During this reporting period, winter wheat, spring wheat and spring maize were the main crops grown in this region. Winter wheat was sown from late September to mid-October and will be harvested in mid-June. Spring wheat and spring maize were sown in late March to April. Crop conditions in the Loess region were close to average compared to the previous five years.

The CropWatch Agroclimatic Indicators (CWAIs) for this region were above the 15YA, precipitation  was above average (RAIN, +31%), and so was the temperature (TEMP, +0.8°C). Radiation was below average (RADPAR, -8%) . Altogether, it resulted in a above-average estimate of biomass (+12%). 

According to the regional NDVI development graph, the crop conditions were close to the 5-year average from January to February, but slightly below average from late March to April. Temperatures were slightly above average between January and March and then dropped to slightly cooler-than-average levels. The precipitation was also close to the 15-year average without drastic changes.

NDVI clusters and profiles show that crop conditions were close to average in most areas of the region; about 8.4% of the areas were below the 5-year average from February to April, mainly in the northwest part of Henan Province. The Maximum VCI map shows a relatively low value of VCIx (0.81). According to the CALF map, 33% of the farmland was cultivated, which was 11% below the 5YA. In general, the  agricultural conditions in the Loess region were slightly below average.

a Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

b Time series rainfall pofile

c Time series temperature pofile

d Maximum VCI

e Potential biomass departure from 5YA

f Spatial distribution of NDVI profiles