PILI, Camarines Sur -- With losses in agriculture that reached P2.6 billion in 2006 due to super typhoons that ravaged Bicol, total regional agricultural production recorded in 2007 showed recovery and positive growths in most sectors, according to the accomplishment data the Bicol Mail received from the Department of Agriculture (DA) Monday.

        Regional Executive Director Jose V. Dayao said all the agricultural sectors, except for the production of mango and coffee in the commodity subsector, the total Bicol regional production showed positive performance last year, which he said indicated full recovery on the level before the onslaught of Supertyphoons Reming and Seniang.

        Dayao noted that production indicators showed an increase of 3.6 percent in rice production regionwide. This was immediately achieved, he said, during the dry season following the super typhoons that hit Bicol in the later months of 2006.

        He said the increase in rice production was sustained at 21.37 percent in the second half of 2007 with harvest record of 482,124 MT compared to 3967,267 MT during the same period of 2006.

        DA record showed that vegetable and pineapple crop production as high value commercial crops posted growth rates of 14.8 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.

        But owing to the devastation wrought by the super typhoons, mango and coffee continued to slump with negative growths of 0.8 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

        Dayao said the total corn production last year of 142,264 MT from 40,077 MT recorded in 2006 placed the Bicol region at 126 percent sufficiency level, achieving a growth rate of 36 percent.

        “The average yield obtained by farmers for the same year also increased from 1.79 MT per hectare to 2.16 MT per hectare which was attributed to the favorable weather condition and the use of quality seeds and the provision of location specific interventions by the DA and the LGUs,” Dayao explained.

        He added corn farmers obtained an additional earning of P518.9 million that generated 5,767 new jobs for the Bicolanos.