Typhoon Rolly, declared as the world's strongest tropical cyclone so far for this year, has already incurred damage and losses worth nearly P2 billion to the country’s agriculture sector, which is still reeling from the impact of Typhoon Quinta.
The latest data from the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRM) showed that the amount of damage and losses the farm sector obtained from Typhoon Rolly is now at P1.75 billion from the previously reported P1.17 billion.
The number of affected farmers also grew to 26,948 farmers, while damaged agricultural areas are now at 26,261 hectares.
Volume of production loss, on the other hand, is at 115,890 metric tons (MT), with rice and corn as the most affected commodities. High value crops, livestock, agriculture facilities were also affected.
Typhoon Rolly made landfall in Bato, Catanduanes on Sunday morning and triggered massive floods in the province, then moved to cause serious damage in Tiwi, Albay, San Narciso, Quezon, among other areas.
Before Typhoon Rolly even made landfall in the country, the DA already said that hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice and corn farms were at risk of being damaged by the strong typhoon.
In rice, the area under seedling and vegetative stage is at 179,442 hectares, while the area under reproductive stage is at 306,732 hectares. The area under the maturity stage is at 442,820 hectares, making the total areas at risk to 928,324 hectares.
For corn, the total farm area at risk stood at 58,431 hectares. To be specific, the area of crops under the seedling and vegetative stage is at 31,960 hectares, while the area under reproductive stage is at 4,182 hectares. Those under maturity stage contribute to the remaining 22,290 hectares.
On Monday, the DA assured affected farmers and fishers of government assistance, including a total of 4,263 bags of rice issued by the National Food Authority (NFA) to the provinces of Marinduque, Albay, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Sorsogon and Cavite for relief operations.
A total of 133,326 bags of rice seeds, 17,545 bags of corn seeds, and 1,980 kilograms of assorted vegetables will also be distributed by DA’s regional field offices.
Aside from that, animal stocks, planting materials, feeds, drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry will also be given to affected farmers and livestock raisers.
Around 10 million pieces of available tilapia and milkfish fingerlings, as well as fishing gears and paraphernalia, are likewise ready for distribution.
The DA is now readying to release P400 million from its Quick Response Fund (QRF) for the rehabilitation of areas affected by Typhoon Rolly.
As for the insurance, Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) had set aside P1 billion in indemnification fund to pay for what the farmers had lost during the typhoon, while Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) will allocate P300 million under Survival and Recovery (SURE) loan program as part of DA’s post-Typhoon Rolly efforts.
Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) Chairperson Rosendo So said that in the aftermath of recent typhoons, especially Typhoon Rolly, it is time to cover all agriculture producers and raisers with “transparent and accountable government-insured risk coverage”.
He also said there is a need to “radically” increase the budget of PCIC and accomplish its mandate of providing insurance to farmers against losses arising from natural calamities.
“We also want a transparent and accountable insurance system that will truly benefit the small farmers in times of calamities, and not the pockets of those running the system,” he added.
For this year, PCIC received an annual budget of P3.5 billion, and SINAG wants it increased by “at least five-fold”.
“In the immediate, farmers need cash so they can provide their families with the basic necessities,” So said.
“In the long run, however, this period of extreme climate hazards as the new normal where subsistence farmers, backyard raisers and artisanal fishers have to cope with an increasing and more frequent crop and animal losses, government should and must provide guaranteed and automatic risk coverage to all producers,” he added.
According to him, even our ASEAN neighbors are now adjusting their budget and policies to combat the impact of climate change on the agriculture sector.
United States and European Union’s subsidies, for instance, already include agricultural risk coverage, revenue loss coverage and price loss coverage, a direct response to the changing climate patterns and extreme weather conditions.