A farmer with a rape plant that has withered due to frost and the lack of water in Henan province. China's state relief agency has declared a 'Level 2' emergency and ordered urgent channelling of water from well-supplied regions to the arid provinces.
1 comment:
‘Rarely seen’ drought ravages China
Eight northern and central wheat-growing provinces are hit
Reuters
6 February 2009
BEIJING: A severe drought ‘rarely seen in history’ has damaged nearly half of the winter wheat crop in China’s major wheat-growing provinces, and may slow the planting of other crops in spring, the country has announced.
China declared an emergency on Wednesday in eight northern and central provinces hit by the drought - Hebei, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi and Gansu - which has also left nearly four million people without proper drinking water.
In recent days, news broadcasts have shown dry, cracked fields and crops withering in the ground.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao had ordered all-out efforts to fight the drought at a Cabinet meeting yesterday. It said the government has allocated 400 million yuan (S$88 million) to set up a drought relief fund to ensure a good summer harvest.
Government at all levels should give priority to anti-drought work in an effort to stabilise grain production, increase farmers’ income and ensure agricultural production, the State Council said.
The drought threatening about 9.5 million hectares of wheat - a staple crop in northern China - has sent Zhengzhou wheat futures prices up 5 per cent this week.
But physical prices have not moved, with most investors confident that the country’s reserves and last year’s big harvest can offset any fall in wheat production this spring.
Barring significant help from the government, observers expect the reduced harvests to erode, not boost, the already declining rural income of the eight provinces - all reeling from the return of a large number of farmers from coastal cities after they lost factory and construction jobs amid China’s faltering growth.
Analyst Ma Wenfeng told the China Daily that the drought could reduce annual production in major wheat-growing areas by 2 to 5 per cent.
‘The worst-hit regions of Henan and Anhui will see their wheat harvest down by about 20 per cent,’ Mr. Ma said.
Winter wheat, which accounts for about 18 per cent of China’s total annual grain output, is not the only crop at stake. According to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief, one-third of the crops in the areas that have gone without rain or snow since November are severely affected.
Even the capital Beijing has not had rainfall for over 100 days, a situation not seen in 38 years, the China Daily said.
‘The situation is more and more pressing,’ Mr. Wang Chen, director of commodity research at Wanda Futures Company, said. ‘Winter wheat and rapeseed have been damaged, and the planting of corn and soya beans likely will also be affected.’
Luckily, China has had five years of favourable weather and good harvests, allowing the government to stockpile surplus food, he pointed out.
Farmers who hold stocks of wheat, rice and corn would benefit from the higher prices induced by the drought, he said.
The government is apparently not taking comfort in that short-term relief since the drought would ultimately slash China’s grain output and exports.
The state relief agency has declared a ‘Level 2’ emergency and ordered urgent channelling of water from well-supplied regions to the arid provinces.
Mr. Zhang Zhitong, deputy chief of the relief agency, said local officials must make ‘fighting the drought and protecting seedlings a major task’ and expand irrigation coverage.
Easing worries about lost crops, the Agriculture Ministry said that almost 40 per cent of drought-hit wheat areas has been irrigated.
But some reservoirs are still closed. Farmer Wang Baoxi, who lives near the city of Xingtai in the south of Hebei province, said: ‘You can see the wheat is a bit yellow already, but we’re not allowed to irrigate here until after the Lantern Festival (on Feb 9).’
However, some relief from the sky may be in sight. Chinese weathermen have forecast rain and snow in some of the stricken areas starting tomorrow.
Post a Comment