During this reporting period, winter wheat, spring wheat and spring maize were the predominant crops grown in this region. Winter wheat sowing started from late September to mid-October and will be harvested in mid-June. Spring wheat and spring maize were sown from late March to April. During the monitoring period, the crop conditions in the Loess region were close to the 5YA.

The CropWatch Agroclimatic Indicators (CWAls) show that the precipitation was above average by 10%, the temperature increased by 0.5°C, and radiation was reduced by 4%. Due to the increase in precipitation and temperature, potential biomass increased by 3% compared to the 15YA. The precipitation exceeded the 15-year maximum in late January, mid-March and late April, but other time during the monitoring period  also presented the periodic precipitation shortage. Temperatures were slightly above average in January, then dropped to below average in February, and fluctuated from March to April.
According to the regional NDVI development graph, the crop conditions were slightly below the 5YA until mid-April, but recovered to 5YA by late April and early May. NDVI clusters and profiles show that crop conditions in most regions were close to the average with minor negative departures. In western Henan, southern Gansu, Shaanxi and Shanxi (accounting for 12.6% of the total cropland area), the crop conditions were lower than the average level. The Maximum VCl map shows a low value of VClx (0.85). CALF was at 37%, lower than the average level but higher than the same period last year. All in all, the agricultural conditions in the Loess region were close to the average.

Figure.a Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

Figure.b Spatial distribution of NDVI profiles

Figure.c Time series rainfall profile

Figure.d Time series temperature profile

Figure.e Maximum VCI

Figure.f Potential biomass departure from 5YA

Figure.g Proportion of NDVI anomaly categories compared with 5YA

Figure.h Proportion of VHIm categories compared with 5YA