Manila, Sept. 25 -- The rice sector suffered the biggest losses following the onslaught of Tropical Depression Mirasol and Super Typhoon Nando (international name Ragasa), as well as the southwest monsoon (habagat), the Department of Agriculture said.

The Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DA-DRRM) Operations Center Bulletin No. 7 issued Wednesday night showed that it recorded PHP565.05 million worth of initial agricultural damage, affecting at least 17,061 farmers and production losses of 49,896 metric tons (MT) across 16,120 hectares of farmland in these regions.

The rice sector losses was at 44,020 MT worth PHP440.75 million, with most of the damage sustained during the reproductive and maturity stages of palay (unhusked rice)....