NDCC: El Niño damage breaches P8B mark

The damage to agriculture caused by the dry spells brought by the El Niño weather phenomenon has breached the P8-billion mark, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said. In its March 13 report, the NDCC said the estimated cost of production loss has reached P8,097,643,386 (P8.098 billion), affecting some 693,732.43 hectares. NDCC said in the report posted on its Web site Sunday that affected agricultural productions included rice, corn, fruits, flowers, high-value commercial crops and livestock. According to the NDCC, the P8.098 billion includes production losses in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central and Southern Luzon, Bicol, Western and Central Visayas, and Regions 9, 10, 11, and Cordillera. The production loss of some 576,607.61 metric tons includes production in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Western Visayas and Cordillera, it added. On the other hand, it said the dry spell has affected 158,768 farmers’ families, including, 9,694 in Central Luzon, 322 in Bicol, and 32,683 in Western Visayas, 28,000 in Central Visayas, 15,203 in Cordillera, and 72,866 in Region 12. In Central Luzon alone, 308,989 hectares of rice were affected in Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales; 84.21 hectares of high-value commercial crops in Zambales and 2,178.06 hectares in Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales. The total production loss in Central Luzon was placed at 35,155.59 metric tons of rice, 147.4 metric tons of high-value commercial crops. Losses of P597.646 million for rice, P957,800 for high-value commercial crops and P94.472 million for corn were recorded in the region, the NDCC said. - KBK, GMANews.TV