Crops threatened by heat, drought

Warm winter weather combined with the prolonged drought that has gripped a wide swathe of China have put crops at risk across the country, officials have said.

Unseasonably high temperatures last winter caused wheat, the country's second most important crop after rice, to grow extraordinarily fast in many areas, making it more vulnerable to drastic weather changes, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.

The average temperature during the past winter was minus 2.4 C, nearly 2 C higher than normal, official statistics showed.