Severe drought in northern China has affected about 145 million mu (9.67 million hectares) of crops, 40 million mu more than the same period last winter, according to the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Sunday.

Photo taken on January 22, 2009 shows wheat cropland threatened by the drought in Shuanglong Village, Yongxing Township, Lixin County, Anhui Province.

About 137 million mu of wheat cropland was threatened by the drought, which began last November, including 39.9 million mu seriously affected.

Drought had left 3.7 million people and 1.85 million livestock with no access to drinking water, according to sources with the office.

The headquarters has sent four working teams to eight crop-producing provinces which were worst affected, including Hebei, Shaanxi, Anhui and Jiangsu, to instruct farmers on the relief work.

Secretary of the office E Jingpin said Sunday at a working conference that local relief teams should fully assess the situation and work out solutions tailored for the conditions.

He said the water resources allocation should be integrated to ensure equal distribution.

The office issued an emergency notice to the drought-hit provinces and stressed the relief work should be given priority. Efforts should be made to ensure residents had drinking water and to expand the irrigation areas.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has allocated 100 million yuan (US$14.6 million) of emergency funding to help farmers weather 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 of farmland had been irrigated, and drinking water shortages had been eased for about 500,000 people and 280,000 livestock.