ESTIMATED value of the damage wrought by continuous rains to the agriculture sector has reached close to more than half a billion pesos, the Department of Agriculture (DA) reported on Thursday.
As of Wednesday, damage incurred in Regions III, X, XI, XII and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has reached P658 million, according to consolidated reports from the Agriculture department.
Provinces affected the most were North Cotabato, where damage was placed at P313 million and Maguindanao, P277 million.
Other affected areas in Mindanao were Bukidnon, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao City, South Cotabato and Cotabato City, as well as Bataan and Zambales provinces in Central Luzon.
A total of 26,600 hectares of crop areas were affected, covering mostly rice (19,318 hectares) and corn (7,108 hectares).
Of these, some 14,545 hectares of rice and 5,012 hectares of corn were deemed to be without any chance of recovering.
Lost palay (unhusked rice) was placed at 18,194 metric tons (MT), which made up only 0.52 percent of the national production forecast of 3.49 million MT for the third quarter of 2011.
Most of the affected rice areas — about 70 percent — are in the seedbed and vegetative stage.
Lost corn was estimated at 7,820 MT, which comprised only 0.33 percent of the third-quarter national production forecast of 2.35 million MT.
About 60 percent of the affected corn areas were also mostly in the seedling and vegetative stage.
The value of damage to rice was the biggest at P 500 million.
This wass followed by corn (P 137 million); high value crops such as vegetables, bananas and sugarcane (over P9 million); and livestock and poultry (over P1 million).
By James Konstantin Galvez, The Manila Times
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