With temperatures dropping sharply in China's crop growing areas, the country's summer harvest of wheat and cabbages is at risk. The State Ministry of Agriculture Tuesday urged departments at all levels to protect crops from frost.

The ministry called for better cooperation with weather services to forecast freezing weather and asked local departments to use modern technologies to cope with frost.

According to a ministry official, five expert teams have been sent to the country's major crop growing areas to supervise spring ploughing.

With gusts of cold air from central Siberia moving eastward and southward, most of north and northeast China has experienced strong winds and lower temperatures since Sunday.

According to earlier weather reports, temperatures in central and eastern China dropped by 4-8 degrees Celsius, while the eastern part of north China, the southern part of northeast China, and the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River saw temperatures plunging by 10 to 16 degrees Celsius.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)