Image: Pixabay
China's Ministry of Agriculture is asking local authorities to speed up the harvesting and drying of damaged grain after heavy rains flooded fields of ripe wheat in the country's most important growing region.
Authorities must send emergency teams to drain water from fields, speed up access for harvesters and mobilize drying machines to save as much of the harvest as possible, the ministry said late on Tuesday.
{module Form RD}
China, the world's biggest wheat producer, was expecting a bumper harvest this year. But heavy rains in the southern half of central Henan province last week are raising concerns.
Henan produced 28% from China's 2021 crop of 137 million tons.
Darin Friedrichs, co-founder of Shanghai-based Sitonia Consulting, said it is too early to say how much production will be affected, but “the harvest will definitely be impacted.”
“The harvest was just beginning, and some areas had rainfall anomalies of 400% in the last 10 days,” he added.
Some wheat in southern Henan sprouted after rain, the government-backed Henan Daily said on Wednesday, making it unfit for consumption.
More than 90% of wheat around Nanyang city has sprouted, a local trader said, referring to a county in the south of the province, while Zhumadian county was also affected.
Buyers are purchasing sprouted wheat for between 1,000 yuan ($144.67) and 1,200 yuan per tonne, half the normal price, he said, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The spot wheat price in Zhengzhou fell 1.5% to 2,700 yuan on Monday, pressured by lower quality supplies.
Sprouted wheat is also being seen in northern Shandong province, state media Cngrain.com said.
The Ministry of Agriculture has urged buyers to buy sprouted wheat that can still be used for animal feed or industrial purposes, ensuring it does not go into food.
Source: Ningwei Qin and Dominique Patton | Notícias Agrícolas
