During the entire monitoring period, the primary crops cultivated in the Loess region are winter wheat, spring wheat, and spring maize. The sowing of winter wheat extended from late September to mid-October. The crops will reach maturity be early June. The sowing of spring wheat and spring maize takes place from late March to April.

        The  CropWatch Agro-climatic Indicators  (CWAIs) show that radiation in this area was lower by 3%, while precipitation was obviously higher by 34%, and the temperature was higher by 0.8℃ from 15YA. Thanks to the increase in precipitation and temperature, the potential biomass in this region has increased by 22% compared to the 15YA. During the majority of the monitoring period, precipitation surpassed the average, and remarkably, in mid-February and the end of March, they exceeded the 15-year maximum. Those snow storm events were accompanied by cold weather, causing freezing damages in parts of the Loess region. According to the regional NDVI development map, the overall crop condition in the Loess region was below the 5YA in January to March and recovered to average in April.

        The NDVI development map shows that in late February, the growth in southern Ningxia, central and eastern Gansu, and southwestern Shaanxi was significantly below the average level. However, by mid-March, the growth had recovered to the average level, and by the end of April and beginning of May, it had exceeded the average level. The area accounts for approximately 35.4% of the total cultivated land area in the region. The growth of crops in the remaining areas is generally close to the average level. The maximum value of VCIx was 0.89 and the CPIx was 1.18, higher than both last year and the 5YA. CALF had increased by 9% compared to the 5YA.

        Overall, the agricultural conditions in the Loess region were close to average. It is expected that the crop production situation will be normal.

Figure.(a) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

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

Figure.(d)Time series rainfall pofile

Figure.(e)Time series temperature profile

Figure.(f)Maximum VCI

Figure.(g)Potential biomass departure from 5YA