The prolonged drought in the southwest is threatening regions responsible for over 80 per cent of the world's production of star anise, source of a key ingredient in the flu-fighting antiviral drug Tamiflu.
Guangxi and Yunnan , two of the provinces hit hardest by the once-in-a-century drought, have forecast dramatic falls in star anise production and corresponding price increases.
Star anise, called bat gok in Cantonese and ba jiao in Putonghua, is a common cooking spice in northern cuisine and also a key raw material used to produce Tamiflu, one of two antiviral drugs recommended by the World Health Organisation last year to treat patients infected with swine flu. Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant that makes Tamiflu, buys huge amounts of star anise from China to extract shikimic acid, the active ingredient in the drug.
Industry insiders say the two provinces account for more than 90 per cent of China's star anise production.
In Guangxi, the nation's biggest star anise grower with 350,000 hectares of farmland devoted to the tree and an annual output of 80,000 tonnes, months of drought have disturbed the growing cycles, leaving many trees unable to produce flowers or fruits.
Yang Wende, president of Guangxi 's Star Anise Association, the province's biggest star anise farmers' union, said at least 30 per cent of trees had been affected by the drought.