This monitoring period from July to October covers the growing and harvesting stages of summer crops (sugarcane, cotton,rice and maize), as well as the sowing of barley and winter wheat. Compared with average conditions, agroclimatic indicators show an increase of rainfall(+10%), a drop in temperature
(-1°C) and radiation (-1%), resulting in a biomass production potential isbelow the five-year average (-8%). The fraction of cropped arable land (CALF)and cropping intensity decreased (-3% and -5% respectively).

The average NDVI development profilesindicate that crop condition was better than during the five-year average inthe beginning of July but from the beginning of August a decline started thatcontinued until October. The lowest maximum VCI values (<0.5) occur in thenorth of Balochistan, the south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and south of Sindh.According to the spatial NDVI patterns and profiles, 41.3% of the cropped areadisplayed above average conditions throughout the monitoring period from Julyto October (north Punjab and central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). 43.6% of croppedareas show average conditions throughout. The remaining 15.1%, mostly in theSindh area, show poor conditions. Altogether, crop condition is estimated to befair.   

 Figure 3.23. Pakistan crop condition, July-October2015

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

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