LOST RICE production accounted for the vast majority of the initial estimates of agriculture damage due to Typhoon Ompong (international name: Mangkhut), reckoned at P4.97 billion out of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) preliminary crop damage estimate of P4.99 billion Monday.
The estimate issued by the DA’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management on Monday does not include data from northeastern Luzon, specifically the Cagayan Valley region that was directly in the path of the typhoon, where communications may still be unreliable. The DA was also awaiting reports from the hard-hit Cordillera region, an important vegetable farming area.
Reuters, quoting Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piol, who was speaking in an appearance on CNN Philippines, said total crop damage from all types of produce could hit P11 to P12 billion when all reports come in. Reuters said the DA’s damage assessment was P9.6 billion as of midday Monday.
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