Rainfall and irrigation have brought some relief to drought-hit areas in northern China over the last few days. And attention is now turning to protecting valuable crops to ensure a good harvest in summer.

With two rainfalls this week, crops are turning green and the drought is alleviated.

Yang Guiming, Chief Forecaster of Central Weather Observation, said, "Before the two rains, the central and northern part of China were suffering from a severe drought. The situation in most drought-hit areas has been alleviated, particularly in the provinces of Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong."

Some wheat producing areas are still suffering from dry weather conditions, but forecasters say the south will see another rainfall within three days...And the north will see two rainfalls within two weeks.

With help from the heavens, the farmers are studying how to fertilize crops and prevent insects so as to ensure a good harvest this summer.

And experts have been sent out to assist.

Agricultural expert Wu Xue said, "The urgent task is to fertilize the crops and water the land. Then the crops can grow healthily."

To help farmers in the planting season, the local government is organizing delivery of fertilizers. The cost of fertilizers has fallen by 500 yuan per ton compared to last year.

In Hunan Province, projects are being launched to encourage farmers to grow high-yield rice. It's estimated that by the year 2012, nearly one million hectares of land will be planted with this strain of rice yielding 1.5 billion kilograms more rice than usual strains.

(CCTV.com February 15, 2009)