The onslaught of Typhoon Aghon, the first tropical cyclone in the Philippines this year, has caused over P11 million in damage and losses to the agriculture sector, the Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

In their latest bulletin issued at 12:00 p.m., the production losses due to the typhoons are currently estimated at P11.83 million, which were mainly incurred by the regions of CALABRZON and MIMAROPA.

As of this writing, the total agriculture volume loss is 487 metric tons (MT), affecting the livelihoods of 432 farmers and damaging 239 hectares (Ha) of crop areas, of which 155 Ha, or 1.8 percent, are unrecoverable.

Rice had the largest production losses, estimated to be worth P10.66 million from the volume loss of 430 MT, affecting 232 Ha of farmland.

The provinces of Laguna and Quezon were the hardest hit, with the highest value loss of 4 million MT to 6 million MT.

Meanwhile, Rizal and Cavite had a value loss of not less than 2 million MT.

According to DA, the majority of damage and losses to rice were in the reproductive and maturity stages.

Meanwhile, seven hectares planted with high-value crops were affected by the typhoon, with a 57 MT volume loss worth P1.15 million.

An estimated value loss of P1,150,960 was recorded in the province of Marinduque alone.

Among the actions the DA has implemented following the typhoon devastation is the continuous dissemination of advisory to the Agricultural Program Coordinating Officers, local government units, and farmer leaders for them to disseminate the same information to the community and local farmers for their farm operation activities, the positioning of seeds for rice and corn, drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry in safe storage facilities, and ongoing monitoring and field validation to assess the impact on areas affected by 'Aghon' in the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

According to PAGASA, 'Aghon' is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility as a typhoon on Wednesday.