During the current monitoring period (July to October 2023), the main crops grown were maize and winter wheat. Summer maize reached maturity in late September to early October. Winter wheat sowing began in early October. Agro-climatic indicators showed that precipitation (RAIN +8%), temperature (+1.6°C), and RADPAR (+5%) in this area were above the 15YA. As a result of these indicators, an increase in crop biomass production potential was estimated (BIOMSS +4%). Above-average BIOMSS was located in eastern Henan and Langfang, Hebei.

Planting of maize after harvest of winter wheat was slightly delayed due to frequent rainfall during the wheat harvest period in late May and early June. This caused a shift in the NDVI development curve. It reached peak levels starting in August.  Above-average temperature benefited the maturation of maize in September.   As the NDVI departure clustering map shows, only 33.3% of the cropped area trended above average after mid-July, widely located in southern Shandong, and eastern Henan (blue color in the NDVI departure clustering map).  Approximately 3.2% of the croplands concentrated in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration trended far below average at the end of July due to the extreme flooding. More than 300,000 hectares of maize were affected. 

The CALF was unchanged, and the maximum VCI value was 0.91. The Crop Production Index (CPI) is 1.0. In general, the overall crop conditions during the monitoring period were normal.

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

(b) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA   (c) NDVI profiles

(d)Time series rainfall profile

(e)Time series temperature profile

(f) Maximum VCI

(g) Biomass departure