China drought likely to last, threatening winter wheat
A farmer scatters fertilizer in a field sown with winter wheat crop on the outskirts of Zhengzhou, Henan province February 13, 2009. Drought gripping China's farming heartland will not drive the country to make big international wheat purchases as it has adequate reserves, industry officials said. Dry weather will continue in China's major wheat producing regions, but reservoirs have enough water to meet demand in the peak period and timely irrigation could reduce the damage, a senior drought relief official said on Tuesday. REUTERS

China's ongoing drought in northern wheat areas is likely to continue, threatening the winter crop, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday.

The drought worsened in some wheat areas that haven't seen precipitation recently despite a slight decrease in the overall size of the drought-hit region as of Wednesday, said the ministry in a statement published on its web site.

For areas that have received precipitation or irrigation recently, the drought may reappear with rising temperature, as wheat needs increasing volume of water when temperature increases, it said.

Meanwhile, the drought is likely to further develop in northern wheat areas in the second half of this month as waterfalls will be less than normal years while the temperature will be higher according to weather forecast, the ministry added.

The price rise in wheat futures traded in China eased after snowfalls in north China helped to ease the drought somewhat.

China's most traded wheat futures contract, Zhengzhou wheat for September delivery, fell 0.96 percent to 2,990 yuan per tonne on Thursday.

Below is a table showing the changes in drought-hit areas and severely affected areas in eight major wheat producing provinces.

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