Droughts put north China on red alert

Photo taken on Feb. 2, 2009 shows the droughty rape field in Zhaobao Township of Luoyang city, central China's Henan Province. (Chinese media Photo)
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by Chinese media writers Yang Bo and Zhang Xingjun

BEIJING, Feb.2 (Chinese media) -- "The wheat grass gets so

dry that it catches fire! I've never seen this in my whole life," said

50-year-old Wei Liuding in Baisha village, Muzhong County of North China's Henan

Province.

Wang Hongwei, a farmer from Putaojia Village of

Henan's Lankao County, grievingly held a grasp of wheat grass roots in his hand.

"All the wheat in my land is dying like this," he told a Chinese media reporter.

Photo taken on Feb. 2, 2009 shows the droughty reservoir in Yiyang County of Luoyang city, central China's Henan Province. (Chinese media Photo)
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Henan, China's major grain producer, issued a red

alert for drought Thursday. The provincial meteorological bureau said the

drought is the worst since 1951. The drought have affected about 63 percent of

the province's 78.9 million mu (5.26 million hectares) of wheat.

But Henan Province is not the only victim in thirsty

northern China.

Anhui Province issued a red drought alert Sunday,

forecasting a major drought that will plague more than 60 percent of the crops

north of the Huaihe River is no rain is reported by next week.

Shanxi Province was put on orange drought alert on

Jan. 21, as nearly one million people and 160,000 heads of livestock are facing

water shortage.

Provinces such as Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei and

Jiangsu are also reeling from droughts.

According to the Office of State Flood Control and

Drought Relief Headquarters on Sunday, the droughts in northern China have

affected about 145 million mu (9.67 million hectares) of crops, and have left

3.7 million people and 1.85 million livestock with poor access to drinking

water.

Secretary of the office E Jingping said the

headquarters sent four working teams to eight provinces to supervise the drought

relief work.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has allocated 100

million yuan (14.6 million U.S. dollars) in emergency funding to help ease the

drought.

E said about 1.38 billion yuan had been used to fund

the relief work since the end of December. Some 74.60 million mu (4.97million

hectares) of farmland have been irrigated, and drinking water shortages have

been eased for about 500,000 people and 280,000 livestock.

The irrigation system in the drought area is under a

crucial test. The water flow under Xiaolangdi Dam on the Yellow River reached

550 cubic meters per second as of 2 p.m. Saturday, to help soothe the drought in

Henan Province.

"The water in my well is very deep today," Wei

Liuding told Chinese media reporter Sunday.

"Although we were informed that the government's

subsidies will be soon handed out to households, I decided not to merely rely on

the government, and I am now irrigating the lands for four hours a day at my own

expense."

But with a family of five, Wang Hongwei was more

worried.

"Though we irrigate the lands now, the production

will surely see a big drop. Like many other people in our village, I am thinking

about doing odd jobs in the town to earn some extra cash."

Li Xin, an advocate for the income and rights of

farmers and migrant workers who opened a company to sue false seed producers,

said, "Even if the farmers go to towns and cities to work, their pays will wane

as the financial crisis continues to loom."

Duan Aiming, head of the Irrigation Research Center

of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, said the current drought has

"sound an alarm to the water resource utility in northern China".

"Much water is being wasted, because many mature

irrigation technologies cannot be put into practice for lack of funds, and the

input on irrigation infrastructure is not enough," said Duan.

"Only by a long-term improvement of the irrigation

system can the government realize its goal of increasing the grain yield and the

farmers' income," said Li.

In the first document of the year issued jointly by

the State Council and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on

Sunday, local authorities were urged to take measures to avoid declining grain

production, ensure the steady expansion of agriculture and rural stability.

"The foundation for securing steady and relatively fast economic growth is based upon agriculture; the toughest work of securing and improving people's livelihoods stays with farmers," it said.

Villagers irrigate the droughty wheat field with water from well in Gaoshan Township of Luoyang city, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 2, 2009. (Chinese media Photo)
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