Rain, irrigation bring relief to drought areas

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com | 02-09-2009 13:32

Click for more news in News Hour>>

The Ministry of Agriculture says irrigation has brought water to over half of the crop land used to grow wheat in drought-hit provinces.

People irrigate a wheat field in Laocheng Township of Changge  County, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 3, 2009. Henan,  one of China's key wheat producing regions, has suffered  from drought since Oct. 24, 2008. Some 2.9 million hectares  of farmland in Henan were affected.(Xinhua/Zhao Peng)

Parts of north China enjoyed long-awaited rain during the weekend. But authorities also took the opportunity to create artificial rain in the hope of alleviating drought conditions.

Thanks to rain and irrigation, the area of farmland suffering drought in north China has been reduced by 133,000 hectares. But the current situation remains bad, as over 10.1 million hectares of land used to grow wheat are still affected.

The Ministry of Water Resources says it will divert water from the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers to irrigate drought-stricken farmland.