Typhoon Ambo causes P1.37 billion in damage to agriculture

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Ambo (Vongfong), which hit parts of the Visayas and Luzon in mid-May, left P1.37 billion worth of damage to agriculture.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said in a statement on Tuesday, May 26, that the final cost of damage covers 27,472 hectares.

The volume of production loss was at 66,760 metric tons. The most affected commodities included the following:

• High-value crops – P915.15 million (more than half were bananas worth P541.97 million)
• Rice – P318.13 million
• Corn – P62.45 million
• Fisheries – P42.40 million

A total of 70,533 farmers and fisherfolk were affected in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas.

The DA said the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation “has enough funds” to compensate 15,756 insured farmers and fisherfolk.

Affected farmers and fisherfolk can also avail of a P25,000 emergency loan at zero interest, payable in 3 years. The Agricultural Credit Policy Council has a total of P20 million for this loan program.

The DA also said rice, corn, and assorted vegetable seeds have been distributed to farmers.

Due to the damage it caused, Ambo is now expected to be decommissioned or dropped as a tropical cyclone name. The state weather bureau drops a name from its list when a tropical cyclone causes at least 300 deaths and/or P1 billion worth of damage to agriculture and infrastructure.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Tuesday that Ambo left 169 persons injured. No fatalities have been recorded.

P614.3 million worth of infrastructure had also been damaged, according to the NDRRMC. This would bring the total cost of damage to nearly P2 billion.

Ambo was the Philippines’ first tropical cyclone for 2020. The country gets an average of 20 tropical cyclones per year. – Rappler.com