(3) Agriculture, Facing Difficulties, Still Hopeful of Good Harvest
[CND, 09/07/97] With severe drought continuing in vast areas of north China,
the central government is handling agriculture with cautious optimism, the
Agence France Presse reported from Beijing. In a domestically distributed
administrative document, the State Drought Relief Headquarters and the
Ministry of Water Resources warned local authorities the potential of "an
extremely long period of difficulties". This year's drought is allegedly the
worst for the part thirty years, according to some official report.
At the same time, the English language China Daily cited an official from
the Agriculture Ministry, saying that it is still possible for the overall
harvest this year to catch the record-high level of 490 million tons last
year. Summer harvest this year has a 10.7 million tons increase, compared
to last year, and weather forecast in south China seems good for securing
rice output, the official said. (Guochen WAN)