REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MANILA -- The Philippine agriculture sector incurred losses amounting to 2.32 billion pesos (53.3 million U.S. dollars) following the onslaught of typhoon Rammasun (local name: Glenda), the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) said Thursday.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said farmers and fishermen in 15 provinces in central and northern Philippines were heavily affected by the typhoon.

Alcala said the fisheries subsector suffered the biggest loss, with damages estimated at 810 million pesos (18.58 million U.S. dollars).

Typhoon Rammasun also destroyed 512.7 million pesos (11.76 million U.S. dollars) worth of rice planted in 43,536 hectares and 391.65 million pesos (8.98 million U.S. dollars) worth of corn planted in 22,627 hectares. Rice and corn are the country's two major crops.

Other cash crops worth 481.15 million pesos (11.03 million U.S. dollars) were also destroyed by strong winds and heavy rains.

The DA's preliminary assessment showed that coconut trees planted in 4,000 hectares may have been damaged by the typhoon.

Typhoon Rammasun, which made landfall in Albay province on Tuesday night, packed maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 170 kph. The typhoon affected top rice-producing areas in the country such as the provinces of Pampanga and Bulacan.

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