The drought in north China's Shanxi Province is getting worse.

Officials yesterday changed the warning color denoting drought severity from blue to the more critical yellow.

Shanxi had only received 20.4 millimeters of rain since October 2008, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said.

In the corresponding four month period in 2007, the province received 49.7 millimeters of rain, 59 percent more.

A total of 2.07 million hectares of farmland across the mountainous province have been affected by the drought.

This includes 544,000 hectares devoted to crops, an office spokesman said.

The local weather bureau predicted no major rainfall in the near future.

The provincial government is allocating 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million) to subsidize operations to fight the drought in light of the increased warning.

(Shanghai Daily January 19, 2009)