Mexico battered by worst drought in 70 years

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45437328/ns/world_news-americas/#.TtAq5XqOu8s

By Noe Torres
updated 11/25/2011 12:51:58 PM ET

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is being battered its worst drought in seven decades, which has devastated farm life and is expected to continue into next year.

The lack of rainfall has affected almost 70 percent of the country and northern states like Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas have suffered the most acute water shortage.

Due to the drought and a cold snap at the start of the year, the government has cut its forecast for corn production two times in 2011.

Crops that cover tens of thousands of acres have been lost this year and roughly 450,000 cattle have died in arid pastures. Crucial dams, typically full at this time of year, are at 30 to 40 percent of capacity.

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In the northern state of Durango, where a third of the population lives in the countryside, authorities expect significant losses in grain and seed production as well as bean and corn, which are a staple in the Mexican diet.
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"It's a tragedy because there is virtually no harvest. It's a critical situation that we don't even have beans for home consumption," the state governor Jorge Herrera told Reuters.

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