China Allots USD28 Million for Disaster Relief as Heavy Rains Hit Henan Wheat Harvest

Parts of Henan, a major agricultural province in central China, recently experienced continuous heavy rains, severely affecting the wheat harvest. To mitigate the losses, the finance ministry has earmarked CNY200 million (USD28 million) to disaster relief funds.

The funds, released on June 3, will be used to support Henan’s rush to harvest wheat with farm machinery as well as dry the harvested damp wheat, so as to minimize the crop-related losses caused by heavy rainfall, according to a statement on the ministry’s website today.

Henan is a major wheat grower, accounting for about a quarter of China’s output. From May 25 to early this month, coinciding exactly with the wheat harvest season, the southern parts of Henan had continuous downpours that hindered the harvest.

If mature wheat is not harvested in time, it is prone to germination or even mildew in rainy weather, affecting its yield and quality, according to experts.

Various regions in Henan have rushed to reap wheat in the face of unfavorable weather conditions. As of 5 p.m. on June 3, the province had harvested 29,400 square kilometers of wheat, accounting for about 51.7 percent of Henan’s planted crop, data from the provincial agriculture department showed.

The recent rains will harm the quality of wheat from Henan, but the overall impact still calls for further evaluation, noted Zheng Wenhui, a grain economy researcher at the Guangdong South China Grain Trading Center. Wheat prices may rise slightly before the situation becomes clearer, but there is no room for big gains or falls, she told Yicai Global earlier.

Tags: harvest, weather, wheat, output, heavy rains, losses, Henan, China