ILOILO – Despite the multimillion-peso losses incurred by Western Visayas’ agriculture sector due to massive flooding last week, the region’s rice supply remains sufficient, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The region is “137 percent rice sufficient”, said James Ogatis, DA Region 6 information officer.

Losses due to floods brought by tropical depression “Agaton” climbed to P150,394,535 as of yesterday and this covered rice, corn and high-value crops, Ogatis told Panay News.

Still, he assured Western Visayans there would be no rice shortage because there are enough stocks.

In 2021, the region’s palay harvest reached a whooping 4,713,804.88 metric tons (MT), he revealed.

For this year, DA’s palay harvest projection is even higher at 4,968,640 MT, but whether this could be achieved or not remains to be seen considering this most recent flooding.

DA is making sure the affected farmers get help. Ogatis said the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) will release assistance totaling P100 million from the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Assistance Program.

“The assistance will be in the form of a loan for our master-listed affected farmers,” said Ogatis.

Each farmer – and fisherman – will be allowed to secure a loan of P10,000 payable in three years with zero interest.

DA-6 has also programmed another P100 million as “quick response fund” to purchase additional palay seeds, corn seeds, vegetables seeds, and other planting materials.

According to Ogatis, 11,948 farmers and fishermen in Region 6 were adversely affected by “Agaton”.

Here’s the breakdown of the P150,394,535 loss in the region’s agriculture:

* palay – 8,746.09 MT (P137,046,059.11)

* corn – 143.32 MT (P2,874,550.39)

* high-value crops – 88.35 MT (P3,019,430).

Ogatis told Panay News the losses could further rise. Some local government units have not yet submitted their reports, he said./PN

SOURCE: https://www.panaynews.net/