CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- It may not be too late after all for farmer victims of Typhoon Santi.
This, as the Department of Agriculture said yesterday that some P100 million has been released for the rehabilitation and assistance programs for farmers and facilities affected by Typhoon Santi, attention on which was previously overshadowed by Super Typhoon Yolanda late last year.
DA Regional Director Andrew Villacorta said that the fund has been used for hybrid seed assistance to farmers in the latest cropping season.
The fund is part of the overall funds to recover 297,575 metric tons production loss caused also by Typhoons Labuyo, Maring and Odette.
It could be remembered that Central Luzon has been visited by a series of calamities. Typhoon Labuyo caused heavy damage in Aurora province while Typhoon Maring brought flooding in Pampanga, Bulacan, Zambales, Bataan and Pampanga.
Typhoon Santi directly hit the provinces of Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan and Bulacan causing heavy damage on agricultural crops and infrastructure.
Damage to rice, corn and high value crops was estimated at P5.8 billion while damage on livestock was at P479,076,555.
The DA reported that initial interventions included the release of crop insurance premiums of P15,672,000 to some 22,033 farmers in Central Luzon. The insurance covered some 31,344 hectares.
"We have also provided full subsidy for 19,806 bags of certified seeds amounting to P23.7 million for farmers with totally damage areas," Villacorta added.
As of January this year, the DA has provided 50 percent subsidy for 7,830 bags of certified seeds amounting to P4.6 million for farmers in partially damaged areas. The agency here has also provided subsidy for 16,023 bags of hybrid seeds amounting to P19.2 million for farmers in partially damaged areas.
The DA has also deployed nine units of combine harvester to facilitate harvesting operations as well as facilitated the release of another nine units to farmer association through a counterpart scheme.
Villacorta assured that interventions and assistance programs are in full swing as the DA is set on achieving its 3.7 million metric ton target production for 2014.