A cold snap has postponed the Spring sowing of grains by a week in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local authorities said Tuesday.

A farmer works in the wheat field in Wucun Village, Yongji City of north China's Shanxi Province, on April 1, 2010. Cold snaps have postponed the spring sowing of grains in north China areas this spring. [People's Daily]

With temperatures falling by up to ten degrees Celsius, only wheat has been planted and the area under cultivation is two million Mu (133,333 hectares) less than the same period in 2009, said official with the regional Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department Wen Zhanping.

Wen said wheat can resist a cold environment better than other grains, and so its yield will not be greatly affected.

The main grain producing area in eastern Inner Mongolia was hit by a severe cold snap, with average temperatures seven degrees Celsius lower than the previous year prompting farmers to delay sowing, Wen said.

The provincial meteorological bureau forecast more cold rain and snow for Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, which will slash temperatures by eight to ten degrees Celsius in central and eastern Inner Mongolia.

The spring sowing in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has been delayed by at least ten days, said Na Jihai, head of the provincial meteorological bureau.

The average temperature of the first ten days in April was zero degrees Celsius, two to three degrees lower than that of previous years, Na said.

Inner Mongolia is a major grain-producing area with a 21.3 billion kg yield in 2008, ranking it 12th in terms of total yield among the 34 provincial-level regions.