Chapter 2 presents the same indicators—RAIN, TEMP, RADPAR,and BIOMSS—used in Chapter 1, and combines them with the agronomic indicators—croppedarable land fraction (CALF) and maximum vegetation condition index (VCIx)—to describecrop condition in six Major Production Zones (MPZ) across all continents. Formore information about these zones and methodologies used, see the quick referenceguide in Annex C as well as the CropWatch bulletin online resources at www.cropwatch.com.cn.

2.1 Overview

Tables 2.1 and 2.2 present an overview of the agroclimatic (table 2.1) and agronomic (table 2.2) 
indicators for each of the six MPZs, comparing the indicators to theirfourteen- and five-year averages. 

Table 2.1. July-October 2015 agroclimatic indicators byMajor Production Zone, current value and departure from 14YA

Table 2.2. July-October 2015 agronomic indicators by MajorProduction Zone, current season values and departure from 5YA

Note: Departuresare expressed in relative terms (percentage) for all variables, except fortemperature, for which absolute departure in degrees Celsius is given. Zeromeans no change from the average value; relative departures are calculated as(C-R)/R*100, with C=current value and R=reference value, which is thefourteen-year average (14YA) for the same period (July-October) for 2001-14.

Note: Departuresare expressed in relative terms (percentage) for all variables. Zero means nochange from the average value; relative departures are calculated as(C-R)/R*100, with C=current value and R=reference value, which is the five-year(5YA) average for the same period (July-October) for 2010-2014.