Chapter 2 presents the same indicators—RAIN, TEMP, RADPAR, and BIOMSS—used in Chapter 1, and combines them with the agronomic indicators—cropped arable land fraction (CALF) and maximum vegetation condition index (VCIx)—to describe crop condition in six Major Production Zones (MPZ) across all continents. For more information about these zones and methodologies used, see the quick reference guide 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 their fifteen and five-year averages.

Table 2.1. April-July 2016agroclimatic indicators by Major Production Zone, current value and departurefrom 15YA

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 the fifteen-yearaverage (15YA) for the same period (April-July) for 2001-2015.

Table 2.2. April-July 2016agronomic indicators by Major Production Zone, current season values anddeparture from 5YA

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 (April-July) for 2011-2015.