DA aids 7,677 farmers with PHP156.79M for 'habagat' damage

On Wednesday, the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced aid for 7,677 farmers affected by agricultural damage caused by the enhanced southwest monsoon 'habagat' and Typhoon Carina, totaling PHP156.79 million.

The DA's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management offices are on round-the-clock operations to assess the impact of these weather events.

Farmers can receive assistance such as rice seeds (72,174 bags), corn seeds (39,546 bags), vegetable seeds (59,600 pouches and 1,966 kg), PHP25,000 loans under the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program with zero interest for three years, as well as funds from the Quick Response Fund and Philippine Crop Insurance Corp.

To date, agricultural damage has affected 11,003 farmers, totaling PHP251.21 million, according to DA-DRRM Bulletin No. 9.

The highest damage was reported in rice production at PHP228.23 million for 2,912 metric tons, followed by corn at PHP14.08 million (297 MT), high-value crops at PHP8.75 million (228 MT), and livestock losses of PHP143,300.