During the reporting period, winter wheat was harvested from early to mid-June, while summer maize was planted from late May to late June. 

The CropWatch Agroclimatic Indicators (CWAIs) show that the weather conditions in this region were close to the 15YA: Rainfall (RAIN) exceeded the average by 2%, radiation (RADPAR) dropped by 2%, and TEMP was down by 0.6°C. The potential biomass (BIOMSS) was 9% below average as a result of reduced radiation and lower temperature. The low rainfall in April might also be another reason for the low biomass. 

According to the regional NDVI development graph, the overall crop conditions were favorable in the Loess region over the reporting period. Although the crop conditions were slightly below the 5-year average from late April to early June, they recovered and reached the five-year maximum in July because of the plentiful rainfall. NDVI clusters and profiles show that about 54.5% of cropped area was close to or slightly below the five-year average from April to June, mostly scattered in the north of Shannxi, west of Gansu and southeast of the Loess region. But the crop conditions of most cropped areas were above the average in June and July, because of the favorable agronomic conditions during these months. The Maximum VCI map shows high values of VCIx (0.95) in most cropped areas of the region except for scattered pockets in the north of Shannxi, Gansu and Ningxia. Almost 100% of the farmland was cultivated according to CALF (+3%) as compared to the 5YA. 

Overall, the current agroclimatic and agronomic conditions (especially rainfall) show favorable crop prospects in this region, especially for the summer season crops.

Figure 4.14 Crop condition China Loess region, April - July 2020

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

(b) Time-series rainfall profile

(c) Spatial distribution of NDVI profiles

(d) Maximum VCI

(e) Potential biomass departure from 15YA