March 21, 2008

China's grain crop may be affected by diseases brought on by snowstorm

Chinese wheat and rapeseed harvests may be reduced to some extent by grain-specific diseases, the Ministry of Agriculture said on its Web site Friday (March 21, 2008).

However, the losses would be minimised to less than 5 percent for wheat and less than 10 percent for rapeseed.

Wheat stripe rust and rapeseed stem rot have expanded rapidly as a result of snow storms in southern China during January and February and a slow rise in temperatures, the ministry said.

Damage caused directly by the snow storms reduced the winter rapeseed crop this year to about the same level as 2007, despite increased acreage, according to estimates made by industry participants.