China starts cloud seeding for crops amid drought

China says it will try to protect its grain harvest from record-setting drought by using chemicals to generate rain.The country's southern Hubei province has started a three-month-long cloud seeding project.

CCTV released footage of meteorology workers firing rockets carrying what it said was the chemical silver iodide into the sky, after which precipitation was seen in parts of Hubei's city of Suizhou.The hottest, driest summer since the government began recording rainfall and temperature 61 years ago has wilted crops and left reservoirs at half their normal water level.The coming ten days are a "key period of damage resistance" for southern China's rice crop, said Agriculture Minister.  Authorities will take emergency steps to "ensure the autumn grain harvest," which is 75% of China's annual total.