Chinese drought reduces rice harvest by millions of tonnes: report

BEIJING (AFP) Aug 13, 2003
A devastating drought hitting large swathes of China's most fertile agricultural areas will lead to millions of tonnes of rice going to waste, state media said Wednesday.

The drought, combined with a policy to reduce the national farmland area, means this year's rice output is likely to reach just 168 million tonnes, down 3.7 percent from last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, the State Cereal and Oil Information Center, which made the prediction, did not expect great damage to the market, because China has sufficient rice storage, the agency reported.

More than 6.5 million hectares (16 million acres) of farmland in 11 different Chinese provinces were impacted by the drought as of late July, Xinhua said.

TERRA.WIRE