MANILA, Philippines — The total damage of super typhoon “Juan” to agriculture and fisheries has been placed at P10.59 billion.
In its Damage Report No. 176, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said that as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the biggest loser was rice at P8 billion, followed by high-value commercial crops (HVCC) at P660 million.
Corn is the third biggest loser at P412 million, according to DA Undersecretary Joel Rudinas, followed by fisheries with P177.8 million, and livestock at P10.6 million.
Total damage to public agricultural infrastructures, particularly irrigation and storage facilities was placed at P1.32 billion.
The province of Pangasinan suffered the most with P2.36 billion in losses, Nueva Ecija at P1.59 billion, and Isabela, which was directly hit by “Juan,” at P1.28 billion.
The aggregate sum of cropland affected was 520,634 hectares in 21 provinces in four regions.
All the six provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) were hit along with Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and La Union in Region 1.
While Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino in Region 2 sustained heavy damage.
Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Aurora, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bulacan, and Bataan, all in Region 3, likewise incurred substantial damage.
Rudinas said that for rice alone, 404,827 hectares were affected, with output lost placed at 468,546 metric tons (MT).
Completely damaged were 6,898 hectares or 1.4 percent while 397,929 hectares may still recover.
For corn, 23,021 hectares were affected, with a loss of 30,378 MT.
Of the total area affected, 223 hectares (or 0.7 percent) have no chance of recovery, while the rest could still recover.
A total of 6,371 hectares planted to HVCC were affected.
Of this figure, 5,072 hectares in Mountain Province, Benguet, La Union, and Pangasinan were planted to vegetables, 681 hectares in Pangasinan were planted to mango, and 609 hectares to banana in Apayao. Estimated loss was placed at 21,710 MT, valued at P660 million.
The damage to fisheries was limited to the 12 provinces of Regions 1, 2, 3, and CAR.
The losses came mainly from lost fishery resources of fishponds and fish cages that were destroyed by strong winds and rain.
Irrigation facilities and farm-to-market roads sustained a total loss of P1.27 billion while DA and fishery facilities were damaged to the extent of P54.4 million.
By MARVYN N. BENANING
October 28, 2010, 10:31am
Source: Manila Bulletin
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