China’s agricultural minister Han Changfu Sunday urged agricultural authorities at all levels to deal with the impact of the current drought on agricultural production and take effective measures to restore the fishery production.

Local agricultural authorities should take full advantage of the recent rainfall to speed up transplanting of mid-season rice while working to help local fishing industry to adjust breeding structure and ensure fish fry supply, Han said at a special meeting concerning the drought relief work.

Agricultural departments should also make full use of agricultural machinery to assist the irrigation, tillage and rice transplanting in the drought-hit areas, he said.

Entering spring, provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu along the Yangtze River have suffered severe drought, which affected both the rice and fishery production, according to the ministry.

To relieve drought and ensure production, the ministry previously dispatched drought relief teams to the five regions and farming and fishery technicians to provide technical guidance, the ministry said.