SICHUAN BRACED TO FIGHT DROUGHT
The Sichuan government has ordered that
any work or meeting which interferes with the fight against
drought must be cancelled or postponed to save time, energy and
manpower, the People's Daily domestic edition said.
    Sichuan is one of six provinces threatened by drought.
    Wen Wei Po, a Hong Kong daily, said the drought, the worst
for more than 20 years, is affecting nearly two mln hectares in
100 counties in Sichuan, the country's biggest agricultural
producer.
    Sichuan has experienced temperatures three degrees
Centigrade higher than normal and rainfall up to 70 pct less
than normal since early February, affecting wheat, oil-bearing
crops, rice planting and dryland cash crops, it said.
    The paper said 43,000 hectares in Meixian county in
Guangdong are seriously short of water.
    The People's Daily said Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Hebei are
also suffering from drought.
    Henan's grain output fell by 2.5 mln tonnes last year from
the 1985 level because of drought which has been affecting the
province since May.
 REUTER
