Rain ends record-breaking drought in China's breadbasket

Central China's Henan province has lifted a drought emergency response as days of rain have finally relieved the country's major grain producer from the worst drought in 63 years.

The provincial drought relief headquarters told Xinhua on Wednesday that an average of 49 mm of rainfall every day since Friday has saved Henan from the three-month drought, which inflicted on the province a direct economic loss of at least 7.3 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), 97 percent of it in the agricultural sector.

Even in the worst-hit cities such as Pingdingshan and Xuchang, the water supply has fully resumed.

The rain has also recharged the thirsty 21 large and medium-sized reservoirs in Henan. Their total storage had risen to 2.03 billion cubic meters as of Tuesday, an increase of more than 200 million cubic meters from mid-August, when the drought was at its worst, said the headquarters.

Precipitation in Henan since June was 50 to 70 percent less than past averages, drying up a third of its small reservoirs and more than half of its small and medium-sized rivers.

The drought worsened from late July as the province raised its emergency response to the highest-possible level for drought.

As one of China's most populous provinces and its second-largest producer of food crops, Henan was horrified to see the drought affect nearly 23.1 million mu (1.54 million hectares) of farmland, one-fourth of its total. Some 273,800 people were left without water in mid-August.

The province has allocated more than 2.14 billion yuan ($348 million) to fight the drought by digging wells and building more irrigation works.

The dry period saw the city cut off water supply to car wash businesses, commercial swimming pools and public baths. Major water-consuming enterprises were ordered to restrict their consumption.

In the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, the municipal power grid restricted power supply for some residential compounds, enterprises and business operators for four days last week.