China said it will use rain-generating chemicals to attempt to safeguard its grain harvest from a record drought, as industries in the southwest waited to learn if they would shut down for another week owing to a lack of water for hydropower.
The warmest and driest summer since China began collecting and recording data 61 years ago has caused crops to wither, leaving reservoirs half-empty. Temperatures hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
According to southern China’s rice harvest, the next 10 days are a crucial time for damage resistance, according to Agriculture Minister Tang Renjian, speaking to the Global Times.
Tang continued by announcing that the government would act right now to ensure the autumn grain harvest, which makes up 75% of China’s annual total.
According to the agricultural ministry’s website, authorities will try to increase rainfall by dousing areas in chemicals and spraying crops with a water-retentive compound to reduce evaporation. However, the website does not indicate where this would be done.
As President Xi Jinping, the nation’s most powerful leader in decades, prepares to defy convention and seek a third five-year term as leader at a gathering in October or November, such turmoil is making the task facing the ruling Communist Party more difficult.
A decrease in China’s grain output might have an impact on the entire world, increasing the demand for imports and adding to the strain on the US and European economies’ multi-decade high inflation rates.
In Sichuan Province, thousands of factories that make solar panels, computer chips, and other industrial goods awaited the outcome of last week’s six-day shutdown on Sunday.
There was no official confirmation, but a social media post supposedly from the Sichuan Information Industry and Economy Administration indicated that the closure will be extended until Thursday.
The governments of Sichuan and the neighbouring Hubei Province assert that millions of people have been affected by the destruction of hundreds of acres of crops despite the fact that calls to the economic department and the provincial administration have gone unanswered.
The Hubei government declared a state of emergency on Saturday due to the drought and stated that it will issue disaster aid, while the Sichuan administration reported that 819,000 people lacked access to clean drinking water.
Sichuan is especially affected by the drought because 80% of its energy comes from hydroelectric dams. The provincial government has already urged enterprises to stop producing electric power and claims that reservoir water levels have decreased by half.
Sichuan’s department stores and malls were required to turn off their lights and air conditioning, and the province’s subway system reported turning off hundreds of lights at stations.
In times of drought, China employs rain to protect grain harvests.
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