LANDSLIDE. A road in Sta. Praxedes, Cagayan damaged by landslide as a result of continuous monsoon rains in Northern Luzon. The provincial agriculture office said on Monday (Oct. 26, 2020) that the rains have damaged PHP59.59 million worth of agricultural crops and fisheries. (Photo courtesy of Cagayan Provincial Information Office)
TUGUEGARAO CITY – The monsoon-induced floods and landslides, which continue to hound villagers in northern Luzon, have damaged PHP59.59 million worth of agricultural crops and fisheries in Cagayan province, initial reports reaching the agriculture office showed on Monday.
Acting provincial agriculturist Danilo Benitez said in a media briefing that the hardest hit towns in the province were Sta. Praxedes, Claveria, Sanchez Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Ballesteros, and Allacapan.
Sanchez Mira town suffered damage in 244 hectares of palay farms and dead cattle worth around PHP6.87 million; Pamplona, 260 hectares of palay and 100 hectares of corn worth PHP6.3 million;
Abulug town, 1,257 hectares of palay worth PHP18.85 million; Claveria, 274 hectares of palay, 10 hectares of vegetables, some 5,410 bags of drenched palay, and dead cattle worth a total of PHP11.46 million;
Ballesteros, 212 hectares of palay farms worth PHP5.08 million; Allacapan, 300 hectares of damaged palay farms worth 10.8 million; and Sta. Praxedes, 2.67 hectares of destroyed palay farms, 85 fruit-bearing trees and 2,158 square meters of fishponds worth PHP228,168.
Benitez said the data could still increase due to the continuing bad weather.
“This is a big loss to our farmers who are still enduring the effects of pandemic. Many of them are hoping to have an income from their farms,” he said, adding that the provincial government has been planning on giving assistance to the affected farmers. (PNA)
