China experienced serious drought this year, which was the worst
for a decade, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief
Headquarters said on Friday.
The drought affected 39.93 million hectares of farmland, of
which 3.49 million has reported nil yield. As a result, the country
lost 37.36 billion kilograms of grain and 42.24 billion yuan (5.69
billion U.S. dollars) worth of cash crops, with 9.26 billion yuan
in direct economic loss for the forestry and aquatic farming
sectors.
According to the headquarters, 20.44 million urbanites, 27.56
million rural people and 20.6 million head of livestock suffered
limited supplies of drinking water.
In related developments, the headquarters said this year
typhoons affected 42.17 million people, with 62 deaths and another
23 missing. They also affected 2.08 million hectares of farmland
and destroyed 79,200 houses, with 7.24 million people evacuated and
29.7 billion yuan in direct economic losses.
Floods affected 5.3 million hectares of farmland and 180 million
people, with 1,203 deaths and 107.1 billion yuan in direct economic
losses.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2007)
