The two recent weather disturbances that lashed portions of Luzon,Visayas and Mindanao resulted in more than a billion pesos worth of damage and losses to the agriculture sector. Based on a data from the Department of Agriculture (DA), the combined damage and losses to the agriculture sector due to by Tropical Storms Urduja and Vinta reached P1.24 billion, affecting a total of 58.876 hectares of agriculture areas in Southern Tagalog, Bicol region, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Western Mindanao,Davao region, Southern Mindanao and the Caraga region, with an estimated volume of production loss at 28,737 metric tons. The affected commodities are rice, corn, high value crops, cassava, livestock, poultry, and various agri-infrastructure and fisheries facilities. Rice crop production incurred the highest amount of damage estimated at P609.29 million, equivalent to 6,048 metric tons (MT) covering 50,793 hectares. The agricultural damage to high-value crops was worth P443.91 million, affecting 18,322 MT, while damage to corn was worth P103.73 million, affecting 4,261 MT. Losses to cassava reached P5.44 million affecting 106 MT, covering 208 hectares. Meanwhile, livestock and poultry losses reached P6.6 million. The DA pegged damage to agricultural facilities at P73.94 million. Meantime, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Thursday said that ‘Urduja’  damaged over P1 billion worth of infrastructure in several regions. Source - https://news.mb.com.ph