According to the final report compiled by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist on the effects of Tropical Storm Basyang, which struck Negros earlier this month, Bago City suffered over P4.2 million in rice crop losses.

The storm impacted 19 of the city’s 24 barangays, across an area in excess of 400 hectares.

A total 338 farmers were also affected by the storm.

The area had been in a decline as of late with earlier reports showing a rice production decrease between the last quarter of 2017 and the early months of 2018.

Bago City Mayor Nicholas Yulo blamed the situation on heavy rains.

Despite the losses, Department of Agriculture Regional Executive Director Remelyn Recoter recently reported all provinces of the Western Visayas are at 100 percent rice sufficiency, except for Negros Occidental and Aklan, which are slightly behind at 90 percent./PLL, WDJ