The Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) will provide replanting materials or seedlings to farmers in two municipalities here, which reported damage to their rice crops due to the southwest monsoon induced flooding.

OPA chief Nicolasito Calawag on Monday said 1,200 bags of seedlings are available as assistance to farmers.

“We have enough buffer stock from the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas) to be given to farmers,” he said in an interview.

As of Monday, OPA Natural Calamity focal person Serafin Yanga said the reported damage to crops in the towns of Tobias Fornier and Valderrama has reached PHP163,680.

“The town of Tobias Fornier had reported damage in the amount PHP55,680 while the town of Valderrama has PHP108,000,” he said, adding “the damaged to crops was incurred due to the flooding of the rice fields”.

A total of 4.8 hectares of planted palay “in vegetative stage” in Tobias Fornier and 4.5 hectares of crops in Valderrama “in their reproductive to the seedling stage” were damaged.

“The total rice fields submerged due to the rainwater is 9.3 hectares,” he said.

He said OPA will provide a cavan of seedlings to every hectare of damaged rice fields, particularly those badly affected.

“The DA Regional Office 6 had already given us the approval to use the buffer stock as replanting materials so hopefully it could be delivered to the farmers within this week,” he said.

Other municipalities, including Sibalom, dubbed the “rice bowl of Antique”, have yet to file their crop damage report.

Antique province has a total rice area of 42,154.34 hectares. (PNA)