Drought in China Hurts Rice, Corn Crops

Doane Agricultural Services posted the following item on our content site:

8/18/2006 -- A drought in south-central China has spread to three more provinces, hurting corn and rice crops, according to the National Grain and Oils Information Center. The municipality of Chongqing and Sichuan Province have been hit the hardest by the drought, which is now damaging crops in Hunan, Hubei and Anhui Provinces, according to the report from the information center, which is an affiliate of the State Grain Administration. Drought conditions throughout China have destroyed 665,000 hectares, or 1.64 million acres, and "affected" 6.7 million hectares of crops over the past three months, according to a report by Xinhua, the official press agency. Xinhua reported that it is the worst drought conditions in 50 years for the region. South-central China typically accounts for about one tenth of the country's corn output.