THE Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) is assessing the damage brought by the recent floods to the agriculture sector of Negros Occidental. Heavy rains which started Thursday night had triggered floods and landslide in some localities. In Victorias City, the floods affected about 3,000 families. Floods also hit the cities of Cadiz and Talisay while a landslide occurred in Silay City. Provincial Agriculturist Japhet Masculino on Sunday said they are still assessing the extent of damage and production losses, based on the reports coming from Municipal and City Agriculture Offices. Masculino said continuous rains caused delays in the monitoring, assessment and field validation. “We have yet to consolidate all the reports, including those in other cities and towns with farms and production areas also affected by heavy rains," he said. Affected farms enrolled under Negros First Crop Insurance Program will receive necessary indemnity claims. The possible damage caused by the flood will add to the earlier losses brought by the onslaught of Tropical Storm Agaton during the first week of the month. Latest reports of OPA showed that “Agaton’s” damage to agro-fishery sector of the province climbed to about P16.8 million. Of the figure, OPA reported the highest damage to crops specifically rice and high-value commercial crops (HVCC). Bago City incurred the biggest damage in rice, so far, at almost P14.23 million. It was followed by Cadiz City and E.B. Magalona town with P696,160 and P44,370 worth of damage, respectively. For HVCC, farmers in Cadiz City incurred P168,360 in production losses. All in all, there were 430 farmers affected, covering almost 644-hectare farms in 25 barangays of the three local government units. The remaining P1.68 million was accounted for the damage and production losses incurred by the fishery sector. The amount covers 193 affected fisherfolk and an association in Escalante City, Manapla, Sipalay City, E.B. Magalona and Bago City. Damaged were a total of 834 units of fishing gears and equipment, including fishing boats, gill nets, corals, and fish cages, among others. Source - http://www.sunstar.com.ph