PARIS, May 8 (AFP) - Several regions in central France were on alert Tuesday and some homes have been evacuated after major waterways such as the Cher and Loire rivers threatened to burst their banks due to heavy rain.

Of particular concern was the rising water in the Cher river, which at the weekend overflowed, flooding fields and forcing the evacuation of about a dozen homes in the central town of Bourges. Authorities said they expected the water level to rise further Tuesday and were bracing for flooding in several other regions.

The Loire, Indre and Vienne rivers as well as smaller waterways have also risen dramatically in the last week following record rain during the month of April that had so far mainly wreaked havoc in the north of the country. The months of March and April were almost catastrophically wet and so far the month of May hasn't brought much cheer.

Authorities said the bad weather could lead to a catastrophe for farmers already reeling from the effects of the mad cow crisis and fears over foot-and-mouth disease. The national office of cereal farming (Onic) said the most serious threat concerns wheat production, which could be reduced by nearly six percent this year due to farmers unable to sow their water-logged fields. Also threatened are this year's beet and potato harvests. We need at least four days of nice weather before we can even use our tractors on the fields, Dominique Ducroquet, head of the national federation of beet growers, told the daily Liberation. Horticulturalists are also damning mother nature and are expecting 50 percent in losses for the season compared to the same period last year.