SHENYANG, Aug. 13 -- North China's Liaoning Province is suffering the harshest drought in 63 years, and things could get worse.

Since July, the province has received the least precipitation since meteorological records began in 1951, the provincial meteorological bureau said in a statement.

The lingering drought has affected a majority of the province,devastating 2 million hectares of crops. The drought may affect more crops with forecasts predicting less-than-normal rainfall for the remainder of August, the statement said.

If the drought lingers into autumn, local agriculture may be heavily affected.

The agency said the drought is caused by the weather anomaly known as El Nino, which usually triggers drought in northern China while bringing more rains to southern China.

Several other provinces in northern China, including Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Henan and Hubei, are also bearing the brunt of severe drought.

Liaoning has raised its emergency response level to the third-highest in a bid to reduce the drought's impact.

Local meteorologists said they are prepared to fire artificial rain-making rockets to force rainfall if conditions are suitable.