The damage to agriculture due to the combined effect of the southwest monsoon and Typhoon ''Carina'' ballooned to over four billion pesos, the final bulletin of the Department of Agriculture announced on Thursday.

The DA said based on a final tally the damage and losses incurred on agricultural and fishery areas in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western and Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Soccsksargen and Caraga have reached an estimated amount of P4.72 billion, affecting 137,999 farmers and fisherfolk with 82,824 hectares of agricultural areas.

Of the P4.73 billion estimated value loss, P1.08 billion were recorded for rice, P469.45 million for corn, P12 million for cassava, 691.62 million for high value crops, 783.96 million for fisheries, 38.26 million for livestock and poultry, 1.64 billion for damaged in irrigation facilities, 4.44 million for other agricultural infrastructure and 4.01 million for machineries and equipment.

The DA report shows that 22.90 percent of the damage crops were recorded for rice with 18,629 Metric Tons (MT), 14.63 percent for high value crops with 19,969 metric tons, 34.72 percent for irrigation facilities, 16.58 percent for fisheries and 11.17 percent for other crops including 18,170 metric tons for corn and 472 metric tons for cassava.

It noted that the "affected rice area of 67,432 hectares is 2.51 percent of the total target area planted of 2,678,766 hectares, while the production loss of 18,629 metric tons is equivalent to around 0.16 percent of the target production of 11,663,214 metric tons, both for wet cropping season this 2024."

"As for corn, area affected by the disaster is at 11,009 hectares or 1.38 percent of the total target area planted of 800,068.50 hectares, while the production loss of 18,170 metric tons is 0.53 percent of target production of 3,446,856.30 metric tons, both for the wet cropping season this 2024," the DA added. Robina Asido/DMS