NE China, Nation's Breadbasket, Facing Protracted Drought - Reuters

BEIJING - Drought in China's northeast, the country's top corn and soybean region, is likely to last for another week at least and could seriously undermine grains production, agricultural officials said on Wednesday. The province of Jilin, the country's top corn producer, has received almost no rain for more than two months, an official in the Jilin agricultural department said.

"We got no rain since crops were planted in mid-April. High temperatures, particularly in June, have worsened the situation. If it continues, crops will be damaged," the official said. The province tried cloud seeding but only succeeded in triggering between 10-20 mm (.4-.8 inches) of rain, far from enough, she told Reuters.

"The impact (of drought) on the agricultural sector is very big," Cheng Dianlong, vice director of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said in an interview posted on the central government website this week. Two-thirds of farmland in Liaoning province of Liaoning were hit with drought as well as grassland in Inner Mongolia, said Cheng.

The drought has threatened drinking water supplies in the northeast, known as the "grain silo" of the country, said Cheng. Drought hit the central part of Heilongjiang, the country's top soybean area, with rain not expected until July, local agricultural officials said.

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