During this monitoring period, winter wheat, barley, and legumes are Morocco's main crops. Winter wheat sowing started in November and was completed in December. The CropWatch agro-climatic indicators show that rain and temperature were 51% below and 0.1°C above the 15-year average (15YA), respectively. According to the rainfall profile, high rainfall (>20 mm) fell in late-November and late-December. The temperature profile fluctuated near the 15YA but was below the 15YA during November. The RADPAR was 6.2% above the 15YA, while the BIOMSS was 29% below the 15YA. The nationwide NDVI graph indicates that crops conditions were below the 5YA across the study period. The NDVI spatial clustering map shows that conditions of only 10.3% were above the 5YA. The cereal production in Morocco is heavily dependent on rainfall since only 15% of the country's cropland is irrigated. This explains the below-average crop conditions. The country's VCIx value was 0.50, and the CALF was below the 5YA by 28%. Generally, crop conditions were below normal.

Regional analysis

CropWatch adopts three agro‐ecological zones (AEZs) relevant for crop production in Morocco: The Sub-humid northern highlands, the Warm semiarid zone, and the Warm sub-humid zone. All agro-climatic indicators measured for these three AEZs show nearly the same patterns. The rainfall for the three zones were 46%, 67%, 45% below the 15YA, respectively. The temperature was 0.2°C above the 15YA in the first and third zones and the same as the 15YA in the second zone. The RADPAR was above the 15YA by 7%, 6%, and 7%, while the BIOMSS was below the 15YA by 25%, 35%, and 25% for the three zones. In the three zones, the crop conditions based on the NDVI graph are indicated below the 5YA. Compared to the 5YA, CALF decreased by 21%, 58%, 10%, and the maximum VCI was lowest at 0.60, 0.35, 0.67 in the three zones.

Figure 3.28 Morocco’s crop condition, October 2021 - January 2022

(a). Phenology of major crops

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

                   (d). Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA(e). NDVI profiles

(f). crop condition development graph based on NDVI, Sub-humid northern highlands and (g). Warm semiarid zones

(h). crop condition development graph based on NDVI, Warm subhumid zones

         (i). Time series profile of rainfall                                 （j). Time series profile of temperature

Table 3.49 Morocco’s agroclimatic indicators by sub-national regions, current season's values, and departure from 15YA, October 2021 - January 2022

Table 3.50 Morocco’s agronomic indicators by sub-national regions, current season’s values, and departure from 5YA, October 2021 - January 2022