At the end of current reporting period (July-October), wheat is beginning to be harvested in the north of the country; the planting of early maize is almost completed and soybean planting is beginning. Predictions of harvested areas show an increment for wheat and maize and a slight reduction in soybean associated with reductions in both export taxes and regulations for maize and wheat.

For RAIN, a moderate decrease (-7% compared to the 15YA) was observed, while in general TEMP and RADPAR were close to average. Reductions in the RAIN indicator could be due to neutral or La Niña conditions, in a change from the strong El Niño that affected the southern hemisphere summer; this can also explain the 14% reduction in potential biomass (BIOMSS), a reduction that was stronger in the Pampas than in north Argentina. The top three agricultural producing provinces—Buenos Aires, Cordoba, and Santa Fe—experienced rainfall shortages that reached 29%, 27%, and 9%, respectively. NDVI profiles for the reporting period are higher than average, and for the last month (the maize planting period) they are also higher than last year’s in spite of the poorer RAIN conditions. Abundant soil water retention from the last season could explain this behavior. In addition, changes in crop proportions could generate or add to NDVI anomalies because of the different planting dates of wheat, maize and soybean in the Pampas. Maximum VCI showed high values (larger than 0.8) for most of the area, possibly reflecting the soil water retention and the higher proportion of wheat and maize crops in especially the central Pampas.

Overall, the agro-climatic conditions in Argentina are average; more rainfall is needed for the crops that have just been sown and those at their early growing stages, especially in the major agricultural regions.

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

(c) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA and the coresponding NDVI departure profiles