14/02/2011

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has urged the government to keep on with its aid efforts for drought-stricken areas. Yu Zhenwen, of the MOA, has said that the recent snowfall, which started on Wednesday (9^th Fimage expired

Precipitiation in the parched wheat growing regions, which cover 7.22 million hectares, has ranged between 5 and 10mm. The drought is expected to affect two thirds of China’s 112 million tonne wheat crop, which will have devastating implications for availability and price of wheat around the world.   

Too early to assess damage to crop

However, agricultural experts at Shandong Agrcultural University have said it is too early to assess the damage to the wheat harvest. Speaking to the New York Times, Mr Wang of Shandong University explained that the experts’ assessments were not optimistic, but instead revealed the precariousness of China’s situation, “We are in the winter months now, when it is typically drier anyway, so the seedlings should still be alive. But if the weather turns warmer and there is still no rain, then we will not be talking about lower agricultural production, but rather zero production, because the seedlings will all be dead.”

While supply and demand for wheat in China are currently balanced, the effects of a failed crop would mean other global regions could experience shortages if China is forced to import wheat. Speculators in Chicago, a global wheat benchmark, have expressed fears that a worsening of the drought could drive up global prices, which are still at their highest levels since 2008.

In efforts to combat the drought massive amounts have been paid out to farmers and local governments to help the cost of irrigation. Last week’s snow and rainfall were thanks, in part, to meteorologists, who fired artillery shells and truck and aircraft-mounted rockets loaded with ‘cloud seeding’ silver iodide. Officials say that thanks to these efforts, one-tenth of the drought-stricken area has received adequate moisture.

Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultant, a firm with ties to the Ministry of Agriculture, says that the winter wheat crop constitutes over 90 percent of the country’s supply. China is the world’s largest wheat grower, accounting for one-sixth of the world output.