Northeast China is experiencing its severest drought in 63 years.
The area of crops affected by the drought in Liaoning, Jilin and Inner Mongolia covers about 730,000 acres, accounting for 60 percent of all the drought-affected crop areas across the country.
As China’s main commodity grain base, Jilin province has seen a 62 percent drop in precipitation compared with previous years, causing total failure of crops in some counties. Drought affected areas are expected to further expand in the next 10 days.
In neighboring Liaoning province, the drought is spreading fast, with affected areas expanding 24 times in 15 days to 4 million acres.
Since July, the average precipitation levels of Liaoning and Jilin province have been their lowest since 1951.