During this monitoring period winter, wheat, triticale, barley and rye passed through winter dormancy and spring green-up. The proportion of irrigated cropland in Poland is only 1% and agro-meteorological conditions play a decisive role in the growth of crops. Agroclimatic conditions at the national scale were close to normal, with cumulative precipitation, average temperature and photosynthetically active radiation only slightly higher by 1%, 0.2°C and 1%, respectively, compared to the average for the same period in the last 15 years. However, the potential biomass level was slightly lower by 1% due to the dry and cold March. This can also be seen in the NDVI trend line, where NDVI in January and February was overall higher than the average level of the previous year and the same period of the last 5 years, but in March, NDVI suddenly dropped to the average level of the previous year and the same period of the last 5 years until mid-April. This drop was due to below-average precipitation in March. However, thanks to high rainfall in early April, the crops were able to recover and the overall crop growth was similar to the historical level by the end of the monitoring period. As can be seen from the spatial NDVI profiles, there were significant differences in growth in different regions in January and February. This was probably due to snow cover on the ground. The best vegetation condition index at the national scale was 0.89, whereas the areas below 0.8 were mainly located in the northern and eastern parts of the country. The proportion of cultivated land was 97%, a decrease of 2% compared with the average of the last 5 years.

Overall, although crop growth in March was lower than historical levels due to the dry and cold weather, abundant precipitation in January and February and timely precipitation in April allowed crop growth to recover quickly in April, and overall crop growth was close to average at the end of this monitoring period.

Regional analysis

Poland is divided into four subregions based on agro-ecological characteristics, namely: (a) Northern oats and potatoes area (including the Western Pomeranian, Eastern Pomeranian and Wamenia-Masuria regions), (b) Northern-central wheat and sugar-beet area (including the Cuyavia-Pomeranian to Baltic Sea region), (c) Central rye and potatoes area (including the Lubus to South Podlaski and North Lublin regions) and (d) Southern wheat and sugar-beet area (including the southern Lower Silesia to South Lublin and the Carpathian along the Czech and Slovak border).

The agronomic indicators in the Northern oats and potatoes area and the Northern-central wheat and sugar-beet area were higher than the previous averages. Compared with the averages of the same period in the last 15 years, RAIN in the two subregions was 4% and 1% higher, TEMP was 0.6°C higher, the RADPAR was 2% and 3% higher, and BIOMSS was 2% higher. CALF in the two subregions was 93% and 96%, which was 4% and 1% lower, respectively, and VCIx were 0.83 and 0.89. Similar to the national NDVI trend, conditions in the two subregions also dropped to the average level of the same period in the last 5 years in March and remained below average until the end of April. 

Compared to the average of the same period of the last 15 years, TEMP and RADPAR in the Central rye and potatoes area were slightly higher by 0.3°C and 1%, respectively, and RAIN and BIOMSS were both at the same level as before. CALF in this zone was 97%, which was 1% lower than the average level of the last 5 years, and VCIx was 0.91. The overall distribution of crop growth was the same as in the above-mentioned regions, but the crop growth in this zone had recovered to the average level of the same period of the last 5 years at the end of April.

RAIN and RADPAR in Southern wheat and sugar-beet area were 2% and 1% higher, respectively, compared with the average of the last 15 years, but TEMP and BIOMSS were 0.3°C and 4% lower, respectively. CALF was 96%, which was 2% lower than the average of the last 5 years, and VCIx was 0.88. The crop growth process in this region was similar to the other 3 sub-regions, and by the end of April, the crop growth recovered to near the average of the last 5 years and was higher than last year in late April.

Figure 3.36 Poland's crop condition, January – April 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, Northern oats and potatoes area (left) and Northern-central wheat and sugar beet area (right).

(g) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI, Central rye and potatoes area (left) and Southern wheat and sugar beet area (right)

(h) Rainfall index                                                            (i) Temperature Index

Table 3.65 Poland agroclimatic indicators by agro-ecological region, current season's values and departure from 15YA, January - April 2022

Table 3.66 Poland agronomic indicators by agro-ecological region, current season's values and departure from 5YA, January - April 2022