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China Storms Wallop Winter Crops

Worst storms in 50 years wreak 'catastrophic' impact on food supply

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 31, 2008 6:05 AM CST
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(Newser) – Winter storms battering China have hit crops hard, the AP reports. "The impact on fresh vegetables and on fruit in some places has been catastrophic," said a Communist Party official, who added that emergency plans were in place to ensure a food supply to people and protect what crops remain. China's worst winter storms in 50 years have already triggered steep hikes in food and fuel prices, and future shortages are likely to drive inflation up further.

Eastern and central China have been struggling with fierce storms for weeks. Greenhouses that supply winter produce have collapsed, and vegetables and fruit are rotting in warehouses or on trucks blocked by impassable roads. Fish and poultry farms have also been hit hard. The price of vegetables has doubled in some areas. Officials fear that if the storms move north, the entire year's grain crop could be seriously affected.

The remains of an outdoor market are seen after it collapsed following a heavy snowfall in Loudi, in central China's Hunan province, Tuesday Jan. 29, 2008. China struggled Wednesday to cope with its worst winter storms in five decades, with transportation snarled and cities paralyzed, and more bad weather forecast....
The remains of an outdoor market are seen after it collapsed following a heavy snowfall in Loudi, in central China's Hunan province, Tuesday Jan. 29, 2008. China struggled Wednesday to cope with its worst...   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, some wild macaques hold each other against cold in Qianling Park, Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou province, on Monday January 28, 2008. As the freezing weather continues, the wild macaques raised in the open air of Qianling Park lived a...
In this photo released by the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, some wild macaques hold each other against cold in Qianling Park, Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou province, on Monday January 28,...   (Associated Press)
A worker clean the snow at Yuyuan Garden, one of the most popular tourism sites in town, Monday Jan. 28, 2008 in Shanghai, China. China's government promised Monday to increase output of gasoline, coal and power to ease shortages amid severe winter weather that has forced rationing in some areas....
A worker clean the snow at Yuyuan Garden, one of the most popular tourism sites in town, Monday Jan. 28, 2008 in Shanghai, China. China's government promised Monday to increase output of gasoline, coal...   (Associated Press)
A woman carries vegetables through a snow-covered field in Xiangfan, in central China's Hubei province Monday Jan. 21, 2008. The death toll from a heavy snowfall that created traffic chaos in central China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday rose to 17 Tuesday as Beijing told local governments to...
A woman carries vegetables through a snow-covered field in Xiangfan, in central China's Hubei province Monday Jan. 21, 2008. The death toll from a heavy snowfall that created traffic chaos in central...   (Associated Press)
Paramilitary police clear snow off an expressway in Nanjing, in east China's Jiangsu province Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. China sent nearly half a million soldiers to clear roads as the country struggled Wednesday to cope with winter storms that have snarled transportation during the country's most important holiday travel period....
Paramilitary police clear snow off an expressway in Nanjing, in east China's Jiangsu province Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. China sent nearly half a million soldiers to clear roads as the country struggled...   (Associated Press)
Trucks are trapped at the Yunmeihua Exit on the snow-covered Beijing-Zhuhai Highway in Shaoguan of south China's Guangdong province Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. China sent nearly half a million soldiers to clear roads as the country struggled Wednesday to cope with winter storms that have snarled transportation during the country's...
Trucks are trapped at the Yunmeihua Exit on the snow-covered Beijing-Zhuhai Highway in Shaoguan of south China's Guangdong province Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. China sent nearly half a million soldiers...   (Associated Press)
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Economy adrift as snow keeps falling
Associated Press

Snow chaos to continue
BBC

Government tries to stop storms causing political damage
BusinessWeek

Propaganda push to comfort stranded Chinese
Reuters

 
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