Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya—Typhoon “Rosita” left more than P114 million in damages to the province’s agricultural sector, particularly its rice crop.
Provincial agriculturist Alexander Domingo, in a damage assessment report, said the typhoon’s damage to rice crops reached more than P92 million based on farm-gate prices, with close to 116 million metric tons of crops as total production loss.
“The damaged rice crops were already on their maturing, vegetative and reproductive stages when they were hit by the typhoon,” he said.
Domingo also said the affected towns were Dupax del Sur, Dupax del Norte, Kasibu, Kayapa, Quezon, Solano, Sta. Fe, Villaverde, Alfonso Castaneda, Ambaguio, Aritao, Bagabag, Bambang, Bayombong and Diadi.
High-value commercial crops such as fruits and vegetables in the province also suffered, with losses reaching over P31 million across the 15 municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya.
For other crops such as white and yellow corn, Domingo noted P32 million worth of losses in the affected towns of Bagabag, Kasibu, Solano, Bayombong, Quezon, Villaverde, Dupax del Norte.
“We are now validating these damages directly from the affected farmers so that we can submit our report to the provincial and national government for the needed assistance to our agricultural sector,” he added.