The government on Monday announced a multimillion-dollar relief package for farmers facing a crippling drought that is threatening the country's economic growth. Prime Minister John Howard said farmers in affected areas would receive an extra 350 million Australian dollars, or $262 million, on top of the 1.25 billion dollars in relief provided since the drought began in 2001. The seven-year drought, the worst in the history of this driest of all inhabited continents, threatens to drive the vital agriculture sector into a recession, the government warned last week.