Polish conservatives ask God to end drought

WARSAW, July 20 (Reuters) Members of Poland's ruling conservative party today prayed for rain at a special mass in a parliamentary chapel to end a drought plaguing Polish wheat, potato and dairy farmers.

Temperatures of up to 35 degrees Celsius since mid-June have parched fields across Poland, central Europe's biggest food producer and an overwhelmingly Catholic nation.

''At a time when human beings are at their limits, we turned to a higher power,'' said Lucyna Wisniewska, a deputy of the ruling Law and Justice Party.

Around 9 per cent of Polish workers are employed on Poland's 1.5 million farms. Rainfall has 80 per cent below average levels since June.

REUTERS DKA HT1952