The current monitoring period corresponds to the rain-fed Kharif season: crop condition was poor for India. The crop pedarable land fraction (CALF) and biomass accumulation potential (BIOMSS) dropped below average by 5% and 19% respectively. Over the country a slight RAIN deficit of 2% was recorded. The close to average national rainfall hides the large disparity of sub-national values: Andhra Pradesh (-20%), Gujarat(-78%), Goa (-67), Kerala (-40%), Karnataka (-36%), Maharashtra (-38%), MadhyaPradesh (-10%), Puducherry (-40%), Rajasthan (-27%) and Tamil Nadu (-21%). The states that recorded above average RAIN include Assam (+23%), Bihar (+40%),Chhattisgarh (+16%), Himachal Pradesh (+55%), Haryana (+11%), Jharkhand (+21%),West Bengal (+59%), Tripura (+112%), Punjab (+20%), Mizoram (+54), Meghalaya(+35%) and Sikkim (+27%). The temperature (TEMP) was unchanged compared withaverage while photosynthetically active radiation (RADPAR) increased by 5%.Below average rainfall in the key growing stages of Kharif crop triggered thepoor crop condition for the country. The national NDVI profile indicates thatcrop development was below the average of the previous five years duringSeptember and October. In Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh the NDVI starteddecreasing from early September and reached the minimum value in early October;however it gained again later this month. The NDVI value remained below averagethroughout the monitoring period in the states of Bihar, Karnataka, Gujarat andwest Bengal as evidenced by NDVI clusters and profiles. The maximum VCIindicates that the least favorable crop condition occurred in Gujarat andRajasthan. Overall, according to Crop Watch indicators, the crop condition wasbelow average and reduced output for Kharif crops is expected.

 Figure 3.16. India crop condition, July-October 2015