SICHUAN BRACED TO FIGHT DROUGHT The Sichuan government has ordered that any work or meeting which interferes with the fight against drought must be cancelled or postponed to save time, energy and manpower, the People's Daily domestic edition said. Sichuan is one of six provinces threatened by drought. Wen Wei Po, a Hong Kong daily, said the drought, the worst for more than 20 years, is affecting nearly two mln hectares in 100 counties in Sichuan, the country's biggest agricultural producer. Sichuan has experienced temperatures three degrees Centigrade higher than normal and rainfall up to 70 pct less than normal since early February, affecting wheat, oil-bearing crops, rice planting and dryland cash crops, it said. The paper said 43,000 hectares in Meixian county in Guangdong are seriously short of water. The People's Daily said Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and Hebei are also suffering from drought. Henan's grain output fell by 2.5 mln tonnes last year from the 1985 level because of drought which has been affecting the province since May.