical na kakaiba itong mga nangyari ngayon, extraordinary circumstances,” he added. 

(The damage is bad. It's historic. We're experiencing extraordinary circumstances.)  

Among the hardest hit areas during the recent series of storms were Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Bicol. 

Rice fields in Camaligan, Camarines Sur, and Casiguran, Aurora have become like fish ponds due to floods.

Crops in Balatan, Camarines Sur, and Baggao, Cagayan were also heavily damaged. 

The DA has requested an additional P1 billion to help farmers and fisherfolk recover. 

The country logged a record high of 4.5 million metric tons of imported rice this year.

The authorities said that rice importation helped the country have enough supply and keep prices stable in the market. 

However, the price of fish has increased following the recent storms that also coincided with the closed fishing season in some areas. 

As of November 11, DA data showed that the per kilo price of galunggong has increased from P220 to P340 to P240 to P320. Meanwhile, the alumahan is now at P260 to P400 per kilo from P260 to P360 per kilo. 

The DA said that the government could import another 8,000 metric tons of fish on top of the initial 30,000 metric tons that arrived in the country per batch. 

“Gusto lang natin ma-assure na di tayo mamomoblema later on. Una, closed fishing season. Pangalawa, sunod-sunod nga yung bagyo,” said De Mesa. 

(We just want to assure that we will not experience any problem later on. First, we had a closed fishing season. Second, there was a series of typhoons.) 

“May mga losses kasi doon sa production ng isda, may mga nasira na mga fish pond, may nasira na mga bangka, and it will take some time to recover.” 

(There were losses in the fish production, some fish ponds and boats were damaged. It will take some time to recover.) 

Although the supply of vegetables in the country is still sufficient, the DA is also planning to import more vegetables. 

“Ang priority is to get the vegetables from other vegetable-producing areas. If that would be enough to temper prices, so di na kailangan mag-import (so we don’t need to import). If there’s a necessity to import, we will do that,” said De Mesa. —Vince Ferreras/NB, GMA Integrated News