China to irrigate most drought-hit wheat within 10 days

China expects most wheat affected by drought to be irrigated within 10 days, the secretary general of the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief, said at a news conference Tuesday (February 10).

Daily irrigation is expected to cover 600,000 hectares, Er Jingping said.

The area affected by drought in China's major wheat producing regions has been cut by 15 percent as of Monday thanks to rain and irrigation, according to the office.

About 8.7 million hectares of wheat in the eight provinces are still affected, down 1.5 million hectares from Saturday's peak, the office said in a statement published on its Web site.

Wheat area under severe drought conditions has been reduced by 1.02 million hectares to 2.6 million hectares, it said.

The total area of all crops hit by the drought has also been reduced by 1.6 million hectares to 9.1 million hectares, while total crop area under severe conditions has dropped 1.04 million hectares to 2.65 million hectares as of Monday, it said.