2010–2011 China drought

The 2010–2011 China drought was a drought that began in late 2010 and impacted eight provinces in the northern part of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was the worst drought to hit the country in 60 years, and it affected most of wheat-producing regions in the PRC.

The drought began as early as September 2010 in some regions, though widespread lack of rain and snow began in October. The lack of precipitation caused lower than normal snow cover, putting wheat crops at risk of being killed by frost as well as reducing the amount of moisture in the ground.

The provinces of Anhui, Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shandong and Shanxi were impacted by the drought. As well as destroying wheat crops, the drought caused water shortages for an estimated 2.31 million people and 2.57 million livestock. Within the eight provinces, 20% of the farmland and 35% of the entire wheat crop was impacted. By February 2011, the drought hit a total of up to 7,730,000 hectares (19,100,000 acres) of winter wheat that had already been planted. Some lakes, including Lake Hong in Hubei province, dried up significantly, with the Hubei lake shrinking to one-eighth of its normal surface area and one-fifth its usual depth, forcing 3,234 local residents to relocate.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the potential of damage to China's wheat harvest was likely a factor in an increase of worldwide wheat prices in early 2011.

By the start of June, the drought had affected 35 million people, including 4.2 million facing a drinking water shortage. Direct economic damage had reached 15 billion yuan (about 2.3 billion USD), while several provinces resorted to using cloud seeding to induce artificial rain.

On 24 June 3.65 million people and 3.47 million head of livestock were short of drinking water in the autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia and the provinces of Gansu and Shanxi despite the flooding in other parts of china.

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