In France, the reporting period covers important phenological phases for sugar beet (storage organs development and sugar accumulation) and maize (grain filling and ripening), as well as early development stages of winter crops sown in September-October. At the national level, total precipitation was significantly below the fifteen-year average (-41%), while temperature (-0.3°C) and radiation (+3%) showed only slight departures. Rainfall was very scarce within the whole reporting period. An exception was recorded in the middle of October with 10 days with above-average rainfall. The biomass production potential drops 35% below the recent five-year average. NDVI was continuously below average from the end of June, with highest negative departures at the end of August and early September.

Negative NDVI departures actually occurred over the majority of agricultural areas, especially in the wide belt from the northwest (Bretagne) across the center to the east. Significantly below average NDVI occurred in 35% of agricultural areas starting in July. The worst crop conditions, affecting 10.8% of arable land, were observed especially in the central regions (south of Centre, Bourgogne, Limousin and Auvergne), northwest (Haute-Normandie), and western areas (Pays de la Loire and Poitou-Charentes). At the scale of the whole country, the VCIx amounts to 0.74, significantly below its average value for the past five years. The lowest values (<0.5) of this indicator are observed in the same regions with the worst crop conditions according to NDVI. This leads to lower than usual expectation in non-irrigated summer crops production (maize and sugar beet).

In the second ten-day period of October, higher than average rainfall was favorable for emergence and early development of winter crops. The drought that caused the production of rainfed summer crops to be below average also led to a delay of winter crop sowing. Their output in 2017 will depend critically on winter rains.

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI   

(b) Maximum VCI

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