BEIJING — Droughts have negative impact on 6.96 million hectares, or more than 5 percent, of China’s farmlands, the country’s top drought relief authority said.A lingering drought has affected 3.29 million people and 950,000 livestock in the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan, the Xinhua news on Monday quoted the latest statistics from the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (SFDH).Zhang Xu, deputy director of the SFDH, said the five provinces are starting to struggle with water shortages as the summer farming season begins.There have also been drinking water shortages, he said.Rainfall along the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze has been at its lowest since 1951, down 40 to 60 percent from the average level, the SFDH said.A lack of rain has also led to lower water levels in nearby lakes and rivers, according to the SFDH.

At 8 a.m. Sunday, water levels at Xingzi Station, a water monitoring station in Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, were recorded at 10.79 meters, down 4.64 meters from the area’s average level. Poyang is China’s largest freshwater lake.

At the same time, workers at Chenglingji Station, which is located on Dongting Lake in neighbouring Hunan Province, recorded water […]