The Department of Agriculture Regional Office here yesterday estimated the damage to agriculture and fisheries brought by Typhoon Luis at P60mn.
Velentino Perdido, regional executive director, made the initial assessment after the storm unleashed its fury on northern Luzon on Monday.
Perdido said Pangasinan was the hardest hit with the destruction of rice fields and animals worth P47mn followed by La Union (P10.4mn), Ilocos Norte (P9.8mn) and Ilocos Sur (P1.8mn).
“There is now a report that 2, 127 hectares of rice farm were flooded. Pangasinan is a low-lying area that’s why it’s perennially flooded, however, there are portions of these damaged which have not yet become productive,” he said during a radio interview.
Perdido said the rice buffer seeds are also ready for the affected farmers but cannot confirm if the suppliers have raised their price per kilo because of the typhoon and also all other agricultural products.
In La Union, the town of Sto. Tomas suffered losses in fisheries after 200,000 bangus and tilapia fingerlings worth P3.2mn were killed during the storm.
“Partial damage was only in Sto. Tomas,” said provincial agricultural officer Myrna Gacutan over the phone.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) said Sto. Tomas has the highest number of residents affected among six towns devastated by the storm at 4, 682 people or 751 families from the villages of Tococ, Baybay, Cabaruan, Narvacan, Namonitan, Namboongan, Linong, Poblacion and Balsaan.
