Mexico, hard hit by an unusual drought this year, is likely to see crop losses as many as 80 percent, the country's largest agricultural workers' organization said Tuesday.
The drought, said to be the worst in 70 years in the country, brought lower production to some 7 million hectares of crops, said Cruz Lopez Aguilar, head of the National Farmers Confederation.
The drought affected the spring-summer crops and seasonal harvests had a delay of 30 days, Lopez said.
The losses largely happened to beans and white corns, the main food of Mexico, said Lopez.
He said the tropical seasons have not arrived in the country, neither to the Gulf of Mexico nor the Pacific Ocean, which may have caused fewer rainfalls.
Mexico's water commission said in its lastest report on Monday that only two of the 32 Mexican states have registered rainfall of more than 70 millimeters.
Meanwhile, 19 states saw no rains or low rainfall of less than 20 millimeters.
Lopez warned of a water shortage, especially in central Mexico, if the drought continues.
He also urged the federal government to offer aids to drought-affected people.
(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2009)
