IBA, Zambales—Palay growers from seven municipalities in Zambales lost more than P2.6 million worth of crops over the past four weeks as monsoon rains, intensified by typhoons, battered the province and flooded ricefields.
Dr. Rene Mendoza, who is the Zambales provincial agriculture officer, said in a report to Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. that the unusually heavy rainfall in this year’s monsoon season had affected close to 150 hectares of palay farmlands in the province.
Mendoza said most of the damage was recorded in the northern towns of Santa Cruz, Candelaria, Masinloc and Iba where palay seedlings, equivalent to about 550 bags of palay, were destroyed.
The state weather bureau said that Zambales, as well as other areas in Central and Northern Luzon, will continue to be affected by the Southwest monsoon, or habagat, which normally brings torrential rains here when enhanced by low-pressure areas.
Mendoza said the hardest-hit palay farms were located in the northernmost town of Santa Cruz, which reported total losses of P1.63 million, with 54 hectares of damaged palay crops.
Next came Candelaria, the town next to Santa Cruz, with losses worth P480,260; the capital town of Iba, with losses of P213,831; and Masinloc, with P184,824 worth of damaged crops.
The other towns that reported damage from the monsoon rains were San Marcelino, with a total of P63,000; Subic, with P46,744; and Cabangan, with P10,620.
Agriculture officers added that because most of the farmlands here are planted to rice during the rainy season, damage to other agricultural crops like fruits and vegetables were minimal.