'Yolanda' impact still hounds Eastern Visayas agri sector after 3 years

TACLOBAN CITY, Oct. 25 (PNA) –- Three years on, farming sector in Eastern Visayas is still reeling the impacts of supertyphoon Yolanda, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Based on the 2016 first semester data presented by the NEDA, the total agricultural production dropped by 0.15 percent due to the damages wrought by the 2013 monster typhoon and the drought in the past few months.

"We, in Region 8, are vulnerable to calamities and we are really affected if natural disasters hit us because we are dependent on the kind of weather that we have," said Department of Agriculture regional information officer Francisco Rosaroso.

NEDA said that although there is an increase in production of sugarcane, pineapple, livestock, poultry and aquaculture, it is still not enough to compensate the yield shortage of other farm products.

The palay (unhusked rice) production for the 2016 second quarter declined by 13.71 percent to 260,177.18 metric tons (mt), the lowest in six years.

There is annual reduction of around 25,000 mt in irrigated rice farms and 15,000 mt in rainfed areas were noted during the first semester with Leyte, the region's biggest palay producer, posting the worst contraction rate of 20.74 percent.

There is a 27.59 percent decrease in the production of corn due to yearly reduction of harvest area, intense heat, and the limited supply of corn seeds from Mindanao, according to NEDA.

“There is also a prominent downslide in the production of abaca, coconut, and banana after typhoon Nona ravaged Northern Samar which is one of the major producers of these traditional crops,” the NEDA said in its quarterly report.

Based on official records, an estimate of 67,000 coconut trees in the province were affected with no chances of recovery. This resulted to the production volume of 230,782.03 mt, 15.19 percent lower than last year's harvest.

Production of rootcrops and vegetables also descended. Total yield of camote, cassava and gabi dropped by 5.30 percent to 53,069.63 mt while aggregate production of vegetables slipped by 1.16 percent to 2,055.10 mt.

Fisheries sector also dropped by 2.21 percent with a total catch of 39,596.11 mt. (PNA) JMC/SQM/Jonabel L. Salazar (OJT)