Ministry of Agriculture Makes All-Out Efforts to Promote Disaster Relief and Ensure a Bumper Autumn Grain Harvest

Data from the Ministry of Agriculture show that, as of now, the drought-affected crop area nationwide has reached 58.68 million mu, with 14.53 million mu severely affected, concentrated in Henan, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and other places. Among them, Henan is the hardest-hit area, with the drought-affected area approaching half of the national total. In response to the ongoing drought in some parts of China, Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu, during an inspection of the drought in Henan from August 1 to 2, said that agricultural departments at all levels must pay close attention to changes in the drought, carry out the “four strengthenings” to make all-out efforts to promote disaster relief work in drought-affected areas, and ensure a stable and bumper autumn grain harvest this year.

In Xuchang, Pingdingshan and other places in Henan, Han Changfu went deep into the fields to inspect the drought, ask about water conservancy, and check crop growth, requiring agricultural departments at all levels to carry out the “four strengthenings” and strive to achieve less in severely drought-affected areas, no in lightly drought-affected areas, and higher yields in non-drought areas, so as to ensure the realization of the goals of stable grain production and increased grain output: First, strengthen the implementation of responsibilities at all levels, reinforce organizational leadership, go deep into the hardest-hit areas to “station at selected spots and cover designated areas,” and guide drought relief work in all localities; second, strengthen the concept of scientific drought relief, organize experts and agricultural technicians to go “to the fields and to the households” to personally teach drought-resistant and seedling-protection techniques. Reasonably grasp the order of drought relief, provide classified guidance, irrigate where irrigation conditions exist and protect what can be protected, and promptly switch to or replant short-growing-season crops where irrigation conditions do not exist; third, strengthen cooperation with departments of finance, water conservancy, meteorology and others, and promptly implement and allocate funds for agricultural production disaster prevention and relief; fourth, strengthen monitoring and control of pests and diseases, pay close attention to pest dynamics in drought-affected areas, and organize unified prevention and control.

It is reported that, in order to respond to the ongoing drought, the Ministry of Agriculture has organized the “Action to Fight Disasters Scientifically and Win a Bumper Autumn Grain Harvest,” organized experts to formulate regional and crop-specific scientific and technological drought-relief technical plans, and dispatched multiple rounds of drought-relief working groups to severely drought-affected areas such as Henan, Anhui and Shaanxi to assess the impact of the drought on agricultural production and formulate relevant drought-relief technical plans; Henan Province, in turn, made all-out efforts to organize drought-relief irrigation and dispatched 13,000 agricultural technicians to go deep into the fields to carry out technical publicity and guidance.

According to forecasts by meteorological departments, in August the drought in North China, the Huang-Huai region, the Jianghuai region, the Jianghan region and other places may continue or worsen, creating an unfavorable situation of continuous drought in summer and autumn, and the drought-relief situation is not optimistic.