The current monitoring period corresponds to the rainfed kharif season crops. Over the last four months, crop condition was below average for the country. Excess rainfall (RAIN, +12%), primarily in Andhra Pradesh (+9%), Bihar (+38%), Rajasthan (+79(%), Uttar Pradesh (+29%), and Madhya Pradesh (+62%), caused flooding and damaged the crops. Temperature (TEMP) remained average, while photosynthetically active radiation (RADPAR) decreased by 6%. The crop condition development was below the previous five-year average, while the national NDVI profiles remained average. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka, the maximum VCI value stayed below 0.5, indicating poor crop condition. The cropped arable land fraction (CALF) increased by 1 percentage point as compared to the five-year average while the biomass accumulation potential (BIOMSS) rose 3%. Overall, as per Crop Watch indicators, crop condition was below average and a reduced output is expected, due mainly to the damage caused by the recent floods.

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI   

(b) Maximum VCI

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