The agricultural damage caused by recent typhoons and the southwest monsoon surged to more than P2.5 billion, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday.
In its latest report, the DA noted that the losses incurred by 85,671 farmers and fishers have reached P2.51 billion, with the volume of production damage across 11 regions pegged at 186,253 metric tons (MT).
Rice bore the brunt of the damage caused by the combined effects of the southwest monsoon and typhoons Mirasol, Nando, and Opong at 134,901 MT.
High-value crops, corn, and cassava also sustained damage at 32,470 MT, 18,871 MT, and 10 MT, respectively.
The report said the value of production losses is P1.51 billion for rice, P705.12 million for high-value crops, P278.14 million for corn, P8.12 million for livestock and poultry, and P260,000 for cassava.
Agriculture infrastructure also sustained damages amounting to P4.72 million; irrigation facilities, P3.28 million; and machinery and equipment, P143,000.
The DA said 74,689 hectares of agricultural areas were affected by the storms and habagat. Of these, 66,967 hectares have a chance to recover.
The agency said it has allocated P766.42 million in agricultural inputs, including rice, corn, and vegetable seeds that would help those affected by typhoons. Drugs and biologics for livestock were also included.
The DA said it offers loans of up to P25,000 through the Survival and Recovery loan program from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC). These loans come with a three-year repayment term, interest-free.
It also noted that an initial amount of P237 million for the indemnification of insured affected farmers would also be released through the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC).
The DA recently said it continues to gather field reports from areas affected by severe tropical storm Opong, which recently swept through key agricultural zones in central Philippines, including the islands of Mindoro and Masbate.
Last month, the agency revised downward its palay production forecast for 2025 to 20.3 million metric tons (MMT).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. announced the revised forecast for paddy rice output in 2025 during a recent hearing on the agency’s budget at the House of Representatives.
‘We revised our target from what we can see until the end of this year. We slightly lowered it to 20.3 MMT.’
The latest figure is lower than the agency’s initial projection of 20.45 MMT. However, this is around 300,000 metric tons (MT) more than the record 20.06 MMT output in 2023.
The country’s rice production fell by nearly a million tons to 19.09 MMT last year as El Niño ravaged plantations.
Because of the supply shortfall caused by the drought, the country’s rice imports reached an all-time high of 4.8 MMT last year.