Premier Li Keqiang went on an inspection tour to check the drought in East China's Jiangxi province on Nov 14.

Upon arrival, he headed to Shantian reservoir in Jingdezhen city, which was built in 1958. At present, its water level has fallen to the lowest in history.

At the water, the Premier picked up some mud. "The drought here is not slight," he said, urging local authorities to step up efforts in water conservation projects and water-saving irrigation to reduce losses as much as possible.

Then he went to a paddy field of late-season rice, inquiring about prices, harvest and costs to farmers. As agriculture is the foundation of all industries, farmers' enthusiasm in planting grains must be protected to feed nearly 1.4 billion people on our own, the Premier said.

Later he visited two households to learn about villagers' earnings and migrants’ work. He inquired about how often they would have meat, and went outside to see if any pigs or poultry were being raised.

After learning that the villager was only raising some ducks because of the high price of piglets, Premier Li said to local officials that the government should support large-scale pig farming as well as backyard livestock.