Cyclone Larry Crop/Damage Assessments

Fruit Tree Losses click here

Here is a link to the Department of State Development Trade and Innovation which lists descriptions and relevant links to all grants, loans and assistance for Larry, offered by participating departments and institutions.

http://www.sdi.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v3/guis/templates/content/gui_cue_cntnhtml.cfm?id=33704

if the above doesn't work .... try this one

http://www.sdi.qld.gov.au/cyclone

12 April 2006

Hello Members,

The question of claims for taro losses from Cyclone Larry have been raised by affected members. We have put together this claims form with regards to crop losses, production losses, infrastructure losses , clean-up costs and redevelopment costs.

We've raided the DPI&F Tropical Fruit Crop Losses Form as a template. This appears to be implemented through the direction of General Cosgrove and Geo Sciences. Part of the renumeration package is an assessment of the impact of various crops in cyclone prone areas. i.e Percentages of damage in relation to crop numbers and effects on specimens. Even though TGA hasn't formally been notified to my knowledge, at least this info is entered in the your claims form (should you need it ) and hopefully will help satisfy these departments.

NB: After further discussion it was decided it may assist your claim ( Centrelink prefers a more black and white approach) by having yield losses represented by a percentage of your total crop being entered as a crop loss.

John and Philippe have come up with some guidelines to help in your assessments if need be:

• Density of Plants per acre = 8,000 - 10,000 (average 9,000)
• Density of Plants per hectare = 20,000 - 25,000 (average 23,500)
• Volume ( mature corm weight) = 1.5 - 2.5 kilo (average 2.0 kg)
• Market price at present = $2.50 -$3.50 kg (average $3.00kg)

There are things to consider :

• Taro that has bent over, will at least break feeder roots & could sustain 10%- 25% yield loss.
• Also bent over taro may get sun exposure, which will cause sunburn, & could lead to up to a 100% loss
• Shredded leaves causes plant stress & could expect 10%-25% yield loss.
• Uprooted taro maybe 100% loss if not harvested , or up to 50% loss if harvested early.
• Crop stress could induce the plant to mature 2-3 months earlier resulting in yield loss from the early maturity.
• Generally, taro in cyclonic conditions will sustain some form of plant stress, thus effecting full development , that would not have normally happened prior to cyclone exposure.

The above are just guidelines and not hard and fast rules. Your own crop may differ and ultimately requires your individual valuation.

Claims can be made for:

• Infrastructure damage, i.e packing sheds , tools, cartons etc
• Clean up costs ( your time & charges from contractors) i.e trees , debris removed.
• Re-establishment or re-structuration costs, e.g replanting, repairs i.e. plumbing, fittings, electrical work to premises

You'll need the Centrelink Business Assistance Claim form, photographs if possible showing an indication of damage, and maybe a copy of drivers licence, rates or power bill (as proof of identity & residence.)

Claims closure is June 30 at Centrelink. The business Assistance Claim form can be obtained from www.centrelink.gov.au. They have offices at Innisfail, Atherton and Cairns. They also have temporary offices at 55 Munro St Babinda, Gumbadda, 6 Watkins St Tully and Tully Visitor Information Centre . You can also contact Centrelink's Tropical Cyclone Larry Relief Hotline on - 180 2002 to have the forms sent to you.

Included is an example form Value of Taro Crop Lost to help with filling out details, and some examples if you need them:

You have 3000 plants all were subject to wind damage which you estimate caused 15 % loss of yield over all (100%) of your plants. If you have trouble to work out how many plants this is , use this Formula A

Formula A: Plant number multiplied by the percentage of loss, divide this by 100 , the result is the number of affected plants.

i.e In this case, 3000 (plants) X 15 (percentage of loss) = 45,000. Divide 45,000 by 100, the result of 450 is the number of affected plants.

Now you can work out your yield loss. Multiply 450 plants by 2kg ( your estimated expected yield per plant at harvest) .This comes to 900kg. Then multiply this by the market price @ $3.00 kg and the estimated value of crop lost is $2,700.00

So you'd enter this on the Value of Crop Lost form (as in the example form)

Crop 1 3 month old

Number of taro planted 3000 % Taro losses 15% Estimated crop yield (kg/plant) 2kg Estimated average value ($/kg) $3.00 Estimated value ($) of crop lost $2,700.00

Here's a slightly tougher one.. if you have experienced multiple damage to the same crop:

e.g You have 1000 plants, 10% (100 plants) of these suffered 100% loss ( Corms snapped or pulled out) The remaining 90 % of your 1000 plants (900 plants) have suffered 25% yield loss from early maturing. Here you will have to apply a bit of rocket science and work out what 25% of 90% is, which is 22.5% . (see Formula B below ) You'd add this 22.5% and the 10% (from your 100 totally destroyed plants) and arrive at 32.5 % loss for the crop of 1000 plants

Now you can use Formula A if need be, to work out how many plants 32.5% of 1000 is (325 plants)

Formula B: to work out 25% of 90%

Multiply a percentage by the percentage, divide by 100 to get the crop damage percentage. In this example: 25 (25%) x 90 (90%) = 2250 (then divide by 100) = 22.5 (22.5%)

Thus on the Value of Crop Lost form you can now enter:

Crop 2 6 month old

Number of taro planted 1000 % Taro losses 32.5% Estimated crop yield (kg/plant) 2kg Estimated average value ($/kg) $3.00 Estimated value ($) of crop lost $1950.00

If you are working on plant numbers and wish to know the percentage, then divide the damaged plant number by the total number of plants in your crop and multiply by 100.

i.e You have 3000 plants of which 500 are damaged , so 500 divided by 3000 = 0.16666

0.1666 X 100 = 16.6 16.6% is the amount of damaged plants in your crop

Good Luck....

Sam

Secretary, Taro Growers Australia Inc

Example Value of Taro crop lost.pdf

Value of Taro crop lost.pdf

If you have Excel and wish to edit or enter data to the form:

Value of Taro crop lost.xls