Although spring drought in south China was alleviated after a week-long rainfall, central China's provinces still face grim conditions.

Photo taken on May 4, 2011 shows cracked soil caused by draught in Dawu County in central China's Hubei Province. A serious drought has hit Hubei Province since November of 2010, bringing one-third of its counties and cities under serious water shortage. [Xinhua]

The affected farmland shrank to 900,000 hectares in south China by Wednesday from 1.33 million hectares a week ago, the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.

But Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu provinces, as well as southern Yunnan Province?are still?struggling with a prolonged drought due to inadequate precipitation.

The five-month drought has affected Hubei's role as China's major grain and cotton producer, according to provincial governor Wang Guosheng.

An unlimited view of oceans of golden cole flowers is a typical scene in early May in central China's Hubei Province. This year, however, the flowers are strangely absent.

About 150,000 people and 50,000 livestock in Hubei have gone without drinking water as a result of the drought. Approximately 13 million mu (about 870,000 hectares) of farmland have been affected by the drought, according to a survey conducted by the Hubei provincial agricultural department.

"An old saying goes 'a bowl of water now will bring a bowl of grain in harvest'. Right now is the vital time for spring irrigation, but we have not seen a drop of rainfall," says Huang Xiangbing, a village committee official.

The lingering drought has already damaged cole and wheat seedlings, and many villagers have seen their wells and ponds dry up.

"The pond has been dry ever since February. As the drought continues, we have had to stop supplying water to our irrigation systems and livestock for the time being," says Yu Chunming, head of Huashan Village, Xiaochang County.

Drinking water for villagers in Huashan is brought in every other day by fire engines, according to Yu.

Hubei has not been alone in its struggles - the nearby provinces of Jiangxi and Hunan, both of which are also major grain producers, have also been affected by the drought.

The drought has reduced water levels in the nearby Yangtze River to a "worrying level," says Wang Xiandeng, head of the Changjiang (Yangtze) Wuhan Waterway Bureau.

Hubei's capital city of Wuhan, located close to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, recorded a river depth of 2.87 meters on Wednesday, 3.26 meters lower than one year earlier.

The Danjiangkou Reservoir, which is part of China's massive south-to-north water diversion project, is also seeing extremely low water levels.

Hubei is not expected to receive much more rain, and temperatures there will continue to increase as summer arrives.

Droughts have occurred frequently in China in recent years, putting the nation's fragile water conservation facilities to a grim test.

China will strive to improve the country's underdeveloped water conservation facilities over the next five to ten years, according to a document issued jointly by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's cabinet.