As the Department of Agriculture (DA), through its Regional Field Offices, conducts assessments of damages and losses brought by Super Typhoon Karding in the agri-fisheries sector, it announced that over P709-million worth of assistance and interventions are available for affected farmers and fisherfolk.
The Department has a Quick Response Fund amounting to P500 million that can be used for the immediate repair or rehabilitation of damaged production facilities.
It is also ready to distribute rice seeds, corn seeds, and vegetable seeds amounting to P170.34 million, P23.16 million, and P13.55 million, respectively.
In addition, the agency will be distributing P2.45-million worth of farm animals, drugs, and biologics under its livestock and poultry programs, as well as fingerlings and fishing paraphernalia from the DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Farmers and fisherfolk can also avail of loans up to P25,000 without interest and payable for three years through the Survival and Recovery (SURE) Loan Program of the DA-Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC).
To stabilize the prices and supply of agri-fishery commodities, mobile KADIWA centers are also rolled out in the affected areas.
As of September 29, 2022, the DA-DRRM Operations Center reported that Karding affected 150,693 hectares of farmlands in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, Bicol Region and Western Visayas with damage and losses climbing to P2.02 billion.
Based on the assessments of the Regional Field Offices, the typhoon affected about 91,944 farmers and fisherfolk with a combined volume of production loss at 117,663 metric tons.
The DA continuously coordinates with concerned national government agencies, local government units, and other Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM)-related offices on the typhoon impact and for other available resources for interventions and assistance. # # # (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)
