Chapter 2 presents the same indicators—RAIN, TEMP, RADPAR, and BIOMSS— as those used in Chapter 1, and combines them with the agronomic indicators—cropped arable land fraction (CALF), maximum vegetation condition index (VCIx), and minimum vegetation health index (VHIn)— to describe crop condition in six Major Production Zones (MPZ) across all continents. For more information about these zones and methodologies used, see the quick reference guide in Annex C as well as the CropWatch bulletin online resources at http://www.cropwatch.com.cn/htm/en/bullAction!showBulletin.action#.

2.1. Overview

Tables 2.1 and 2.2 present an overview of the agroclimatic (Table 2.1) and agronomic (Table 2.2) indicators for each of the six MPZs, comparing the indicators to their fifteen and five-year averages, respectively. The text mostly refers simply to "average" with the averaging period implied.

Table 2.1. January-April 2019 agroclimatic indicators by Major Production Zone, current value and departure from 15YA

Note: Departures are expressed in relative terms (percentage) for all variables, except for temperature, for which absolute departure in degrees Celsius is given. Zero means no change from the average value; relative departures are calculated as (C-R)/R*100, with C=current value and R=reference value, which is the fifteen-year average (15YA) for the same period (January-April) for 2004-2018.

Table 2.2.  January-April 2019 agronomic indicators by Major Production Zone, current season values and departure from 15YA/5YA