The province of Bicol lost more than 32,000 metric tons (MT) valued at P313 million, after two tropical storms hit the region in December last year and this month, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.
The DA said typhoons Ruby and Amang affected nearly 19,000 hectares of farms tilled by some 15,000 farmers in the region’s six provinces.
Reports reaching the Philippines News Agency indicate that about 10,000 hectares of rice fields have no chance of recovery.
Typhoon Amang hit Bicol on January 18, with maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 90 kph and dumped excessive rains, which triggered massive landslides and floods in Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Masbate and Sorsogon.
Some 4,945 hectares of rice fields in these five provinces were destroyed by this typhoon—1,342 hectares of which have no chance of recovery. Around 9,800 MT of unmilled rice worth P60 million was destroyed by the typhoon.
The province of Sorsogon recorded the biggest production loss with 4,522 MT of palay, followed by Camarines Sur, 3,700 MT; Camarines Norte, 732 MT; Albay, 725 MT; and Masbate, 120 MT.
Corn destroyed in Camarines Sur and Masbate reached 56 MT, which is valued at P595,000.
Typhoon Ruby, which was considered the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the country in 2014, hit Bicol on December 9 and destroyed 24,000 MT of palay worth P253.3 million.
This typhoon ravaged a total of 13,981 hectares of rice plantations owned by around 12,000 farmers in five provinces. Rice planted in 8,557 hectares have no chance of recovery, the DA said.
Hardest hit by Ruby was Camarines Sur, which incurred losses amounting to 12,700 MT of palay valued at P143 million.
Albay lost around 5,300 MT of palay planted in 2,423 hectares of farmlands. Rice crops destroyed in the province were valued at P51.3 million.
Bicol’s corn sector was also affected by Typhoon Glenda, which destroyed 6,525 MT of corn crops valued at P25 million.
All in all, the Bicol region’s rice sector lost 160,087 MT of palay due to the typhoons. But Agriculture Regional Executive Director Abelardo Bragas made an assurance that these losses would not make a significant dent on Bicol’s palay output.
Bragas said this is because the DA was able to swiftly put in place measures to ensure that farmers would be able to immediately recover from the devastation of the typhoons.
These interventions include the provision of free rice seeds and fertilizer to affected farmers.
PNA