Race to rescue flooded farmland

China has mobilized emergency agricultural task forces across its eastern provinces to drain submerged farmland and contain potential livestock disease outbreaks, following Typhoon Dolphin and the unprecedented rainfall that drenched the region last week.

Typhoon Dolphin made landfall in Zhejiang province on Aug 9, bringing the heaviest typhoon rainfall recorded in the province since at least 1949, local meteorological data showed.

Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, along with Shanghai, are major national production bases for crops, fisheries and animal husbandry. The regions feature advanced greenhouse facilities and well-developed grain and vegetable planting bases that help ensure stable domestic supplies of grain and horticultural products.

Their vast coastal waters and sophisticated marine aquaculture systems also form the backbone of China's offshore fishing industry, while standardized livestock breeding operations underpin a steady supply of meat.

To accelerate post-disaster recovery, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has dispatched six working groups and 11 professional technical teams to the worst-hit areas, the ministry said on Thursday.

Composed of agronomists, veterinarians and aquaculture experts, the teams are conducting field-by-field damage assessments and providing on-site guidance on drainage, crop replanting, facility disinfection and the resumption of fishing operations.

The ministry said it had deployed drainage and rescue equipment, guided provinces in dredging 373,000 hectares of farmland drainage ditches, pumped out standing water and repaired damaged facilities to ease waterlogging.

It also promoted foliar spraying for autumn crops to strengthen their resilience and accelerate regrowth.

The ministry has released guidelines on livestock epidemic prevention following flooding to prevent secondary outbreaks. It has also coordinated fishing suspensions in the East China Sea with coastal provinces and arranged safety training for nearly 40,000 boat operators, it said.

The National Meteorological Center said on Tuesday that Typhoon Dolphin had dissipated over Hubei province, but warned that its residual circulation was still expected to bring heavy rainfall to major wheat, corn and cotton-producing areas south of the Yellow River and in North China in the coming days.

Accelerated agricultural insurance payouts have complemented government relief efforts to ease farmers' financial burdens.

According to the National Financial Regulatory Administration, China's insurance industry had received nearly 130,000 claims related to Typhoon Dolphin as of Wednesday, with estimated losses of 1.75 billion yuan ($259.5 million). Claims were filed across six provincial-level regions — Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui and Henan — with payouts and advance payments totaling 80 million yuan as of the same deadline.

The regulator has directed insurers to expedite claim settlements, open green channels and make advance payments where appropriate, while coordinating with local governments on disaster relief efforts.

The typhoon is the latest in a string of extreme weather events to batter major farming belts as summer harvests get underway, and the autumn grain season — which contributes to about three-quarters of China's annual grain output — draws near.

lilei@chinadaily.com.cn