By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-06 15:27

Heavy snow and sleet before and during Spring Festival damaged 11.8 million hectares in south and east China alone, says the Ministry of Agriculture. Worse still, according to China Meteorological Administration, the harshest winter in 50 years could be followed by a drought in the east and floods elsewhere.

In the north, drought has affected about 11.1 million hectares of arable land since last winter, says the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. The severity of the drought can be gauged from the fact that about 120,000 wells in Hebei and Shanxi have run or almost run dry.

All these have prompted the central government to allocate more than 500 billion yuan to the farming sector and rural regions - the amount is about 30 percent more than last year's. But money needs the support of advanced science and technology to streamline agricultural production and boost the yield.

Grains' prices have been rising throughout the world because many countries are importing it to improve their food security. And rising crude oil prices, which crossed $100 a barrel last Friday, are likely to push up grains' price further.

The heavy snow and sleet disrupted movement of transport, especially those carrying food products, for four weeks in the country, pushing up inflation to an 11-year high of 7.1 percent last month. Prices of agricultural products increased sharply. Normally, it takes one or two months for the inflationary pressure to be transferred to manufactured and processed food products, and when that happens inflation could rise further.

That's why the year will be tough not only for farmers, but also for agriculture policymakers, Jiang says.

Premier Wen knows it. That's why he has made provincial governors assume responsibility for the "rice bag" (grain supply) program and city mayors for the "vegetable basket" (non-staple food supply) program in his work report. The responsibility policy first appeared in a premier's work report in 1995, but was discontinued after 1998. The policy proved effective in curbing inflation, which stood at 20 percent in 1994.

It's expected to bear results this time too, and make life better for consumers, as well as farmers.

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