DAMAGE and production losses brought by recent heavy rains induced by Typhoon Paolo to agro-fishery sector in Negros Occidental has surged to about P50 million.
Final report of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) Thursday, October 26, showed that the rice sector incurred the highest amount of damage and losses at P49.3 million.
The figures cover 1,601 farmers in 64 villages of eight local government units (LGUs), with total affected area of 1,982.3 hectares.
Bago City posted the highest damage amounting to P22.78 million followed by Valladolid and Pontevedra with P14.20 million and P8.26 million, respectively.
Other LGUs included Hinigaran with P1.78 million; Moises Padilla, P1.04 million; La Castellana, P1.03 million; Binalbagan, P179,500; and San Enrique, P68,304.
For high-value commercial crops (HVCC), mainly vegetables, OPA reported a damage worth P389,840, covering 15 farmers of 13.45-hectare farm in four villages of three LGUs.
Of which, Bago City incurred P254,480; La Castellana, P121,860; and Binalbagan, P13,500 in damage and losses.
Eleven corn farmers with an area of 2.9 hectares also incurred damage and production losses worth P36,530.
Five affected villages are also in Binalbagan, Bago City and La Castellena.
OPA reported damage to the province's fishery sector amounting to 475,880.
The figure comprises 21 fisherfolk with an accumulated area of 12.2 hectares in three LGUs, it added.
Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino said the report will be submitted to the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Western Visayas for possible additional interventions.
Masculino had earlier said DA-Western Visayas has already provided 5,000 certified rice seeds to the province for immediate distribution to affected farmers.
This is on top of the assistance to be provided by the Provincial Government to those enrolled under the Negros First Crop Insurance Program.
Masculino said that floods, heavy rains, and strong winds are hard to control because these are natural phenomena.
“Mitigation measures like use of climate change-resistant seed varieties are already implemented by the farmers,” he said, stressing that “it is also important to give importance on caring and being good stewards of the environment."
