It’s the worst drought in the past 50 years in China – it’s so bad that many corn fields are facing “zero harvest”, threatening the country’s food security for the first time in a very long time.
The northeastern Manchurian Plain, often referred to as China’s bread-basket was hit the hardest by the dry weather. In the nearby province of Liaoning, there has been no rain at all since late July. To make things even worse, the future looks even drier for agricultural China. According to the state broadcaster CCTV, the drought is impacting more than one-third of China, with the situation becoming worse every day. Add the fact that more than 20% of Chinese farmlands are polluted and a gruesome picture begins to unfold.
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All in all, the state-owned SDIC Zhonggu Futures brokerage is predicting a 40-million-ton corn deficit this summer. With 1.2 billion mouths to feed in China, such a deficit can be threatening. But even more threatening than the present is the future. With climate constantly getting warmer across the globe, sadly, drought also becomes much more common. Some areas of the US are experience unprecedented droughts, which threaten crops and also pose wildfire risks.