Farmers dig wells for groundwater to stem drought

Farmer Zhang Shouqin had been upset for weeks as the prolonged heat wave scorched his 53 hectares of rice in Feixi county of East China's Anhui province.

While his rice is in a critical growing phase, temperatures have reached the 35 C line－the bench mark for high temperature－for more than 40 days this summer.

"My nerves were not eased until last Friday when the township government completed a 170-meter deep well on my farmland," said Zhang.