The Department of Agriculture said Thursday the country’s supplies of rice and vegetables are enough for the year as it noted the minimal impact of super typhoon “Egay” on agricultural activities.
Arnel de Mesa, DA Assistant Secretary for Operations, said there were 23 metric tons of rice damaged as of 27 July, a small portion of the total 19.8 million metric tons harvested last year.
For this year, De Mesa said the National Rice Program has projected an excess of rice to last 67 days after year-end.
“The impact of the typhoon has been minimal so far, as the rice-producing areas have not been directly hit. With this, we expect the prices of rice to remain stable or not spike,” he said.
Agricultural damage (crops, livestock and poultry) has amounted to P53 million and covered farms in the regions of the Cordillera, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA and CARAGA, De Mesa said.
Occidental Mindoro was hit the hardest, with 2,000 hectares of rice damaged and P20 million in income lost. The typhoon battered corn fields in Agusan del Sur amounting to P18 million, De Mesa said.
He added that the department has yet to receive information on agricultural damage in Regions I, II and III. While their data might show wider damage, De Mesa said the production losses could be easily recovered through the distribution of the P1-billion quick response fund.
“The funds will be used for various purposes depending on the concerns that will be raised by the stakeholders. However, we already distributed inbred and hybrid seeds to farmers and discount vouchers for fertilizers. These should increase our buffer stock and speed up recovery in production,” he said.