[Video] Chinese farmers’ cry for help amid extreme weather
Chinese farmers are bearing the brunt of extreme weather events. Severe droughts in the north and deadly floods in the south are causing havoc. ThinkChina’s Yi Jina looks at the issue.
On 9 June, China’s National Meteorological Center issued the first orange alert of 2024, the second-highest level, for high temperatures in the north. By 14 June, 228 national meteorological stations reported daily maximum temperatures above 40°C. On 24 June, the first red alert, the highest level, for rainstorms in the south was issued.
Persistent drought has affected more than 1.2 million hectares of crops in Shandong province, 647,000 hectares in Shanxi province, and over 40% of the total area for agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry in Inner Mongolia. Torrential floods have also damaged extensive areas of crops in Anhui, Chongqing and Hunan.
To mitigate the damage, the Chinese authorities have allocated 499 million RMB and 417 million RMB of funds respectively for flood-hit and drought-affected regions.
Despite these efforts, many farmers have not received the aid they need, and the damage already caused cannot be entirely reversed. Some have lost as much as 90% of their crops, leaving them devastated. “There’s no solution,” one farmer told Reuters in an interview.
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