The severity of tropical storm Enteng and the southwest monsoon has resulted to damaging the agriculture sector, with an estimated value of Php350.85 million of losses, the Department of Agriculture (DA) - Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) Operations Center’s Bulletin on Wednesday, September 4 said.
The initial assessment of the DA Regional Field Offices (RFO) in the Bicol Region indicated that 13,623 farmers were affected, with a volume of production loss at 14,814 metric tons (MT) and 8,893 hectares (HA) of agricultural areas of rice, corn, and high-value crops.
The overall agricultural damage and losses in the region hit Php350.85. However, the DA-DRRM noted that the values are subject to validation.
Consequently, the highest volume loss was 13,887 MT in rice production. In comparison, the volume loss for corn remained at 739 MT, and 188 MT for the high-value crops (HVC).
Several kinds of assistance and interventions for affected farmers will be carried out, the DA-DRRM said. Among the available interventions, the department mentioned providing cash aid through a few agencies.
Php25,000 will be distributed per farmer under the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Aid Loan from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC). Php202.86 million worth of assistance for; seeds, bio-control measures, and farm tools will be provided by the DA Regional Field Offices.
The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) would also indemnify insured affected farmers using the available funds.
