MANILA: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday assured an overall stable supply of food in the country despite the onslaught of Typhoon Aghon.
In an interview, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said agriculture damage due to Aghon now stands at PHP11.83 million, with the majority of losses reported in the rice sector.
“Sa ngayon, wala pa tayong nakikitang malaking epekto ng Aghon. Napakaliit pa ng damage na na-register sa agriculture sector (For now, we are not seeing a major effect due to Aghon. The reported damage is very minimal in the agriculture sector),” he said.
The total damage includes PHP10.66 million in rice production, with Laguna and Quezon being the hardest-hit; as well as PHP1.15 million damage in high-value crops.
De Mesa said the damage was relatively small because the country already harvested around 99 percent of its rice for the dry season, and most of the farms are either under land preparation or in the early stages of crop production for the wet season.
In terms
of vegetable production, he said, the effects of Aghon on “pinakbet” vegetables in Calabarzon may be supplemented by other regions.
“Ang malapit naman na source ng lowland vegetable natin ay Central Luzon at Cagayan Valley, madali naman iyon ma-supplement. Iyong highland vegetables natin, wala naman tayong problema dahil of course ng Benguet (The nearby sources of lowland vegetables are Central Luzon and Cagayan Valley, it’s easy to supplement it. We have no problem in our highlands vegetables because, of course, of Benguet),” de Mesa said.
According to the DA-Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center, around 84 hectares of farmlands are totally damaged, while 155 hectares are partially damaged with a chance of recovery.
The affected areas are in the Calabarzon and Mimaropa regions; while Bicol and Eastern Visayas have yet to submit their validated reports.
The DA, meanwhile, assured standby farm inputs as aid to affected farmers including seedlings for rice, corn, and other vegetables, as
well as fertilizers.
“Alongside this seed and fertilizer, mayroon din tayong Quick Response Fund, standby fund natin is (we also have the Quick Response Fund, the standby fund is) PHP1 billion for all calamities and disasters,” he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency
