Goring’s damage to agriculture rises to P504.4M

The damage and losses sustained by the agriculture sector following the onslaught of Typhoon Goring have increased to half a billion pesos, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said Friday.

Based on the latest bulletin issued by the DA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center, the typhoon's devastation to the farm sector was worth P504.4 million.

This was higher than the P375 million reported on August 31.

The weather disturbance affected 11,965 farmers in 19,658 hectares of agricultural areas in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Western Visayas.

In terms of volume, production losses stood at 21,134 metric tons.

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

Rice is the most affected commodity, with a total value loss of P362.2 million, equivalent to 16,488 MT of crops destroyed on 13,967 hectares of farmland.

Corn followed with P139.1 million worth of damage and a volume loss of 4,590 MT in 5,682 hectares of area destroyed.

For high-value crops, the amount of value loss totaled P2.7 million, while volume loss stood at 56 MT on nine hectares of land.

The livestock and poultry sub-sector incurred P487,600 worth of losses, accounting for 23 heads of cattle, carabao, and goats.

"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 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

"The DA-DRRM Operations Center will continuously provide updates regarding Goring," the Agriculture Department said.

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