Wheat crop may suffer, but prices will be stable: officials
Rainfall, irrigation help ease effects of months-long drought
Mainland agricultural officials have said the severe drought affecting the country could hurt winter wheat production, but that grain prices would not increase.
Wei Chaoan, vice-minister of agriculture, said the drought had affected nearly half of the country's winter wheat fields, peaking at about 22 million hectares in 15 provinces. Disease outbreaks, pests, and unfavourable weather conditions such as dry winds and cold spells in spring were also threatening grain output.
However, he also said the area of land where crops were affected had dropped by a quarter since the peak of the disaster on Saturday, due to rain and increased irrigation.
Many wheat-growing regions in northern China, which are in the grip of the worst drought in five decades, got rain yesterday, Xinhua reported. Beijing also welcomed its first rainfall in 110 days, with a noticeable drop in temperatures as a cold drizzle and occasional light showers fell on the city throughout the day.
Although more rain was forecast for the next few days, Mr Wei said it was still uncertain whether a good summer harvest would be possible.
'A bumper summer harvest is still likely' if the drought did not worsen and the government's anti-disaster measures were implemented, said Mr Wei. 'As long as we step up efforts in dealing with the drought and work hard on growing the seedlings, we can minimise the losses.'
His remarks were echoed by several other mainland officials including E Jingping, vice-minister of water resources, who have tried to tone down talk of the impact of the drought this week.
Extensive media coverage of the disaster has stoked widespread pessimism over wheat production and prompted questions about the role that human factors, such as waste and poor funding for agriculture, have played in the disaster.
Zhao Guangcai, a wheat production expert at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, confirmed that wheat production would be affected by the drought, but said the impact would be slight.
He said that 420,000 hectares of winter wheat had withered since November.
According to Mr Wei, 40 per cent of winter wheat crops were still affected by drought.
He also said the drought had substantially raised the cost of wheat production for farmers due to greater water use and higher prices for fertilizer to control crop diseases.
Although Beijing has earmarked money to subsidise farmers, he said it was not enough to help them offset the surging production cost or 'protect their enthusiasm in farming'.
But grain prices would remain relatively stable and the country's grain supplies have not been affected, he said. 'China has ample reserves after five consecutive years of bumper harvests ... and the state has enough grain to regulate the market [prices].'
Moderate rain was expected across northern and eastern China in coming days, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
