A villager pumps water to irrigate his wheat farmland at Hancun Township in Huaibei City, east China's Anhui Province, on February 17, 2009. Local residents continue to water their wheat seedlings to ensure the growth after the most severe drought hit northern and eastern China in half a century. [Xinhua]

A local villager pumps water to irrigate his wheat farmland at Hancun Township in Huaibei City, east China's Anhui Province, on February 17, 2009. Local residents continue to water their wheat seedlings to ensure the growth after the most severe drought hit northern and eastern China in half a century. [Xinhua]