Severe drought is spreading from the mainland's north and threatening the southern provinces.
In Jiangsu province, 1.13 million hectares were drying up, the Yangtse Evening News reported.
The lack of water hindered the spring ploughing, the paper said.
In the northern province of Shaanxi, the drought was affecting some 667,000 hectares, 40 per cent of the province's farmland, Xinhua reported.
In Ankang prefecture, in the south of the province, 60 per cent of farmland has been hit hard, with 170,000 people affected in what the report called the worst drought on record.
In Huoqiu county, Anhui, 66,000 hectares of farmland were seriously affected by drought as water levels in the county's reservoirs measured only 59 million cubic metres, about one-fifth of reserves held at the same time last year, the Farmer's Daily said.
