The agriculture secretary for the Philippines, Emmanuel Piñol has reversed agricultural growth targets after the Typhoon Nina causes US$110mn (5.47bn pesos) of damage to the countrys agricultural sector
In a interview with reporters on 2 January, Emmanuel Piñol said that the agricultural sector will decline by around two per cent over the last three months of 2016. This should result in flat growth for the entire financial year. This is after officials in the Philippines thought at the beginning of the year that the agricultural sector would be able to achieve growth of 3.5 per cent, the first time ever in its history.
“I have to admit there will be some changes in the growth projection. We will probably suffer a fall of 2 percent in the fourth quarter. For the whole year I will not be very optimistic at this time,” he said.
Officials said that as of 3 January, total damage of Typhoon Nina to production of rice, corn, livestock, and abaca already stood at P5.47 bn.
Department of Agriculture Chief for Field Programs Operational Planning Division, Christopher Morales, said that "based on the latest damage report on the typhoon, the country have lost as much as 200,000 metric tons (MT) of rice since Camarines Sur is one of the major rice producing areas in the country."
