Mobilizing local resources

Jia Simin from Chengjiaji Town, Bozhou City, Anhui told a reporter that government subsidies of 1,000 yuan for each piece of irrigating equipment he bought would cover about one-third of the cost.

In Anhui Province, where losses have reached about 1.6 billion yuan, the provincial government allocated 10 million yuan from its reserves for drought relief and seedling protection, 15 million yuan in special subsidies for equipment and another 300 million yuan for farmers to buy relief materials.

In Gansu, one of the hardest-hit areas, new technology was emphasized, as professionals taught farmers to use plastic film to keep water in the soil and prevent evaporation. The province used that method on 1.4 million mu of land in the autumn. It hopes to popularize the measure and save another 5 million mu of crops during this season.

Shanxi Province, in central China, has been channeling water from the Yellow River to irrigate farmland. Before the Spring Festival, which began in late January, a pumping station was built along the river.

Also, three pumping stations in Linyi County, Yuncheng City were put into use. They provide more than 40,000 cubic meters of water to about 8,000 mu of farmland in seven nearby villages every day.

In central Henan Province, the local government allocated a total of 555 million yuan for drought relief fund by Thursday and irrigated about 50 million mu of farmland.

The province also aimed to irrigate all of its 70 million mu of wheat.

"Although we were told that government subsidies were coming soon, I decided not to rely only on the government. I am now irrigating my land four hours a day at my own expense," said 50-year-old Wei Liuding in Baisha Village, Muzhong County in Henan.

Sufficient stockpile to ensure grain supply

For China, wheat production accounts for more than 20 percent of the country's grain output every year. Wheat planted in winter makes up 90 percent of the total wheat production for the whole year.

"The drought is expected to reduce wheat production by less than five percent," said Ma Wenfeng, an analysis with Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant, Ltd..

He added, in some areas such as Henan and Anhui, the output will probably decrease by twenty percent from that of last year.

However, experts with the MOA noted grain supply this year will meet the demand from the market, and there is no need for people to worry about supply shortage.

Ma Yongliang, rural economy research center head with the MOA said China experience grain harvests in the past five consecutive years, and the wheat stockpile is abundant.

"In other circumstances, the country will increase import or auction national grain reserves to increase supply and stable price," he said.

China's grain output hit 528.5 million tonnes in 2008, representing an increase of 26.9 million tonnes or 5.4 percent over that of 2007. Oil and sugar output are estimated to realize a year-on-year increase of 12 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2009)