BEIJING, May 29 (Reuter). A severe drought with no rainfall in some

areas is threatening crops in Tibet, China's Xinhua news agency said.

Since early May, the main crop-growing areas along the Brahmatputra

river, known as "Tibet's lifeblood," have seen a rise in temperature and a drop in rainfall of 40 percent to 100 percent, the agency said.

The water level of the river has fallen by one-third compared with the same period in a normal year.

Sowing has not yet begun on more than 9,333 hectares (23,000 acres) of land due to the lack of rain, and about 666 hectares (1,645 acres) of

cropland is suffering from drought, Xinhua said.

Pests have invaded some places and are spreading further.

The situation is bound to become worse because the rain shortage is

forecast to span the end of May and early June, and the usual summer dry

weather runs from late June to the end of July, the local meteorology bureau said.

The regional government has called on farmers to go all out to fight the drought and pests. River beds, reservoirs and irrigation ditches have been dug or repaired and pumps and other irrigation equipment are being put to use, it said.

The regional government plans to plant 212,000 hectares (523,000 acres) of crops this year, including 188,000 hectares (464,000 acres) of wheat and highland barley.