Kristine to hurt palay production - DA chief

Severe Tropical Storm Kristine will hurt the country's total palay production as the Department of Agriculture (DA) awaits reports on damage to the sector, Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said yesterday.

- By BELLA CARIASO

"Unfortunately, the effects of La Niña, particularly Kristine, will hurt our production as we are already at harvest period this wet season. It is sad news that areas ready for harvest have been reportedly flooded," Tiu Laurel said.

"For now, we have to wait for the actual report to ascertain the damage and the interventions that we need to do to help our farmers and fisherfolk recover quickly from this calamity," he added.

The DA has reported that the initial damage of Kristine to the agriculture sector has reached P9.75 million and it is expected to swell amid the impact of the cyclone in the Bicol region.

The damage and losses in Region 5 were reported in rice and corn covering 209 hectares of agricultural lands, with a volume of production of 598 metric tons (MT) affecting at least 234 farmers.

The DA added that the bulk of the damage was reported in rice production, totaling P9.6 million covering 203 hectares and with production loss of 203 MT.

The damage to corn was initially reported at P167,0000 covering six hectares and with production loss of 7.5 MT.

The Masagana Rice Industry Development Program has forecast a loss of 358,000 MT in the projected palay harvest of 19.41 million metric tons this year, down from the total last year due to the dry spell caused by El Niño and increased rainfall because of La Niña.

15,000 rescued

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) recovered three bodies and rescued 15,000 people affected by the onslaught of Kristine.