THE Agriculture department said Sunday the losses in the farm and fisheries sector caused by Super Typhoon “Lawin” had reached more than P10 billion, with the rice, corn and vegetable sectors suffering the greatest losses.
The department made its statement even as Malacañang said more than half a million people or 120,500 families were affected by “Lawin.”
The department said the typhoon affected 69,947 farmers and 467,068 hectares of farmland in Regions 1, 2, 3 and 5.
“This does not yet fully reflect the destruction brought by Super Typhoon “Lawin” in these regions as we are still in the process of assessing all sectors,” said Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol.
The department said the production losses to the rice sector amounted P 7.8 billion. The affected areas reached 404,752 hectares of which 12,118 hectares had no chance of recovery.
The typhoon also affected 28,741 hectares of corn with a total value of more than P600 million.
The damage to vegetables reached P 1.7 billion, to cassava to P2.3 billion, to livestock at P6.6 million and to fisheries 85.8 million.
Piñol said he had ordered his officials to provide food assistance to the affected farmers and fishermen.
“I have also instructed the concerned DA agencies, particularly the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, to swiftly process crop insurance payments to enable the farmers and fishers to cope with their loss,” Piñol said.