Typhoons causes P276-M in agricultural damage
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO - The Office of The Provincial Agriculture (OPA) has reported that the typhoons’damage to agriculture in Pampanga had reached over P276-million.
The rice production sector sustained the biggest damage with P191,656,695.73 affecting thousands of farmers from Mabalacat City and City San Fernando and the towns of Magalang, Floridablanca, Sta. Rita, Lubao, Guagua, Porac, Mexico, Sto. Tomas, Sta. Ana, Apalit, San Simon, Candaba, San Luis, Minalin, Arayat and Bacolor.
The fishery sector in the coastal towns of Macabebe, Masantol, Minalin and Sasmuan also incurred a damage of P81,901,796.67.
Masantol town recorded the biggest damage with P21,888,000, followed by Sasmuan at P55,614,500, Minalin at P3,358,780, and Macabebe at P1,040,516.
The OPA also recorded a loss of P1,256,586 from the corn and cassava sector of Mabalacat, Floridablanca, Guagua, Porac, Mexico, Arayat and Angeles. High value crops amounting to P1,299,990 were also damaged.
While the weather is fair over the past few days, farmers in the province, particularly those from lowlying areas, continue to reel from their losses as most of their farmlands and fishpens are still submerged with floodwaters.
Based on the data of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, 69 barangays from the fourth district towns of Apalit, Macabebe, Masantol, Candaba, San Simon, Minalin and San Luis are still flooded.
Farmers and fishermen from the said towns are now seeking the assistance of the Department of Agriculture to recover from the losses they incurred due to the consecutive onslaught of typhoons.