Chinese wheat bounces back from drought

BEIJING, June 29 (UPI) -- China's wheat harvest is set to grow for the sixth year in a row despite an earlier drought and recent torrential rains, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

Around 90 percent of the estimated 122.5 million tons has been harvested, the ministry told national media outlets.

Harvesting has finished in the provinces of Yunan, Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and the city of Chongqing. Some crops remain to be harvested in Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia and the northern Shanxi and Hebei provinces.

In many areas farmers had been battling major drought conditions as early as last November. When rains did come in late May, it was a case of too much too fast and created havoc within some farming communities.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported in late May and early June that severe thunderstorms and hail in the central and eastern parts of the country had delayed harvesting. While farmers in Henan, Shandong and Hebei provinces were using their cell phones to organize harvesting strategies within communities, severe rains and flooding claimed 60 lives and destroyed wheat crops in other parts of the country.

"Hailstones as big as walnuts," according to farmers, destroyed more than 2,000 hectares of wheat and corn parts of Hebei province. A further 3,200 hectares of crops were damaged, the ministry said.

The worst drought in 60 years had gripped Henan province, which produces around a quarter of China's grains. Officials reported at the start of the growing season that the lack of water had withered around 240,000 hectares of newly seeded wheat.

The central government estimated in early 2009 that nearly 5 million people and between 2 million and 3 million livestock lacked adequate drinking water.

Analysts were concerned that a poor wheat harvest -- after rice, China's second-largest crop -- would drive up global wheat prices. A poor wheat harvest also could have had grave social implications, they said.

The global financial crisis has forced closure of some of China's manufacturing plants, and workers have been returning to their rural homes. With little work offered by failing crops, authorities were concerned of local unrest. The central government acted quickly in February, and ministry officials toured some of the worst drought-affected areas. Subsidies to farmers were increased several fold and sent early.

Meanwhile, water authorities opened dams, allowing reservoirs to irrigate fields, and fleets of water trucks were sent to villages whose wells were drying up. A program to drill bore holes was put in place as well as the seeding of clouds with rocket shells containing rain-inducing silver iodide particles.

This past week China said it will end export taxes on wheat, rice and soybean starting July 1 to spur exports, the Finance Ministry said.

Many parts of China will remain susceptible to flooding until the end of August. The National Meteorological Center has warned that extreme weather conditions including typhoons and drought will persist throughout the rest of the year.