During August through to early October, maizeand sorghum were being harvested while planting of wheat was on-going inMexico. Overall, crop condition was close to the recent 5-year average.

The CropWatch Agroclimatic Indices showthat rainfall (-14%) was below average while temperature (+0.1°C) and RADPAR(+3%) were slightly above. Compared to the average level for the same time ofthe recent five years, the cropped arable land fraction (CALF) and thecropping intensity in 2015 increased by 4% and 7%, respectively. The NDVIprofiles and spatial NDVI patterns indicate that crop condition for about 65%of arable land was below average after early September, mainly in northern andcentral Mexico. On the other hand, 34.6% of crops were continuously above the averagelevel, in south-eastern and western regions. CropWatch estimates that cropproduction will be close to the five-year average.

 Figure 3.20. Mexico cropcondition, July-October 2015

(a)Crop condition development graph based on NDVI                          (b) Maximum VCI

(c)Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA                                             (d) NDVI profile