Sharp temperature drops are expected to take place in China in the second half of this month, continuing to pose threat to current wheat and rapeseed crops, and could potentially affect planting progress of for corn, soybeans and spring wheat.
Temperatures across central, eastern and southern China are expected to plunge 4- 10 degree C within the next two days, according to latest weather forecasts.
Experts from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) alerted farmers to pay extra attention to protect current crops from being damaged by colder temperatures.
As of last Saturday, the majority of rapeseed crops in China that are grown along the Yangtze River has entered the phase of blooming, said China Meteorological Center on Monday.
In addition, more than half of winter wheat crops grown in northern China have begun the stage of jointing, meaning that they can be vulnerable to cold weather condition.
Chinese agricultural authorities have repeatedly raised the warning of the current wave of cold snaps in an attempt to minimize the potential damage to current wheat crops, of which the planting was severely delayed last year.
More than 90% of China’s spring harvest is wheat.
In summer 2021, the major flooding in China’s key wheat planting province Henan affected more than 1 million mu (666,667 ha) of acreage and delayed planting by nearly two weeks.
At the same time, spring planting in China has progressed about 4% of total intended acreage as of last week, largely in line with the pace last year, according to MARA.