CEBU allocated P6 million to rehabilitate the P395-million damage brought by typhoon Yolanda on its agriculture, a process that a consultant estimated will take two months.
The program, which will start on Dec. 1 and end on Jan. 31 next year, focuses on 14 towns, said agriculture consultant Dr. Romulo Davide, who submitted the working program to Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III.
Roldan Saragena said the P6-million rehabilitation fund will be used to buy organic fertilizers, farm seeds and farm inputs, which will also be distributed during the launching on Nov. 28 in Bantayan. Saragena is officer-in-charge of the Provincial Agriculture Office.
Dr. Davide’s working paper said priority crops must be planted, as soon as possible, such as camote, vegetables, mung beans, peanuts, corn, super cardava bananas and others. Most of these bear fruit in a short span of time.
Saragena said the typhoon damaged P395.44 million in agricultural produce as of Nov. 21. About P141.9 million worth of corn was lost, along with P124.58 million in mangoes and P94.54 million in bananas.
Damages are spread throughout the 14 local government units (LGUs) targeted by Dr. Davide’s rehabilitation program, namely, Bantayan, Madridejos, Sta. Fe, San Francisco, Poro, Tudela, Pilar, San Remigio, Medellin, Bogo city, Tabogon, Borbon, Tabuelan and Daanbantayan.
He also identified partially affected LGUs, such as Asturias, Balamban, Toledo City, Tuburan, Sogod, Catmon, Carmen, and Danao City.
Saragena said 19,898 farmers in these places were affected.
Task force
Dr. Davide formed a task force to speed up recovery and replanting of priority crops as it will only take two months, from launching on Nov. 28 to complete the rehabilitation process.
The task force is composed of the Farmers-Scientist Training Program (FSTP) with its program leader Dr. Davide; two technical staff, Antonio Arnejo, an FSTP study leader, and research associate Anecito Anuada. They are joined by three well-trained farmer scientists who will provide technical assistance and logistical support.
To complement the task force work, Saragena will then organize working teams assigned in each affected municipalities to ensure immediate implementation of the rehabilitation program.
Saragena said these LGUs will be the beneficiaries of his proposal, which he has submitted to the governor.
Dr. Davide also recommended that recognition be given for the outstanding performance of individual farmers, barangays and municipalities.
The proposed incentive is P50,000 to the outstanding farmer, P100,000 to outstanding barangay with at least 20 hectares planted; and P200,000 to the outstanding town with at least 100 hectares planted.
Damage
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) 7 is still assessing the extent of damage to crops, plants, poultry and piggeries in Northern Cebu, particularly the fourth district, due to typhoon Yolanda.
The Cebu 4th district is composed of Bogo City and the municipalities of Tabogon, Medellin, Tabuelan, San Remegio, Daanbantayan, Bantayan, Sta. Fe and Madridejos.
Marina Hermoso of the DA 7 Operations Department, said while they have no estimate of damage yet, they saw massive damage on corn, banana, mango, coconuts, sugarcane, among others.
Hermoso said coconut is the concern of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), while crops, poultry and piggery are under the DA. This is the reason the monitoring of the prices of pork and eggs is under the mandate of DA.
Hermoso said 85 percent of the mango trees, some of their produce are for export, were uprooted and with no chance of recovery.
“If you look at the agricultural lands in Northern Cebu, makalilisang ang pagkaguba sa kinaiyahan. I saw it. Hapsag ang tanang tanom (The damage to the environment is terrifying),” Hermoso said.
Tabuelan
In Tabuelan town, Mayor Rex Gerona said nine out of 10 poultry farms were destroyed.
Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of the fourth district said that Bantayan Island was producing 1.6 million eggs a day but all the poultry farms were wiped out by typhoon Yolanda.
DA 7 Information Officer Marilyn Talagon said concerned officials of the DA met with municipal agricultural officers (MAOs) from various towns devastated by the typhoon as part of the assessment process.
She said the MAOs were not able to make an immediate assessment of the damage to crops and plants in their areas of jurisdiction because they, too, are typhoon survivors.
Talagon said that DA 7 Director Angel Enriquez will come up with a realistic report on damages once the information from various sources will be validated by their technical experts.
All the validation reports from the experts shall be concurred by MAOs and the local chief executives.