Chinese farmers struggle in the heat as reservoir shrinks
STORY: Selling his produce along a street in Jinan in eastern China, 56-year-old farmer Li Weidong says the city is as hot as a stove.
The capital of Shandong province has been struggling with scorching heat for over a month.
On Wednesday (June 19) authorities in the province declared an orange heat alert.
A nearby reservoir – though not completely dried-up – is showing signs of distress.
Li says the water used to be much closer to the road.
“When it was not dried up, the water was just a couple of meters away from the road. Now it’s shrunk, now it’s dried up. The irrigation for farmland and drinking water supply for the city both depend on it."
This 70-year-old farmer in Jinan says she planted apples, peaches and other crops during this summer's planting season.
She estimates 90% of those crops are now damaged.
"Even with the drought in the 1960s, it wasn't as dry as it is this year," she says. "Back then, it still rained once or twice in the spring, but this year, it hasn’t rained even once.”
In some parts of the wheat-growing provinces of Hebei, Henan and Shandong, temperatures could reach upwards of 111 degrees Fahrenheit, potentially breaking historical records for the month of June, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.
