44 percent of winter wheat areas in China under extreme drought conditions - GIEWS Workstation Release 3.0

[Giuseppe]

44 percent of winter wheat areas in China under extreme drought conditions - GIEWS Workstation Release 3.0

FAO/GIEWS Global Watch

4 February 2009

44 percent of winter wheat areas in China under extreme drought conditions

Severe drought prevails in Northern and Western China, major winter wheat producing areas.

Since the start of the 2008/09 winter wheat season, Northern and Western China have received precipitation levels 70-90 percent below normal.

Drastically lower precipitation severely affected 9.5 million hectares of winter wheat (some 44 percent of total area planted) in the following provinces: Henan, Anhai, Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu.

Potentially affected output amounts to about 10 percent of China?s total annual cereal production.
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<cite cite="http://www.fao.org/giews/english/shortnews/china040209.htm">GIEWS Workstation Release 3.0</cite>

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: 44 percent of winter wheat areas in China under extreme drought conditions - GIEWS Workstation Release 3.0

Potentially affected output amounts to about 10 percent of China?s total annual cereal production.

At least they have sufficient financial reserves to purchase replacement product.

But then, what is the actual volume of that 10%? Given that the US grain reserves are almost nill, is there sufficient capacity outside China (Canada, Australia, etc.) available for purchase?

.

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: 44 percent of winter wheat areas in China under extreme drought conditions - GIEWS Workstation Release 3.0

Drought threatens China wheat production

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Lack of rainfall has led to severe drought in northern China, affecting more than 140 million mu (9.3 million hectares) of wheat, said the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Tuesday.

By February 2, 141 million mu wheat in six major grain production provinces, including Henan, Anhui, Shandong, Shanxi, Gansu and Shaanxi, were hit by drought, Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai said at a video conference called to coordinate drought relief efforts.

The drought is casting a shadow over China's wheat production, as almost 43 percent of the winter crop has been affected. In comparison, nine million mu of wheat suffered from drought in the same period last year.

Sun said little rainfall since last October was the main reason for the prolonged drought in most parts of the northern areas, and frequent cold snaps this winter made the situation worse.

According to Monday's weather report by China Meteorological Administration, severe drought in north China was expected to continue as no rain has been forecasted for the next ten days.

The MOA warned that more wheat crop could perish if drought continues to linger.

To cope with the problem, the MOA asked agricultural departments of every level to collect all of their strength to channel water, enhance irrigation and fertilization.

MOA has sent 12 working teams of experts to the drought-hit provinces, to help farmers on drought relief work.

By Monday, The Ministry of Finance has allocated 100 million yuan (14.6 million U.S. dollars) in emergency funding to help farmers weather the difficulties.

In related development, drought has affected about 1.74 million hectares of crop and caused an economic loss of 1.6 billion yuan (234 million U.S. dollars) in east China's Anhui province, the provincial authority on drought relief said on Tuesday.

The life of some 12.87 million people is threatened by the drought, the provincial civil affairs bureau said.

The provincial government has allocated 10 million yuan from the governor's reserve fund for drought relief. It has also earmarked 15 million yuan to subsidize farmers buying irrigation equipment. The annual 300 million yuan in agricultural material subsidies will be paid to farmers earlier than normal years.

The government also plans to carry out artificial precipitation when weather permits.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/04/content_10759053.htm

 

[Shiloh]

Re: 44 percent of winter wheat areas in China under extreme drought conditions - GIEWS Workstation Release 3.0

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...declares-state-of-emergency-over-drought.html


China declares state of emergency over drought
China has declared a state of emergency after the worst drought in half-a-century wiped out crops in northern China and left millions of people without drinking water.
By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Last Updated: 12:48PM GMT 05 Feb 2009

The northern and central provinces of Henan and Anhui, both of which are major grain producers, estimate that they could lose as much a fifth of their wheat crop.

Both provinces are desperately poor, and home to millions of migrant workers, many of whom have been laid off by factories on China's coast.

Roughly 3.7 million people and 1.9 million head of livestock do not have easy access to water.

China's State Council, the equivalent of a ministerial cabinet, on Thursday ordered another 300 million yuan (?30 million) of aid in addition to the 100 million yuan that has been spent on relief supplies since the end of last year.

President Hu Jintao said that all efforts must be made to save the summer grain harvest.

"With the drought reaching a severity rarely seen in history, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has called a level two emergency," China National Radio reported. Level two is categorised as a "serious" emergency on a four-stage scale, with level one being the worst.

Some areas have seen no rain or snow since November, while Beijing has not had a drop of rain for 100 days. Zong Zhiping, the head forecaster at the China Meteorological Association, said the lack of rainfall was due to a series of cold fronts that have stopped rain clouds reaching China from the Bay of Bengal.

Almost half of China's wheat is grown in just eight provinces, all of which have been affected by the drought. Around 9.5 million hectares of farmland has been hit.

The drought may also make birds more susceptible to avian flu, scientists said. There have been eight cases of bird flu in humans since the start of the year, six more than in the whole of 2008. The Food and Agriculture Organisation has hinted that China may not be reporting a major outbreak of the disease among its poultry.