Visayas, home to the country’s top sugar producers, racked up more than ₱1 billion in losses in the sugar industry following the devastating impact of Typhoon Tino (international name: Kalmaegi) last week.

Based on the partial assessment of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) as of Nov. 14, the typhoon has inflicted an estimated ₱1.2 billion of damage to the region’s sugar industry.

Over 16,000 sugar farmers were affected by the storm, covering 53,000 hectares (ha) in the mill districts of Negros Island, Capiz, Iloilo, Leyte, and Cebu.

According to SRA, the hardest hit were the sugar farms in BISCOM mill district covering Himamaylan City and the towns of Isabela, Binalbagan, Hinigaran and Moises Padilla, with over 20,000 ha severely damaged.

SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said Typhoon Tino was among the most devastating storm experienced by the sugar industry in the past two decades.

In fact, he said the storm has flooded areas which have never been flooded before.

“Our understanding is that the flooding was also brought about by Mt. Kanlaon's continuous ashfalls, clogging rivers and vital drainage with ash and lahar,” he added.

This, he said, adds another challenge to the sugar industry already struggling with the infestation of red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI)—a pest that can reduce sugar content by about 50 percent.

Azcona said he has ordered the deployment of field personnel to conduct a full assessment of all areas in the path of Typhoon Uwan to have the full picture of the damage.

“We expect the numbers to grow after we have the full assessment from the field, with initial conservative drop of 500,000 bags or more or raw sugar, not counting the molasses drop,” he noted.

Apart from sugar farms, four sugar mills have also been damaged by the storm, causing delays to the milling process.

Azcona said the SRA has started procuring fertilizers to assist farmers who were most affected, which will soon be delivered to mill districts and sugar associations.

“There is no better time than now for all stakeholders to come together and help each other to ensure that no one is left behind and we remain steadfast as a united sugar industry,” the administrator said.

Meanwhile, based on the latest report of the Department of Agriculture (DA) as of Nov. 13, the agriculture sector suffered ₱159.14 million in losses from Typhoon Tino, affecting just over 20,000 farmers and damaging 10,634 ha.

DA data showed that rice sector bore the brunt of the damage, covering 8,122 ha of rice crops, 24 percent of which were totally damaged.

A total of 10,371 metric tons (MT) of rice valued at ₱224.24 million were estimated to have been lost.

As of Nov. 12, agricultural damage caused by the succeeding storm, Typhoon Uwan (international name: Fung-wong), reached ₱188.27 million, with over 6,000 farmers and 3,905 ha affected.