Flooding in Southern China Might Raise Food Price, Farmers Lament Loss in Crops

During the past few days, southern China has experienced a torrential downpour which threatens farmers' livelihood. One such example is Poyang Lake which overflowed and diminished rice harvests that should have been collected. Acts of God or natural disaster will have a disastrous effect on the farming industry, according to CTV News.

Due to the flooding, farmers like Bao Wentao have lost a fortune on their rice harvest. What should have been a bountiful harvest is lost by due to the massive flood in southern China. Farmers suffered a loss of about 36 acres, which were swallowed by Lake Poyang.

In an interview with CNN Business, Bao said the crops were gone. It was supposed to sell for $28,000, but after the flood, it's not worth anything anymore.

The overflow of the Poyang Lake in Jiangxi has caused a food shortage in what is known as the land of fish and rice. This is one of the areas that China depends on for rice production near the western Tibetan border. Due to the flooding, about 70% of all rice supply in the mainland is affected.

To Bao and other farmers, floods have wipeout this year's total crops and nothing can be done to reap their investment and hard work. The damage has been devastating. Not only did the rainfall ruined crops that they were about to collect, but the scale of the flooding has made it impossible to salvage anything from this year.

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There's a total of 13 million acres of croplands, that is comparable to the West Virginia state, in the Chinese mainland. Agencies like the Ministry of Emergency Management have valued the loss at a staggering $21 billion for all the damage incurred. People who depend on the harvests which be the most affected, according to News Plus 24.

A coronavirus-ravaged economy is on the rocks as food stores are released. One solution is importing goods and produce from abroad which may replenish the national supply for food.

Nevertheless, these backups are not guaranteed to suffice for extended periods of time, especially now that China is still reeling in from the aftermath of the pandemic. These conditions will make it hard for other countries to help.

There's also a lot of worry over natural disasters that might strike corn and wheat supplies. If this happens, thousands more will be affected. Experts are fearing the worst as things get unpredictable.

Food supplies are not secure and Beijing is not ready to release data on how much is still available. The point of all these lost crops is that there are current losses in food product, which is around $1.7 billion in output.

Based on what the Chinese brokerage firm Shenwan Hongyuan determines, China will lose about 11.2 million tons of food in 2020. That loss is only for rice, but it's already tipping the scales because this grain is one of the most widespread food in the country.