Drought develops in China's corn and soyabean areas

Drought in China's north-east, the country's top corn and soyabean 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 north-east, 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. China is second only to Russia in landmass, and extreme weather in one region can be offset by favourable weather in another. Drought damages about 22.5 million hectares of crops, or about 18 percent of the country's total arable land, Cheng noted.
"The drought is quite serious, and it could reduce the production a lot if it lasts for another week or two," said an analyst with the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre.
Domestic corn prices have not reacted to the drought. Dalian corn futures lost about 8 percent this month after Beijing vowed to curb the development of the corn processing industry. Physical prices also fell this week after feed mills turned to cheaper wheat.