Drought affects 4.6 million in China

Beijing: China's anti-drought authority has urged for more efforts to fight drought in the north of the country that is affecting some 4.6 million people, and warned of a possible drought in the south.

The drought in the north was threatening 8.67 million hectares of crops, the office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Saturday.

About 4 million hectares of crops are seriously affected and 4.61 million people and 4.05 million heads of livestock were facing difficulty in accessing drinking water, the headquarters said.

The drought has affected north and northeast China since late July. Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture raised the emergency response level to the drought to three and asked local governments to strive to ensure least possible reduction in agricultural output.

The ministry has dispatched three working teams to organise anti-drought efforts in the worst-hit provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Inner Mongolia.

IANS