Li said "dry-breeding" had practiced in the county for seven years and had resulted in stronger seedlings with higher yields.

In the normally rain-abundant Yunnan Province, "wet breeding" is the tradition, but counties like Dayao and Nanhua in northeast and central Yunnan, the area worst affected by the drought, are adopting "dry-breeding" on a large scale.

"Dry-breeding also requires special training, and investment by farmers in polyethylene film and breeding frames for seedlings," said Yang Yanchang.

Shiyang Township, of Dayao County, was aiming for 2,000 mu (133 hectares) of dry-breeding this year, while Tengchong had a target of 40,000 mu, an increase of 10,000 mu from last year, said Yang.

The seedlings would supply 450,000 mu of rice growing area, accounting for 80 percent of the total in the county, Yang said.

The county government also planned to grow 90,000 mu of less water-consuming corn instead of rice, boosting grain output by 200 kg per mu on average, said Yang.

Interplanting corn with potatoes or soybeans was encouraged to raise yields. The county government also aimed to raise tobacco production by 4,500 tonnes, giving locals an extra 80 million yuan (US$11.7 million) in income.

A statement from Yunnan provincial government said the province was broadly adopting less water-consuming crops such as corn to replace rice in a bid to stabilize output, but specific figures were not available.

The Tengchong government also rolled out an 8-billion-yuan investment plan for this year on almost 100 projects, including building highways, hotels, and water channels, to provide jobs for redundant workers.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2010)