Frost damages crops in Chinese province

Freezing weather, snow and frost have damaged 670,000 hectares of crops in China's Yunnan province, authorities said Tuesday.

The weather also damaged tropical and subtropical cash crops such as coffee and rubber, flowers and vegetables, reported Xinhua citing the provincial agricultural department in a statement.

The freezing weather and frost have inflicted a direct economic loss of 11.8 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) to the agricultural, forestry, animal husbandry and fishing industries, it added.

The province experienced sharp temperature drop of up to 18 degrees as of Dec 14 and only saw temperature climbing again late last week.

The cold weather, snows and frosts even killed 21,400 head of livestock, the agency added.