Hail hard on Canterbury crops
Crops across a swath of Canterbury’s arable heartland have been damaged or lost to a couple of hailstorms which swept up the South Island’s east coast late last month.
The typhoon caused damage in the central part of the country to the 2013 main season rice crop, harvesting of which was well advanced. It also badly disrupted planting of the current 2013-2014 secondary season, which ends in late December. There is concern many storage facilities may have been destroyed, along with their contents.
While rice production at the national level is likely to remain close to last year's level, the damage at the regional level is more severe. FAO warned farmers in areas hit by the typhoon could face severe food security and livelihood problems if they do not succeed in planting the next crop in the weeks ahead.
The five regions most severely affected by the typhoon in terms of cereal crop losses accounted for one-third of the total rice production in 2012.
"Initial estimates reveal that hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice and other key crops like coconut have been affected due to the typhoon," said Dominique Burgeon, director of FAO's emergency and rehabilitation division.
"Planting of the secondary season, mostly irrigated rice, was well underway and it is expected that crops are severely compromised. If we want to avoid entire regions of the country having to rely on food aid, we need to act now to help vulnerable families to plant or replant by late December."
In addition to providing seeds and fertilisers, rebuilding agricultural infrastructure such as storage and irrigation facilities destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan is critical for the longer-term outlook for the regions' rice production.
FAO has called for $ 24 million for immediate interventions in fisheries and agriculture targeting 250,000 households as part of the UN-coordinated humanitarian Flash Appeal launched on November 12.
The organisation plans to provide farmers with rice and maize seeds, tools, fertiliser and small irrigation equipment so that they can plant during the secondary season. Families will also receive vegetable seeds to help bridge the gap before the next harvest.
Some 13 million people have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan and over four million displaced, according to the latest estimates by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. An estimated 2.5 million people are currently in need of food assistance.
