Rains in China's major corn and cotton producing provinces this week will give much needed relief to drought-stricken fields, although some areas risk being hit by floods, the country's weather bureau said. Drought concerns in China, the world's second-largest consumer and producer of corn, have already pushed domestic corn futures to their highest since early May. Wet weather will support output and curb additional US imports.
As much as 150 millimetres of rain was expected to fall in provinces north of the Yangtze river, including Hebei, Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu and Anhui, the National Meteorological Centre said on Monday. Many farmers along the Yellow River and Huai River north of the Yangtze had delayed planting corn because of the drought. As rains improve soil moisture, the centre is urging farmers to resume planting or switch to early maturing crops.
The areas around the Yellow and Huai rivers make up the second-largest corn producing region in China, with combined annual output accounting for more than 30 percent of the country's total. Cotton output in the region ranks second after Xinjiang. Still, the region is not yet out of the woods and farmers should watch out for possible flooding.
"The amount of rainfall would greatly ease the drought situation ... but heavy rains in some areas may turn the drought to floods," the centre said, without specifying which areas were at risk. Excessive rains and lower-than-normal temperatures may also threaten crops in the country's top corn area in the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, with some corn and soy crops hit by a disease outbreak, the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre said.
Comments
Comments are closed.