Typhoon Ulysses farm damage climbs to ₧3.84B–DA report
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) reported on Wednesday that the damage caused by Typhoon Ulysses to the farm sector has increased to P3.84 billion, affecting 104,733 farmers and fisherfolk in six regions.
In its latest assessment report on November 18, the DA said the fourth typhoon to batter the agriculture sector has affected 101,904 hectares of rice, corn, high-value crops (HVC), fisheries, livestock, irrigation facilities, and agricultural infrastructures.
The damage has brought an estimated production loss of 160,873 metric tons (MT), the DA added.
The affected regions are Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Bicol region.
Rice production incurred half of the total losses or about P1.93 billion with 68,374 hectares affected and 120,015 MT of production lost, according to the latest DA figures.
This was followed by the damage to the HVC sector that amounted to P795.74 million with 10,315 hectares and 33,467 MT of production damaged by Ulysses.
Ulysses also caused P710.79 million worth of damage in the fisheries sector, which include production of fin fish, milkfish, hito, tilapia, carp, crabs and prawn, based on the latest DA figures.
The damage to the corn sector has climbed to P365.68 million from P134.39 million. The typhoon affected 23,215 hectares and 7,391 MT of corn.
Ulysses also caused P27.83 million worth of losses in the livestock and poultry sector as it affected 53,122 heads of cattle, carabao, goat, swine, sheep, chicken, duck, quail and turkey, according to the DA.
The DA earlier said the rice supply loss due to the series of typhoons that hit the country is only minimal at about 4 percent of the projected 8.4 million metric ton (MMT) production this fourth quarter.
In a virtual news briefing on Tuesday, the DA said the three typhoons and a super typhoon that hit the country so far in the fourth quarter — Pepito, Quinta, Rolly and Ulysses —has resulted in production loss of about 314,928 MT of palay.
The losses were only minimal compared to the expected production in the October-to-december period of 8.4 MMT, according to the DA.
The DA said the country lost about 63,158 MT of palay from Pepito, 111,995 MT from Quinta, 64,254 MT from Rolly and 75,521 MT from Ulysses.
The DA said the combined damage to agriculture caused by the three typhoons and super typhoon has reached at least P12.36 billion as of November 17 as figures for Ulysses- affected farms are still under validation.