By October, late rice had reached maturity in Southern China.  According to the regional NDVI profile, crop conditions trended below the 5-year average.

According to the CropWatch agro-climatic indicators, the accumulated precipitation and temperature  were both above average (ΔRAIN +14% and ΔTEMP +0.7°C). Radiation was slightly below average (ΔRADPAR -1%). Potential biomass was above average (ΔBIOMASS +4%), primarily as a result of increased precipitation and temperature. 

According to the NDVI departure clustering map and the profiles, the crop conditions in the region were slightly below average. The main reason of the below average crop condition is the cyclones and the extreme high rainfall which resulted in insufficient solar energy especialy during the key growth period of semi-late rice and late rice. The high rainfall also resulted in local flooding which damaged average yield for semi-late rice and late rice. This sharp drop was caused by cloud cover in the satellite images. The potential biomass departure indicates that the agro-climatic conditions were generally above average in most areas, with potential biomass departure values mostly in the range of 0-10%. The average VCIx of this region was 0.94, and most of the area had VCIx values ranging from 0.8 to 1.

In general, the crop conditions in Southern China were below average.

Figure 4.12 Crop condition Southern China region, July-October 2023

(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

(b) Time series rainfall pofile

(c) Time series temperature pofile

(d) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA   (e) NDVI profiles

(f) Maximum VCI

(g) Potential biomass departure from 5YA