China wheat areas on drought alert; water levels at 50-yr lows

 

 

A series of drought alerts have been issued for parts of northeast and central China amid worsening parched weather conditions.

 

Anhui provincial authorities issued a red alert for drought conditions Sunday, as a lack of rain threatened close to 70 percent of its wheat crop, a statement on the China Meteorological Administration's Web site said Tuesday (February 3).

 

Water levels are around 50-year lows, it said.

 

In Hebei province, drought threatened 1 million hectares and 400,000 residents, the statement said.

 

Henan provincial authorities issued a red alert for drought conditions Thursday, during the Chinese New Year holidays.

 

It was the first time the province had declared a red alert, the highest level of drought warning, said a separate report on the China Meteorological Administration's Web site.

 

Drought conditions began to set in around November, the report said.

 

The meteorological administration said it dispatched officials to investigate drought conditions in Shanxi province, which went on a lower-level orange alert January 20.

 

China has two alert conditions for droughts, the administration said on its Web site.

 

Technically, a red alert means drought indicators have reached beyond 50-year lows, or 60 percent of crops or livestock are affected.

 

An orange alert means drought indicators have reached 25-50 year lows, or 40 percent of crops or livestock are affected.

 

The authorities have also sent three rainmaking planes and ordered preparations for fighting forest fires, the statement said.

 

Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei and Jiangsu provinces' agricultural areas are all facing extraordinarily dry weather, the official Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.

 

Shaanxi provincial authorities forecast the drought would affect more than 60 percent of crops north of the Huaihe River and said nearly 1 million people and 160,000 heads of livestock face water shortages, the report said.

 

According to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief, droughts in northern China are already affecting 9.6 million hectares of crops, while 3.7 million people and 1.85 million heads of livestock may face difficulties accessing drinking water.

 

The Ministry of Finance has set aside RMB100 million (US$14.7 million) in emergency funding for drought relief.

 

China's lack of investment in modern irrigation technology is partly to blame, the report said, quoting Duan Aiming, head of irrigation research at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

 

Duan could not be reached Wednesday for comment.