China: food security of cereals is at risk due to extreme weather phenomena
Grain-related food security in China could come under strain this summer, as several ministries have warned that extreme weather conditions, including droughts and floods, could afflict agricultural areas in the coming months.
The warning from China's Emergency Management Ministry came as the central province of Henan likely lost more than 20 million tons of grain this spring due to longer-than-expected rainfall before harvest, while crops in the southwestern province of Yunnan have been hit hard by persistent droughts. In this map, to help you understand better, you see China divided by provinces
Here are the Chinese cereal regions
An analysis, published on the ministry's website on Friday, predicted that northeast and northern China, home to some of the country's major wheat-producing provinces, could experience heavy rains, floods and hailstorms from June to June. August.
According to the report, there is a significant risk of flooding in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, Songliao River, Songhua River and Heilongjiang River, among others.
These areas include Henan, China's largest wheat-producing province, and the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, known as China's "breadbasket", along with other major wheat producers.
According to the government's analysis, while the north may be at a higher risk of disasters related to excessive rainfall, the south has a high probability of experiencing drought.
Chongqing Municipality and Sichuan Province, both major suppliers of aluminum and home to renewable energy plants, could experience a 20-50% reduction in rainfall, increasing the risk of summer drought.
Meanwhile, eastern China, which serves as a key engine of economic growth, could experience typhoon-related disasters as storms land earlier than usual this year.
Beijing has repeatedly declared food security an urgent priority, and President Xi Jinping has called agriculture a "major national security issue".
In recent years, Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to ensure the country has enough food to feed its 1.4 billion people. However, a series of extreme spring weather events and the latest forecasts could hamper China's efforts to safeguard its food security and exacerbate concerns about the country's economic recovery.
A total of 184 national weather stations across China recorded extreme events from March to May, with temperatures from 77 stations hitting or exceeding historic records during the same period, according to another report released by China's national climate center. .
Beijing urges a total commitment to limit the consequences of the damage caused by the rain and invites farmers to harvest the wheat as soon as possible, but this could lead to crops of very low quality for human consumption and suitable only for fodder.
China's average temperatures were hotter than usual from March to May, ranking seventh on records, while overall rainfall hit its lowest level since 2012 during the period, according to the climate center.
Extreme weather varied across regions, with southern and southwestern China experiencing below-average rainfall in spring, while northern and central China experienced above-average rainfall.
Yunnan province in the southwest has been facing severe winter and spring drought, which has negatively affected the growth of spring crops. The province is China's second largest source of hydroelectricity, with 80 percent of the local electricity supply coming from hydroelectricity, but the drought has caused a decline in electricity generation due to low water inflow.
Food security is very important to the Chinese government because it guarantees economic stability, with food inflation control, and political/social stability. Food shortages can lead to social dissatisfaction movements that question the leadership of the CCP, and this is unacceptable to the government.
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The article China: the food security of cereals is at risk due to extreme atmospheric phenomena comes from Scenari Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/cina-la-sicurezza-alimentare-dei-cereali-e-a-rischio-per-i-fenomeni-atmosferici-estremi/ on Sun, 04 Jun 2023 10:17:37 +0000.