Henan Province has experienced the highest temperature weather since 1961. Due to drought and lack of water, the land has become so hard that even an iron shovel can’t dig into it. Some farmers have been forced to give up irrigating their crops.
On August 4th, several videos showing the drought in Henan went viral online. In one video, a farmer mentioned that they had already watered their land four times, but due to the water shortage, they had to give up planting peanuts.
A farmer in Zhumadian said that it hasn’t rained in the area for two months, leaving the land so dry that even an iron shovel couldn’t break through. The elders in the village have never witnessed such a phenomenon even after living to be eighty or ninety years old.
The farmer mentioned that they planted over twenty mu of corn, and while the corn stalks had grown over two meters tall, the cobs were small and lacked kernels. The peanuts also failed to produce fruit, so they had to use the corn stalks as cattle feed. The loss per mu is around 500 yuan. Previously, one mu could yield one thousand kilograms, but now it can only produce about two hundred kilograms. Even if it rains now, it would be of no use to the crops.
Videos also show the severity of the drought in Henan this year, where farmers held soil in their hands and it crumbled like sand without any moisture.
A farmer named Zhang mentioned to media that his children were working elsewhere, leaving only him and his elderly partner. To water their corn, he would get up at three or four in the morning to queue up at the well with his own pump and hoses. “Everyone needs to water their fields, so we line up. Once one household finishes watering, the well becomes available for the next in line,” he explained.
Even though the temperature often reaches around 40 degrees Celsius at noon, Zhang and his partner still wear long sleeves and sun hats while watering the fields to prevent being scratched by the corn leaves. After watering for half a day, their clothes are soaked. He mentioned that it is currently the time for corn to tassel, and the high temperatures may have an impact on the yield.
According to Xinhua News Agency, since July, Henan has been experiencing continuous high temperatures, with some areas seeing temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius for several days in a row. Media outlets reported that Henan has received at least 70% less rainfall this year, leading to 16 areas in the province reaching severe drought levels, affecting at least 3.23 million mu of land that cannot be planted.
On July 4, CCTV reported that Henan has been facing consecutive high temperature and drought conditions since July. Meteorological data shows that the average temperature in Henan was 30.5 degrees Celsius in July, which is 3.2 degrees Celsius higher than the same period in previous years, the highest since 1961. The high temperatures have exacerbated the drought, with 55% of stations in Henan experiencing severe or higher levels of meteorological drought, particularly in areas like Zhumadian, Zhoukou, and Luohe.
According to the high temperature warning issued by the China Meteorological Administration on the 4th, parts of North China, Southern Shaanxi, most of Huang-Huai, Jianghan, western Jiang-Huai, western Jiangnan, Central and Southern Jiangbei, Sichuan Basin, and the Turpan Basin in Xinjiang had temperatures ranging from 35 to 39 degrees Celsius during the day. Some areas in Southern Shaanxi, Western Hubei, and the Sichuan Basin could even reach temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.