Drought had affected 61.31 million Mu (4.09 million hectares) of farmland in southwestern China as of March 5, according to the latest figure from the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA).

About half of the affected, or 32.95 million Mu (2.20 million hectares), was seriously damaged, according to the MOA.

The affected acreage was in Yunnan Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guizhou Province, Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality.

The areas contributed to about 16 percent of the country's annual grain output, and thus were important to the country's overall grain output, according to the MOA.