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Authors: 超级管理员 | Edit: xingqiang
In China, early October—the beginning of the reportingperiod for this bulletin—is the time most winter crops like winter wheat andrapeseed are planted, right after the harvesting of the autumn crops. FromOctober 2013 to January 2014, environmental conditions in China were generally favorable,compared to averages for the same period over the previous five years (table4.1). Specifically, average temperature was almost one and a half degrees abovethe five-year and 2001-2013 average. It should be highlighted that rainfall was25 percent higher than normal and PAR even exceeded the record level of 2001, reaching680 W/m2. However, the maximum Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) forChina was only at a 12-year average level and slightly below the recent five-yearaverage. Figure 4.1 illustrates the maximum VCI by pixel.
Figure 4.1. China maximumVegetation Condition Index (VCI), by pixel
Environmental conditions are distributed unevenly, resultingin a very interesting situation. Favorable conditions benefited winter crops inSichuan Basin and neighboring regions, as well as Guangxi, eastern Jiangsu, andnorth coastal area of the Bohai Gulf. However, for the Central of North ChinaPlain—major winter wheat producing regions—rainfall was only 61 mm duringOctober to January, 20 percent below normal. In addition, almost no snow fell untilthe end of January and the winter wheat in this region is sufferingagricultural drought. Then, in early February, a wide range of heavy snowfalloccurred, covering the whole northern China. Good moisture conditions weremaintained after the snow melted. Together with the warmer and sunny winterweather, the development of winter wheat in those regions will be advanced, despitethe drought during the winter period.
The ratio of uncropped arable land (UAL, figure 4.2) was 0.31for the last four months, with most of the UAL found in the Northeast China regionand the most northern part of the North China Plain where almost no crops cansurvive during the cold winter. In general, because of the warmer temperaturesacross China, more winter crops survived and the UAL ratio was 3 percent belowthe 2001-2013 average.
Figure 4.2. Cropped and uncropped arable land for major winter wheatproducing regions in China, November 2013
Considering only the twelve provincial level divisions (thecolored sections in figure 4.2) that normally produce 85 percent of wheat inChina, the uncropped arable land ratio is 0.02 below the ratio of the wintercrop season in 2012-2013 (0.28), a notable decrease—indicating that theplanting area of winter crops (winter wheat and rapeseed) increased compared tolast year.
| Rainfall total | Temperature average | PAR accumulation (%) | Biomass accumulation (%) | Uncropped arable land in % of pixels (Absolute difference in % points) | Maximum VCI (absolute difference) |
Huanghuaihai | -25 | 0.9 | 13 | -16 | -2.5 | 0.01 |
Inner Mongolia | 38 | 1.7 | 7 | 43 | -18.2 | 0.16 |
Loess region | 3 | 1.0 | 12 | 0 | 1.5 | 0.03 |
Lower Yangtze | 16 | 0.4 | 14 | -13 | 1.4 | 0.00 |
North-East | 55 | 1.3 | 6 | 28 | -2.5 | 0.02 |
Southern China | 20 | 0.3 | 4 | 3 | 0.2 | -0.01 |
South West | 26 | -0.5 | 5 | 5 | -5.0 | 0.03 |