Yolanda/Haiyan wrecks a third of PH rice crop: UN

Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) wiped out one-third of the Philippines’ rice-growing areas, the UN food agency said, calling for “urgent assistance” to farmers who need to sow new seeds. “Regions most severely affected by the typhoon account for one-third of the total rice production in the country,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) said in a statement. Dominique Burgeon, head of the FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, said, “If we want to avoid entire regions of the country having to rely on food aid, we need to act now to help vulnerable families to plant or replant by late December.” The agency plans to supply seeds for rice and maize as well as tools, fertilizer and irrigation equipment.

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