More than five million people are now short of drinking water in southwestern China's Sichuan Province as a result of a worsening drought, local government sources said on Friday.

Water shortages have affected 5.5 million people, 6.3 million livestock and 560,000 hectares of crop land across the province, said Governor Jiang Jufeng at an emergency drought relief meeting.

The drought has caused a direct economic loss of nearly 300 million yuan (US$38 million), Jiang said.

In the worst-hit areas, residents are having their drinking water delivered to them by government trucks.

Most of the province received less than 5 millimeters of rainfall in February.

Xiao Huarun, a farmer in a mountainous village in Suining City, 150 kilometers east of provincial capital Chengdu, say dozens of fellow villagers have to rely on one well for drinking water. It has nearly dried up, he says.

"Water shortages have also seriously affected my rape crops - the yield will be down by at least 30 percent this year," said the 59-year-old.

Last summer, Xiao's paddy field of about 700 square meters only produced 25 kilograms of rice as a result of the most severe drought in half a century which hit both Sichuan and neighboring Chongqing Municipality. In a normal year, the field can produce 500 kilograms of rice, according to Xiao.

The local governments are encouraging farmers like Xiao to plant other drought-resistant crops such as the corn and potato instead of rice.

Water conservation facilities in the province are only storing 5.8 billion cubic meters, down 1.7 billion cubic meters from normal years.

Governments of the province have earmarked 300 million yuan to help residents deal with drinking water shortages and irrigate their farmland.

Weather forecasts show that the province will see no significant rainfall before the end of March.

Drought is also affecting other Chinese provinces like Guizhou, Hainan, and northeastern Liaoning, causing water shortages for millions of people.

(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2007)