BEIJING (Reuters) -&nbsp;China's largest&nbsp;wheat-growing province of Henan is expected to be hit by&nbsp;more&nbsp;rain&nbsp;in the coming days, state weather forecasters said on Thursday, complicating efforts to harvest grain&nbsp;damaged by abnormally heavy precipitation in late May.
Known as the "granary of China", the south of Henan had been struck by higher-than-normal&nbsp;rainfall in the last week of May days ahead of the harvest of&nbsp;wheat&nbsp;planted in the last winter. The&nbsp;rains have caused some of the grain&nbsp;to sprout or become affected by blight.
Medium to heavy precipitation can be expected in the south of Henan on Saturday, national weather forecasters reported on Thursday.
China's winter&nbsp;wheat&nbsp;accounts for the majority of the country's annual&nbsp;wheat&nbsp;output. The world's top grower of the grain&nbsp;was expecting a bumper crop this year.
The agricultural ministry earlier this week urged local authorities to dispatch emergency teams to drain&nbsp;water from fields, speed up access by harvesters and mobilise drying machinery to save as much of the crop as possible.
China, including important grain-growing provinces like Henan, is no stranger to floods and droughts. But abnormal weather patterns such as excessively heavy&nbsp;rain&nbsp;still risk devastating key crops and squeezing supplies.
The recent wet weather was the worst to occur during the&nbsp;wheat&nbsp;ripening period in 10 years, the Henan provincial agricultural department told state media, affecting all 17 cities in the province, especially the southern cities of Zhumadian and Nanyang.
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(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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'Granary of China' braces for more wheat-damaging rain