The monitoring period covers the harvesting stage of secondary rice and maize, as well as the sowing stage of the main rice and maize crops. Overall, the condition of crops was well below average in the Philippines from January to April.

The country suffered one of the largest El Niño-related water shortages in the world, 77% below average, accompanied by increased RADPAR (+9%). As a result of rainfall deficit, the biomass decreased by 62% compared with the recent five years. The agroclimatic indicators agree with the NDVI development graph, which stayed below the last five years' average and last year’s values from March to April. According to the NDVI clusters, the crop condition was bad in central Luzon (the largest and northernmost island in the country), but mostly favourable in the western part of  Mindanao.  Altogether, the output of the main season is expected to be below average.

Figure 3.24. Philippinescrop condition, January-April2016