Photo/Illutration Rice plants are seen lodged down and withered before harvesting in Marumori, Miyagi Prefecture, on Oct. 23. (Shinjiro Omiya)

The amount of damage to the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry wrought by Typhoon No. 15 and No. 19, which devastated eastern Japan this autumn, topped 170 billion yen ($1.56 billion) as of Oct. 27, according to the government’s calculation.

Given that overall damage has yet to be tallied, the amount will likely rise even further. In addition, Typhoon No. 21 unleashed major flooding in areas mainly in Chiba Prefecture on Oct. 25.

The typhoons have left a major scar on the farming industry in the midst of harvest season.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries calculated the damage based on reports from prefectures it received by Oct. 27.

According to the calculation, the damage wreaked by Typhoon No. 15, which made landfall on Sept. 9, is 50.9 billion yen while Typhoon No. 19, which struck the country on Oct. 12, left behind 122 billion yen in damage in its wake.

Destruction brought by the two typhoons includes about 33,000 hectares of agricultural products and fruit, more than 670,000 livestock and around 26,000 agricultural greenhouses and other facilities.

It was confirmed that approximately 8,000 sections of farmland sustained damage and some 9,000 agricultural facilities were also damaged.

However, the full extent of the devastation is still unknown since there is much damage that prefectures have been unable to identify.

In particular, local governments are adding to the tab about several billion yen a day by reporting newly discovered damage caused by Typhoon No. 19. The total is expected to continue rising.

On Oct. 25, record rainfall brought by Typhoon No. 21 caused flooding in municipalities such as Ichihara, Mobara and Sakura in Chiba Prefecture.

The amount of losses has not yet been calculated, but damage has been confirmed to agricultural products, including leeks, strawberries, Japanese radishes and soybeans, as well as farmland, livestock barns, forest roads and fishing ports in 38 municipalities in the prefecture, according to the prefectural government.

To prevent farmers from leaving the industry, the government drew up comprehensive measures to support those who suffered damage from Typhoon No. 15.

The measures include a no-interest loan as well as a system that allows farmers to undertake recovery work even before the government decides to provide subsidies if they can prepare a minimum amount of documents.

The government adopted these measures for damage brought by Typhoon No. 19 as well and plans to soon announce additional measures, taking into account the destruction from the powerful storm that brought record rain and winds to eastern Japan.