Seeding clouds to fight drought

The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is one of the areas hard hit by drought. The local government is resorting to artificial rain to ease conditions.

This is the Wuxu airport, in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi. This is the 40th flight for the rain-making team since the severe drought hit the area last year. One of their destinations is Donglan County.

Wang Ji, artificial rainfall operator, said, "We have contacted the people on the ground, and they say there is little rainfall in Donglan County."

Man-made rain has been brought to six cities. But authorities say it can only offer little respite in the midst of the worst drought in a century.

Zhong Xiaoying, Guangxi Meteorological Bureau, said, "Since the area has suffered from the drought for a long time, the effectiveness of the artificial rain is really limited. "

Guangxi has seen more than 770-thousand hectares of crops dry up. 2.3 million people and 1.2 million head of livestock face a shortage of drinking water.