The early growth of winter wheat in the Loess region wasinhibited due to drought and high temperature. In November, weather conditionsfavored the growth of winter wheat, while in December rainfall was below theprevious year’s. Crop condition showed fluctuations conditioned by rainfallchanges. The NDVI cluster and profiles confirm that crop condition was belownormal in the north of Henan province, while in most of Shanxi, Shaanxi, andGansu provinces, crop condition was above average when compared to the recentfive years. The maximum vegetation condition indices are very high in centralGansu province, and the value of maximum VCI increased by 3 percent whencompared to the twelve-year average. This might be the result of favorablerainfall (+18 percent over the last decade), temperature (+1.1 percent), andPAR (+10 percent).

Figure4.7. Crop condition China Loess region