This reporting period covers the growth and maturity stages of summer crops, including late rice, semi-late rice, and maize. Their harvest was followed by the sowing of winter wheat in some fields. Overall, water and thermal conditions were favorable during this monitoring period, with crop conditions close to the average levels of previous years.

Agroclimatic indicators showed that the precipitation in the region was 844mm, 3% lower than the 15-year average, but still sufficient to meet crop water requirements. The average temperature was 19.7°C, 0.9°C higher than the 15-year average. Due to the increased number of sunny days, radiation was slightly above average (+4%). Good sunlight and thermal conditions led to above-average potential biomass (+3% vs average). The potential biomass departure map shows that potential biomass in parts of the northeast region was more than 10% higher than average, while parts of the southeast region were slightly below average, mostly within 10% below the average.

Agricultural indicators show the region's  VCIx reached 0.94. The VCIx map shows that VCIx values for almost all areas were above 0.8, with a few areas even above 1.0, indicating good crop conditions across the region. The region had full cropland area utilization (CALF=100%), while the cropping index decreased slightly (-3%). According to the Crop condition development graph based on NDVI, the red areas accounting for 15% of the region's area (mainly in the central west) had slightly below average crop conditions at the beginning of the monitoring period but kept improving, reaching above average levels by the end of the monitoring period. The rest of the region maintained average crop conditions. The CPI was 0.98, further demonstrating good agricultural production conditions.

Figure 4.16 Crop condition China Southwest region, July-October 2023

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

(b) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI     (c) NDVI profiles

(d) Maximum VCI

(e) Potential biomass departure from 15YA

(f) Time series rainfall profile

(g) Time series temperature profile