Due to the cold winter weather, most crops were not grown in the northeast region of China during this monitoring season (January to April 2024) except for a small part of southern Liaoning. CropWatch Agroclimatic Indicators (CWAIs) show that the total precipitation increased by 3%. It was above average in mid-February, late-March and mid-April. The photosynthetically active radiation was below average (RADPAR - 3%), and the temperatures were above average (TEMP +1.2°C)  in mid-February, late-March and mid-April. Altogether, the potential biomass was 16% above the fifteen-year average level.

Overall, higher precipitation since late March and warmer temperatures are beneficial for the spring sowing in the northeast region of China. However, some areas with low precipitation experienced mild spring drought in the western part of Heilongjiang province and Jilin province. Appropriate temperature and abundant precipitation in May will facilitate the germination and good establishment of the summer crops, especially beneficial for sowing and seedling emergence of dryland crops such as spring corn and soybeans, as well as transplanting rice.

Figure 4.9 Crop condition China Northeast region, January - April 2024

(a) Time series rainfall pofile

(b) Time series temperature pofile

(c) Potential biomass departure from 15YA