Most of summer crops (early rice, semi-late rice, spring maize and soybean), were in the field during the reporting period. The agro-climatic conditions was mostly favorable, with rainfall slightly below average (8%), temperature up 0.5°C and RADPAR up 1%. This was beneficial for crop growth and VCIx reached a high value of 0.91 at the national scale.

All the main agricultural regions of China recorded below-average rainfall, with the largest departure occurring in Huanghuaihai (-50%). However, rainfall anomalies fluctuated largely over time. 32.1% of cropped areas, located in the eastern China (Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Henan and Shandong) recorded near-average rainfall between April and early June, but received significantly below-average rainfall (>-30 mm/dekad) since mid-June. 11.4% of crops experienced the largest departure of rainfall (>+165 mm/dekad) during late June, essentially in Jiangxi, Fujian, southern Hunan and northern Guangdong Provinces.

Temperatures were close to average in  all the regions. Temperature anomalies also fluctuated largely in time for 75.3% of cultivated regions in central and southern parts of China, with low values (-3.0℃) occurring at mid and late April and high values (+2.0℃) in late May and July. RADPAR was close to average for all the main producing regions, with the departures between -7%(south-west China)  and +3% (Southern China).

As for the agronomic indicators, BIOMSS was near average in almost all the regions (-3% to +3%), except in southwest China (-7%). CALF increased by 9% points in both Inner Mongolia and the Loess region, compared to average, implying that the outlooks of crop production in these two regions are promising. The remaining regions showed average CALF.  The VCIx values were high in almost all the main producing regions of China, including Inner Mongolia, Lower Yangtze, North-east China, Southern China and Southwest China, with values between 0.93 and 0.96. On the other hand, Huanghuaihai recorded the lowest values (0.82) among all the regions, which might be attributable to water deficit, as shown by the pattern of VHIn of which the lowest values (1-15) were distributed in the western parts of Huanghuaihai, including southern Hebei and northern Henan. Besides, the low VHIn also occurred in the northern parts of Northeast China (Heilongjiang) and Lower Yangtze (such as central Anhui and Jiangsu), and the southern part of Loess region (i.e., central Shaanxi and southern Shanxi), implying that these regions might have suffered from drought as well.

Table 4.1. CropWatch agroclimatic andagronomic indicators for China, April-July 2019, departure from 5YA and 15YA

Figure 4.1. China crop phenology

Figure 4.2. China spatial distribution of rainfall profiles, April-July 2019

Figure 4.3. China spatial distribution of temperature profiles, April-July 2019

Figure 4.4 Cropped and uncropped arable land by pixel, April-July 2019

Figure 4.5. China maximum Vegetation Condition Index (VCIx), by pixel, April-July 2019

Figure 4.6. China minimum Vegetation Health Index (VHIn), by pixel, April-July 2019