Rain has become a rarity this winter in northern and eastern China. The most severe drought in 60 years in parts of grain-producing provinces such as Henan, Shandong and Hebei has made it imperative for the central and local government to focus on the role of irrigation in agricultural production.

Many parts of Henan province, the country's top wheat producer, have had no rain or snow for more than two months. On an inspection tour in Henan on Saturday, Premier Wen Jiabao said that the construction of irrigation works had fallen behind agricultural development and was a bottleneck impeding the further growth of agriculture, which would have an impact on the country's food security in the long run. He called on local governments to overhaul water resources facilities and to construct anti-drought emergency water projects.

In neighboring Shandong province, more than 2 million hectares of wheat are seriously affected by the drought. The precipitation has been only 11 millimeters in more than three months. Some 240,000 residents are finding it difficult to obtain enough water for their daily use. If the drought continues until April, the total area of wheat affected will increase to 2.6 million hectares.