Due to the damages brought by typhoon Karding, the Department of Agriculture warned consumers to expect higher prices for rice, fish, and vegetables.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said that prices of vegetables, fish, and rice are expected to be higher and could shoot up by as much as 20 percent after Typhoon Karding flattened crop lands in Luzon.
Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban said that typhoon Karding damaged the country’s rice granary, Central Luzon, causing a loss of 20 percent of the standing crop, the Manila Standard reported.
“Maaring magkaroon ng pagtaas ng presyo lalong lalo na sa palay at gulay sapagkat ito’y matinding tinamaan sa Central Luzon,” Panganiban said.
“The typhoon has affected, more or less, 91,944 farmers and fisherfolk. Lost production was estimated at 117,663 metric tons (MT) of combined crops,” he added.
As of Thursday morning, the onslaught of Karding had destroyed 150,693 hectares of agricultural land in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol Region, and Western Visayas, causing ₱2.02 billion in damages, and affected 91.944 farmers and fishermen, the GMA News reported.
The most severely affected crop is rice, with a total production loss of P1.66 billion, accounting for at least 20 percent of the total area planted, followed by high-value crops including vegetables, fruits, legumes, and spices at ₱271.6 million, ₱7.1 million in livestock and poultry, and ₱43 million in fisheries.
Based on the data released from DA as of September 28, the well-milled price is ₱40 per kilo, and regular milled rice at ₱38 per kilo in Metro Manila markets.
Prices of most vegetables sold in Metro Manila markets have already increased.
The price per kilo of pechay Baguio increased to ₱80 on September 28 from ₱70 on September 27; white potatoes from P70 per kilo to P80 per kilo.
DA’s help program
The DA distributed ₱170.34 million worth of rice seeds, ₱23.16 million worth of corn seeds and ₱13.55 million worth of assorted vegetable seeds, ₱2.45 million worth of animal heads, drugs, and biologics for livestock and poultry; fingerlings and fishing paraphernalia.
The agency also provided loans of up to ₱25,000 payable in three years at zero interest under the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.
Panganiban informed consumers that there is enough rice in the market following the National Food Authority's (NFA) directive to maintain a 60-day buffer.
“For now, we have enough. We’re hoping that the current cropping harvest will be good enough until 2023,” Panganiban said.
He also assured consumers there is also enough pork and chicken for the upcoming holiday season.
“In fact, we’re seeing better production of pork and a surplus in chicken output for the third and fourth quarter,” he added.
Also, the DA expects that the arrival of sugar by November will reduce the sweetener's retail price by as much as P30 per kilogram.
Beginning October 2022, the government expects a drop in the prices of refined sugar to ₱70 to ₱80 per kilo from ₱100 to ₱110 per kilo.
While the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said ₱29.6 million worth of assistance has already been distributed so far to the victims of Typhoon Karding.
Tags: #Karding, #DA, #agriculture