During this reporting period, winter wheat, spring wheat, and spring maize were the predominant crops grown in Loess 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.

The CropWatch Agroclimatic Indicators (CWAIs) show that radiation in this area was slightly lower by 1% (RADPAR -1%), but precipitation was obviously higher by 35% (RAIN +35%), and temperature was higher by 0.8℃ (TEMP +0.8℃), which brought the potential biomass higher than the 15YA by 20%. Precipitation during most of the monitoring period was close to the average, but in early and late April, the maximum precipitation in 15 years (local snowstorm) exceeded, resulting in low temperature freezing damage in parts of Shanxi and Gansu. According to the regional NDVI development map, the overall crop condition in the Loess region was below the 5YA and recovered to average by April. 

The NDVI departure cluster profiles indicate that about 63.3% of the areas were below average from mid-March to mid-April, and gradually recovered afterward in most areas. In addition, about 5% of the areas were above average, mainly in central Henan, southwestern Shanxi, and southeastern Shaanxi Province. The Maximum VCI map shows a relatively low value of VCIx (0.74), and in southern Ningxia, central Gansu, and parts of Shanxi Province, VCIx was even below 0.5. According to the CALF map, 36% of the farmland was cultivated, which was 10% below the 5YA.

In conclusion, the CPIx in the region was greater than 1, and the crop production situation was expected to be generally normal. The agricultural conditions in the Loess region were close to average.

Figure.a Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

Figure.b Spatial distribution of NDVI profiles

Figure.c Time series rainfall pofile

Figure.d Time series temperature pofile

Figure.e Maximum VCI

Figure.f Potential biomass departure from 5YA

Figure.g Proportion of NDVI anomaly categories

Figure.h Proportion of VHlm categories