Drought spreads in China's largest soy area

A drought in China's Heilongjiang Province, the country's largest soy producer, is spreading to more areas and the threat could extend at least another week, the local agricultural authority said.

Drought has been spreading from the province's western parts to the eastern and northern parts, and 60 counties are now suffering from the dry weather.

Forecasts to the end of May showed rainfall would be inadequate while higher-than-normal temperatures would continue this week, according to the local weather bureau.

Farmers in Heilongjiang reduced soy plantings this year after the government's stockpiling failed to support prices and led to a large volume of cheap imports.

The local government has estimated soy acreage to decline 10 to 15 percent.

Rainfall in Heilongjiang, which is also a major corn growing area, has been 65-percent lower than usual, while the region's average temperature was 2.9 degrees Centigrade (37.22F) higher this month, causing drought conditions for 5.27 million hectares of farmland, the Heilongjiang Agriculture Commission said.

The dry weather has affected nearly half of the farmland in Heilongjiang province, the Commission said.

Earlier this month, a government think-tank forecast China's soy production to drop 3.2 percent to 15 million tonnes.