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Damage
to crops and fisheries caused by typhoons Lando and Mina
has already reached P109.7 million, the Department of
Agriculture (DA) said Monday.
In a
press briefing at the National Disaster Coordinating
Council (NDCC), Assistant Agriculture Secretary Salvador
Salacup reported that damage to palay was the heaviest
at P56.8 million.
Based on
DA figures, damage to vegetable has already reached
P31.9 million, while damage to corn has reached P17.7
million. Losses in the fisheries sector amounted to P2.7
million, while the livestock sector sustained losses of
P390,000.
“Food
supply will not be affected, since the losses to the
[two typhoons] are only .05 percent of the country’s
total food requirement,” said Salacup.
While
Typhoon Mina, which made a landfall on Monday, the DA is
confident that it will only cause “minimal” damage to
farmlands in Northern Luzon, where most rice- and
corn-producing provinces are located.
“This is
because farmers have already harvested rice and corn in
those areas,” said Salacup.
The DA
has assured that the country has enough supply of rice
and that the National Food Authority (NFA) is prepared
to release stocks to affected areas.
The DA
and the Department of Trade and Industry warned that
speculators should not unduly take advantage of the
situation since they said the country has enough food
supply. |
