The current monitoring period (July to October) covered the peak of the summer crops in July until the harvest in September and October in northeast China. The crops, including maize, rice and soybeans, reached maturity stage in August to September in Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, and the harvest was mostly completed by the end of October. Overall, crop growth in northeast China was normal from July to mid-September, but was slightly lower than average after mid-September. Precipitation in northeast China was 21% higher than the average level, the average temperature was 0.3°C lower. Temperatures were close to average during the current monitoring period except in late August and early October. During the monitoring period, the potential biomass in northeast China was 9% above the fifteen-year average. The eastern parts of northeast China were significantly above average, and this could be attributed to the abundant rainfall and moderate temperatures. While biomass estimates for western parts of northeast China were slightly less than average due to excessive precipitation.

The crop conditions during the monitoring period were in general close to average but spatial variations existed. As shown by NDVI clusters and profiles, 3.9% of cropland over western Liaoning province and Jilin province were observed with negative NDVI departures, indicating that crops in this area were in relatively poor conditions. The spatial distribution map of the VCI shows that the crops in the whole northeast region were in good conditions, with VCIx values higher than 0.8 in almost all areas, except for small parts in the western part in Jilin and Liaoning province. In general, crops in northeast China grow well in 2022, with good prospects for crop yield.

Figure 4.7 Crop condition China Northeast region, July-October 2022

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

(b) 图.X Time series temperature pofile

(c)  Time series rainfall pofile

(d)  Spatial distribution of NDVI profiles

(e)  Potential biomass departure from 5YA

(f)  Maximum VCI