China faces diluted early-season rice harvest as floods drench crops in farming hubs
- Rainfall in China’s hubs for early-season rice threatens to reduce the year’s grain output, presenting a challenge the country’s efforts to maintain food security
![Recent floods in China are threatening the country’s harvest of early-season rice, a dietary staple and a major component of Beijing’s campaign to ensure food security. Photo: Weibo](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/03/82ceaf54-1760-4b74-9cac-2ffe1d8f9e11_a077573a.jpg?itok=W7igy2rm&v=1720000977)
The crop – to be gathered later this month and estimated to account for 13 per cent of China’s total rice production – is sprouting prematurely in the southern and eastern areas of the country after heavy rains that have persisted since mid-June, according to local farmers and agriculture analysts.
“It’s unusual to see so much rain in this season, and rice crops located in low-lying areas have been flooded, so a reduction in output this year is almost certain,” said Ding Yong, a farmer from Xiangyin county in Hunan province – one of the four hub areas where China’s “early rice” is grown.
Streets and farmland were also flooded in Pingjiang, a county near Xiangyin, as the county recorded its highest water levels since 1954 after torrential rains battered the area consistently since June 18, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
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