Last Updated :
16 March 2010 at 13:45 IST
Drought hits farm land in China, spoils 4mn hectares
BEIJING (Commodity Online): China’s south-western region of Guangxi Zhuang and other provinces is faced with the severe drought situation which is feared to worsen as days go by hitting agricultural farm lands in the region.
The ministry of agriculture in China had issued a statement saying that the drought, since autumn last year, had affected 61.31 million mu (4.09 million hectares) of farm land in southwest China.
According to statistics from the local agriculture bureau, rainfall in the region has decreased from 400 millimeters in the 1970s to less than 100 millimeters in the last five years. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) revealed the figures that the average annual crop losses due to drought in China were 75.7 billion yuan (USD 15.49 billion) from 1988 to 2004, while annual losses due to flood were 51.1 billion yuan.
The ongoing drought in China's southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is feared to hit sugar output. Output in the region, which produces more than 60% of China's sugar, is likely to fall by 8% to 7 million metric tons.
The Chinese authorities predicted the drought would worsen, as the peak season for water consumption in spring ploughing would begin soon.
According to agriculture experts, the drought might continue till May, and the impact will intensify. Currently, about 33 million mu (2.20 Million hectares) of total farm land area has been seriously damaged. The acreage falls under Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces and Chongqing Municipality.
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