SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – The amount of damage that Severe Tropical Storm Florita brought to agriculture, fisheries and agricultural infrastructures in the province stood at PHP35.5 million as of Aug. 26, the Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPAG) in La Union reported.
“Majority of the crops affected was the palay or rice while for agri-infrastructure, the damage was more on the irrigation canals and some farm-to-market roads,” said Pau Navarro, La Union Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office staff, in a phone interview on Friday, citing OPAG report.
Navarro said the initial damage to fisheries amounted to PHP4.7 million.
“These were caused by heavy rains and flooding in the province due to the typhoon,” she added.
The Department of Agriculture Ilocos Regional Office (DA-1) assures that agricultural interventions will be released to typhoon-affected farmers when the need arises.
“To date, the office has a buffer stock of 20,000 bags of rice seeds, around 2,700 bags of corn seeds, and 520 kilograms of vegetable seeds ready for distribution,” it said in a statement.
The reported damage is still subject to validation by the DA-1 team to draw more accurate data to determine appropriate needed intervention, it added.
Meanwhile, Navarro said the effects of the weather disturbance on the infrastructure in the province are still being assessed by the engineering office.
“We are still on blue alert status while evacuees have already returned to their homes and there were no injuries or casualties due to the typhoon recorded,” she said. (PNA)