A Farmer's Thirst to Battle the Drought

Wu Youzhi, a farmer in drought-hit Qinglong County, Guizhou Province, collects water in a cave early in the morning of Aug 17, 2011. All of Wu's corn perished because of the drought and he only hopes his tobacco leaves, the output of which he had reduced in half due to a water shortage, can bail him out. Wu said he couldn't count the future on a rainfall, but just hopes all his family and stock have enough water to survive. Every morning, Wu walks about 20 minutes to collect 120 grams water for daily use from a cave. He said his direct economic loss from the drought has accounted to 70,000 yuan (US$ 10,408) this year and he has to put all his hope on next year. A severe drought has ravaged the province since August. In the most badly-hit Qinglong County, a total of 41,000 people haven't had enough drinking water, 25.1 mu crops are affected, with a direct economic loss of 267 million yuan. [Xinhua]