March 25, 2008
China's drought to affect spring planting and winter wheat
Drought has affected the growth of winter wheat and will threaten spring planting in China, the Ministry of Agriculture said late Friday (March 21, 2008)
China's spring planting this year faces the most severe threat in recent years due to a combination of the severe drought, rising prices of inputs such as fertilizer and seedlings, and earlier snow storms that hurt agricultural infrastructure, the ministry said in a statement published on its Web site.
As of March 17, 2.23 million hectares of agricultural crops in northern China have been hit by the drought, 11 percent of which will suffer from output reduction, it said.
Various wheat diseases may also affect wheat output this year.
The ministry said last week that the Chinese wheat harvest will be reduced to some extent by wheat stripe rust, which has expanded after recent snow storms and a slow rise in temperatures.
However, the ministry hopes to keep losses below 5 percent through improving unit yield and acreage expansion.
Meanwhile, China's wheat prices were mostly stable in the week to Monday, with prices in some regions slightly lower on weak demand.
The demand for wheat was light due to the weak flour consumption season and because stable government sales provided the market with enough wheat.
During the weekly auctions, China sold 671,526 tonnes of wheat it bought under the minimum purchase price program, or 15 percent or the 4.47 million tonnes it planned to sell.
The wheat bought under the minimum purchase price program in 2006 and 2007 can meet the market demand until the new harvest season in June, helping to stabilize wheat prices, said Hai Yang, an analyst with Zhengzhou Esunny Information & Technology Co.
Wheat prices are likely to fall slightly in the coming weeks as farmers increase sales volume and wheat reserves companies remain on track to sell old wheat and make room for new wheat, said China Food Business Network in a recent report.
