February 15, 2008

Snow seen to benefit winter wheat in China's Henan

Despite reports of widespread crop damage following the January snowstorm, winter wheat crop in some regions of Henan province may benefit from it, according to a local analyst.

Wei Zhongsheng, chief economist of the province's Agricultural Bureau, said in a recent interview that more than 130,000 hectares of wheat crop in Henan, which had been affected by drought prior to the heavy snowfall, will get to have their surface soil moisture level recharged.

The melting snow will provide adequate moisture, which will further aid crop maturation, in the spring season. Immediately after January's snowfall, wheat farmers in Henan had preoccupied themselves with applying fertilizers, hoping to reap a bumper harvest in June.

Henan province is a major wheat production region in northern China. Harvest of winter wheat from the province had been rising in the past four years.