Russia experienced very favorable climate conditions from April to July (VCIx=0.92).The winter wheat harvest in the country began in mid-June, while the planting of maize and spring wheat started in April. The fraction of cropped arable land was 3 percentage points below the five-year average. In general, Russia experienced warm and wet conditions over the recent four months. Precipitation exceeds the recent average (RAIN, +12%) and the temperature was just slightly above average (+0.2°C). Mainly due to weather condition, the BIOMSS indicator rose 12% over the last five-year average.

As shown in the NDVI crop condition development graph, the NDVI is close to last year and last five years’ average in this monitoring period, while crop condition is favorable in most parts of Russia’s cropland (VCIx>0.8). The spatial NDVI patterns show that most parts of Russia (especially in the northwest, central area, Kalingrad, and Caucasus) benefit from abundant water supply—the RAIN indicator is 20% above average, and the harvest of winter wheat in these areas has been advanced. A dry pocket is centered around the region of Perm (RAIN, -30%), with dry conditions extending to adjacent areas to the south from Sverdlovsk (-11%) and Bashkiria (-26%) to the Kostroma Oblast (-11%). In general, however, the overall outlook of Russia's winter and summer crop is favorable.

Figure 3.27. Russia cropcondition, April-July 2016

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

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