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4 Mar 05 Asian Drought Affects Millions, Hits Crops, Exports by Vissuta Pothong BANGKOK - A severe Asian drought has left millions of people struggling to find water, damaged crops from India to China and cost millions of dollars in lost exports. In hard-hit Vietnam, desperate farmers burned thorns off cactus to feed the water-storing plants to their thirsty sheep, state television reported this week. Coffee farmers in Daklak, one of Vietnam's major coffee-producing provinces, are facing huge losses due to the dry weather expected to last until early May. "The drought is serious and everybody is longing for rain," a resident of Buon Ma Thuot, the Daklak capital, told Reuters. Millions of people across Asia are becoming increasingly desperate for water, including southern China where farmers and city folk are feeling the pinch. The region should get some rainfall in a few days, but it won't be enough for sugar, coffee, rice and other crops in Yunnan, Guangdong, Hainan and other provinces, the China Daily said. "So far this winter, precipitation has been 50 to 80 percent less than a normal year in the three provinces, making it difficult for millions of rural residents to find sufficient drinking water," the newspaper said. People in the booming southern city of Shenzhen would probably be the first in China to use seawater to flush their toilets, it said. On Hainan, a popular tourist island and major rubber and sugar producer, rivers and farmland have dried up. The government has proposed rationing water in cities, the Xinhua news agency said. In Thailand, where drought has hit 70 of its 76 provinces and affected 8.3 million people, authorities have stopped supplying water for irrigation. "The Agriculture Ministry has instructed related agencies not to divert water from reservoirs for farming because the situation could get worse," Boontin Kotesiri, a senior Thai Cane and Sugar Board official told Reuters. Thailand has spent 2 billion baht ($52 million) since October to distribute water and improve pumping systems in remote villages, the Interior Ministry said. COSTLY The Philippines, one of Asia's largest rice importers, has started building up rice stocks partly due to worries of a supply shortfall due to the El Nino weather pattern. Local meteorologists have said some parts of the country started to feel the impact of a dry spell caused by El Nino as early as last October. Other drought-affected countries did not mention El Nino as a factor, but almost all of them are feeling the financial pinch. The drought has already cost millions of dollars in damaged crops and lost exports. Thailand's losses are estimated at 15 billion baht with another 3 billion baht in lost exports, the Agriculture Ministry said. The drought will shave about 0.18 percent off Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Kasikorn research house said. It has taken a heavy toll on crops in China, fuelling expectations of low yields of rice and sugar. Some estimates suggest the sugar crop will be down 500,000 tonnes from initial forecasts in Guangxi, producer of three-fifths of China's sugar. In Vietnam, coffee, rice and corn crops have been damaged in the Central Highlands, Vietnam's coffee belt which produces 80 percent of its robusta beans, used largely for instant coffee. At least 120,000 hectares (296,520 acres) of coffee, or 30 percent of the coffee area in the Central Highlands, faced water shortages, reports from the local agricultural departments said. Drought has forced Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, to trim its export estimate this year by 15 percent to 8.5 million tonnes from a year ago. India, the world's largest consumer of sugar whose robust demand keeps the market alive, is expected to buy more sugar in coming months to meet domestic shortfalls. ($1=38.30 Baht) links Related articles on Global issues: global warming issues, policies |
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