August 25, 2009

The serious drought in China's main soy producing region will not translate to crop failure if there is rainfall over the next month and the frost is delayed, Niu Dun, vice minister for Agriculture, said on Monday (Aug 24).

While on the sidelines of a conference in Beijing, Niu told Reuters that the Chinese government had already taken active measures including emergency irrigation to rectify the situation. He added that the government is also adopting technological measures such as artificial rain and irrigation to relieve the drought impact as well as considering replanting and adjusting the mix of crops.

The drought in the major agricultural regions of the northeast began in late July and up to 8.67 million hectares of crops are under threat as a result, China's Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief said on Sunday (Aug 23).

According to the anti-drought authority, 4.61 million people and 4.05 million heads of cattle are facing water shortages and it warned the problem could spread to the southern region as high temperatures continue to prevail.

Jilin province, which produces 13 percent of China's grain harvest, had an 80 percent drop in rainfall compared with normal levels, local officials said last week.

The neighbouring Heilongjiang province which produced 40 percent of China's total soy crop last year, was also badly affected by the ongoing drought.