BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Agriculture (DA)-Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center reported Friday, Aug. 26, that the initial damage to agriculture from severe tropical storm “Florita” in the Cordillera is P44,010,647.46.
Cameron Odsey, DA-Cordillera director, said the Operations Center reported that as of 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, P34,973,776.52 worth of planted palay in the region were damaged.
Damaged corn reached P7,254,750 while high-value crops, which include upland and lowland vegetables and fruits, sustained P1,782,120.94.
In Kalinga, damaged rice and corn were valued at P34,887,757.
In Apayao, rice crops destroyed was worth P7,150,140.85.
Only high-value crops amounting to P1,782,120.94 were damaged in Mountain Province while in Ifugao, mostly planted indigenous rice crops with a value of P142,878.67 were lost.
Rice paddies in Abra had damage amounting to P47,740.
These provinces are adjacent to each other and Cagayan and Kalinga were in the path of the tropical cyclone.
Odsey said the value of damaged cops is expected to increase when data from local government units in each province is completed.
They will be subject to validation to obtain more accurate data for the appropriate and necessary intervention.