The environmental indices indicate that rainfall, temperature,and PAR are higher than the twelve-year average in the Lower Yangtze region, which promoted the growth of winter wheat in the past four months. From October 2013,the drought and below average rainfall constrained the growth of crops. In November, temperature in most areas in the region remained normal or was above temperatures the previous year; suitable moisture favored the recovery of crops.By the end of November, crop condition was better than the five-year average.As for January 2014, crops in the Lower Yangtze region were affected by heav yrainfall, resulting in below average condition in the center the region. The profiles of NDVI clusters are mostly above average, in other words, crops inLower Yangtze region performed well over the monitoring season. High value ofthe maximum vegetation condition index in Jiangsu and Hunan province also support this.

Figure4.8. Crop condition China Lower Yangtze region