Florita damage to agriculture surges to P1.13B

Damage from Severe Tropical Storm Florita to agriculture has increased to over one billion pesos as of August 26.

The latest data from the Department of Agriculture shows that the estimated damage and losses rose to P1.13 billion, up from P19.10 million reported earlier.

Affected regions include Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Bicol Region, impacting 6,647 farmers with a production loss of 66,633 metric tons across 44,922 hectares.

In La Union alone, the damage stood at PHP35.5 million as of August 26, primarily affecting rice crops and irrigation canals.

The initial assessment in Ilocos Norte reported P3.01 million in damages on Wednesday, with most losses due to rice crop destruction covering 626 hectares.