Snowfall eases drought in China
By IANSFriday, February 11, 2011
BEIJING - Widespread snowfall in the past two days has helped ease a severe drought gripping China’s winter wheat producing regions, said officials.
The snowfall occurred in the areas along the Yangtze, Huaihe and Yellow rivers, the country’s winter wheat producing regions, China Daily reported Friday.
The Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said that irrigation also contributed to easing the effects of the drought.
Eight drought-hit provinces of Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Anhui, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and Jiangsu, which account for 52 percent of China’s winter wheat production, are being irrigated.
The drought has affected more than 100 million hectares of crops and two million livestock. It has also affected over two million people.
Cloud seeding carried out on Wednesday and Thursday helped alleviate drought in some regions, the China Meteorological Administration said.
It added that artificial precipitation also helped mitigate the shortage of moisture in the soil in parts of Henan and Anhui provinces. The situation is expected to improve as the snowfall is likely to continue.
