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Severe dry spell forces corn farmers in China's east to delay planting

After weeks of scorching heat and little rain, farmer Zhang Yunjing had no option but to collect water from a wastewater pipeline to water her parched corn field in China's eastern Shandong province.

Zhang would generally utilize water from a nearby river for the half hectare (1.24 acre) field, but it dried up a month back.

Record heats have swept throughout northwest and east China, a crucial grain producing area, throughout the important corn sowing season, threatening to curb production in the world's second-largest producer and consumer of the grain.

There is no water, Zhang stated. Look, people are going to other towns to collect water. Seeds are not growing without water.

China, also the world's No. 1 corn importer, produced a. record 288.8 million metric heaps in 2015 and intends to grow more. to achieve food security, however climate shocks are positioning big. difficulties.

The farming ministry cautioned today that the dry spell. is impacting the sowing and development of new crops. Beijing has. assigned 443 million yuan ($ 61.1 million) for drought. prevention work such as watering, replanting and adding. fertiliser in seven provinces.

Lower grain output worldwide's top cereal importer will. motivate greater purchases from exporters such as Brazil, the. United States and Argentina, underpinning international rates. and food inflation.

The seven, drought-hit provinces represent approximately 35% of. China's corn production, although some locations are likely to. escape serious damage due to the fact that they have irrigation capacity.

The heat struck Shandong, a major farming province, just. as farmers were concluding their wheat harvest, harming some. of the mature grain.

Shandong has actually planted over 3.32 million hectares of corn so. far this season, in addition to 78,000 hectares of corn and soybean. intercrop planting. That compares with 3.29 million hectares of. corn and 79,933 hectares of intercrop planted by the very same time. in 2015.

Near the capital Jinan, farmers are finding ways to alleviate. the dry spell as they begin to sow corn.

Some growers told that they are delaying planting to. avoid the gruelling heat however still anticipate a poor harvest this. year.

In spite of pressing back his corn sowing from June 5 to June 20,. Chen Fuling stated his seeds will struggle to sprout due to the. dry soil.

We will not have a great harvest this year, he stated.

Some seedlings that have sprouted are revealing signs of heat. tension.

There was no water in the river. I can only blend pesticide. with tap water, another farmer Wang Cuiping stated.

China's emergency management ministry has asked people in. the drought-hit areas, consisting of northwestern Shaanxi,. northern Hebei and Shanxi, eastern Anhui and Shandong along with. central Henan, to secure water and food production.

Analysts said the drought, if lengthened, will impact newly. emerged seedlings, but a larger concern is the upcoming La Nina. weather condition pattern which typically brings heavy rain to the area. and might damage crops.

La Nina is anticipated to emerge in late summertime, normally the. end of September, according to China's meteorological. department.

The summertime corn crop is generally gathered around. October.

The dry spell did have some influence on corn planting but it is. not a huge issue now due to the fact that the watering system is really. reliable in a lot of areas of North China, stated Rosa Wang, expert. at Shanghai-based agro-consultancy JCI.

Near Zhang's farm, where many small plotholders still. count on manual watering, a group of sweat-drenched farmers. braved the heat to repair a well that had been unused for over. 30 years. They tried to include a high-pressure water pump to. draw water from underground.

Every year after the wheat harvest is done, it typically. rains within 10 days. It has actually been 20 days and the rain has not. fallen, Jiang Xueyuan said.

We have planted the corn too late, even after the fall,. it will not develop in time. The money for seeds and pesticides. will be lost..

(source: Reuters)