"I stopped growing horsebeans and rapeseed two years ago because there was not enough water for people to drink, let alone for growing vegetables," he said. "Although I grew some wheat last year with a hope of some harvest, now you can see the crops have all failed. I won't even get any grain."

The hopes of Wu and many others now rest on getting branch water supply lines from the new underground pipeline project that is planned to cross their land.

"The deep wells we dug all dried up and now we're hoping to link a reservoir with water in Lianhuatian to another one without water in Xiaobaihu to provide drinking water for people," said Fu Dongxi, deputy chief of Fanghua town.

He said the project will cost 35 million yuan, a huge part of Luliang county's annual revenue, and involved several towns.

"This water is to secure the county seat's use, and we are still considering if we should build some branches along the main pipeline," said Fu.

The average rainfall of Yunnan in 2011 was 869 millimeters, down 21 percent from previous years.

According to Yunnan Provincial Meteorological Bureau, rainfall in winter is usually rare in Yunnan, but abnormal atmospheric conditions in recent years have made the situation worse.

The forecast predicts no change with continued sunny weather and little effective rainfall, and it is feared the drought will further deteriorate in March and April.

The central government initiated emergency measures last week with the National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs dispatching teams to help with relief work.

In Shilin county, 78 km from provincial capital Kunming and famous for its karst stone forest, 70 percent of the land has been hit by drought.

Li Yong, 45, is working in a small pumping station on Huangzhushan Mountain, 30 km from the town. They are drilling a hole 40 m deep in order to tap water resources.