>The accumulated rainfall in the country’s Guangxi and Guangdong province, China’s major hubs of rice production, was the second highest in at least 20 years,
https://www.gro-intelligence.com/insights/china-drought-thre...
> "(Aug 22) China has issued a nationwide drought warning as the country copes with scant rainfall and one of the most severe heat waves in six decades. The harsh weather is stressing rice and wheat crops and could force China to increase imports of these important grains....In addition, soil moisture levels are at a 12-year low, and Gro’s Drought Index reading is elevated. "
https://www.gro-intelligence.com/insights/extreme-weather-me...
> "(Jun 2022) Typically, China's rainy season occurs from May to September, and this year’s season is already off to an extreme start. The accumulated rainfall in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian is the second highest in at least 20 years, and some regions, such as Guangdong and Guangxi, have experienced double the average daily precipitation for the May to June period..."
These extreme fluctuations in drought and flood are not going away, of course, and will continue to get worse over the next 100 years.
Edit monsoon not drought. Thanks s1artibartfast
“In the second half of last year, swaths of farmland in the world’s largest rice producer China were plagued by heavy summer monsoon rains and floods. The accumulated rainfall in the country’s Guangxi and Guangdong province, China’s major hubs of rice production, was the second highest in at least 20 years, according to agriculture analytics company Gro Intelligence. Similarly, Pakistan — which represents 7.6% of global rice trade — saw annual production plunge 31% year-on-year due to severe flooding last year, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), labeling the impact as ‘even worse than initially expected.’”
Reading further, I’m not sure why Ukraine is mentioned either since their major food export is wheat and not rice