59 farmers in Kalinga, Apayao suffer P1.9M agricultural losses due to typhoon Kristine

Tabuk City, Kalinga – A total of 59 farmers in Kalinga and Apayao suffered agricultural losses valued at P1.9M as Typhoon Kristine struck the Cordillera region from October 23 to October 24, bringing intense rains and winds.

The reported agricultural damages, as relayed by the Department of Agriculture- Cordillera on its October 25 press release, are only the ones initially reported.

“We are currently gathering data and information from our provincial coordinating offices on the effect of the typhoon on our agriculture sector,” Crisante Rosario, DA-CAR Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

The affected farmers are composed of 14 rice farmers in Kalinga and 45 vegetable farmers in Apayao. Rosario said 80 hectares of rice and 1.75 hectares of vegetables were affected.

The estimated value of losses in rice is about P1,865,480, while vegetable losses are at P105,000.

With the effect of the tropical storm, validation procedures are now being implemented by field personnel of the department.

Actions being taken are the monitoring of the actual field situation and coordination with various offices to determine the damages and losses incurred by the agriculture and fishery sectors.

The agency has already prepositioned rice corn and high-value crop seeds, drugs, and biologics for livestock and poultry in safe storage facilities. This is in addition to monitoring the prices of various agricultural products.

Affected farmers are expected to receive various forms of assistance from the agency including rice, vegetable and corn seeds, drugs, and biologics. They can also avail of the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), where they can loan up to P25,000.

Meantime, the agency advises farmers to immediately report to concerned offices the damages and losses they have incurred from the effect of the typhoon. This is vital as this will be the basis of the agency on what specific intervention will be provided to them.