The period from April to July 2016 covers the harvest of the second (dry season) rice, the early stage of the main (wet season) rice, and the growing period of maize. Compared to the five-year average, crop condition before July was well below average since April. The CropWatch agroclimatic and agronomic indicators show that Cambodia enjoyed a minor increase in precipitation compared to average (RAIN, +7%), with average temperature (TEMP, -0.1°C). This resulted in a biomass production potential (BIOMSS) drop of 7%. Low vegetation condition indices (VCIx<0.5)occur scattered around Tonle Sap. Average VCIx reaches just 0.75 and thecropped arable land fraction (CALF) dropped by a spectacular 7% compared withthe previous five seasons. NDVI of most of the arable land (80%) presentscontinuous below average condition except for Kampong Chaam, Prey Veaeng, andsome other, scattered areas. Overall crop prospects for the country are very poor.

Figure3.19. Cambodia crop condition, April-July2016

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

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