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Crops dry up as drought drags on

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A prolonged and severe drought that has ravaged some of China's major grain-producing areas is raising concern about the next harvest, says the Ministry of Agriculture.

Farmers water a wheat field at Yangzhuang Village in Linyi City, east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 8, 2011. [Xinhua]

By Feb 4, the arid conditions had affected more than 6.4 million hectares of wheat, or about 35 percent of the crop planted in the affected areas.

The ministry said the drought has affected eight major grain-producing provinces and has been building since October.

The eight provinces together produce more than 80 percent of the country's winter wheat, the ministry explained, adding that the situation might worsen as temperatures rise during the crucial spring growing season and significantly damage this summer's harvest.

In a bid to deal with the difficult problem the drought has caused, the ministry has asked agricultural departments at all levels to strengthen their efforts to channel water to affected areas, enhance irrigation and ensure the availability of fertilizer.

It has also sent working groups of experts to drought-hit provinces to help farmers mitigate the damage.

The Ministry of Agriculture plans to hold a national meeting via video hookup on Wednesday so additional ways to combat the drought can be discussed.

Meanwhile, authorities in drought-hit regions are taking steps to ensure thirsty fields are irrigated.

East China's Shandong province, the nation's second-biggest wheat producer, is suffering its most severe drought for six decades and has only seen 12 millimeters of rain since September, 85 percent less than usual, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Even though 4,000 pumping stations are supplying water, the situation in the province is severe.

Data from the provincial meteorological bureau shows that the drought will be Shandong's worst for 200 years if there is no significant precipitation before the end of February, Xinhua reported.

In Shandong's mountainous Sishui county, where there has not been any rain for three months, 16,700 hectares of wheat have been affected and may produce lower yields, China Central Television reported on Monday.

"The current growing situation for wheat is worse than it has been for years," the report quoted farmer Li Fengtao as saying.

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