By October, the autumn grain crops such as late rice and maize had been harvested in the Lower Yangtze region.

According to the CropWatch agro-climatic indicators, the accumulated precipitation, temperature and photosynthetically active radiation all showed increases. Specifically, the values were 1%, 1.2℃ and 3% higher, respectively, compared to the 15-year averages.The above-average agro-climatic conditions resulted in an increase of biomass potential production by 3%, as compared to the 15YA.

As shown in the NDVI development graph, crop conditions were close to the 5-year average throughout the monitoring period. For 48.3% of the cultivated areas in this region, mainly distributed in Anhui and around Poyang Lake, the crop growth crop conditions were above average. The crop growth in Jiangsu was below average at the beginning of the monitoring period and then gradually increased, approaching the level of previous years in October. On 35.4% of the area, mainly located in Hubei, high temperatures and drought conditions caused a drop of the NDVI values. Apart from that, the potential biomass departure suggests that the agro-climatic conditions in most parts of the region were favorable. The potential biomass departure was mostly above average (0% to 20%) in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and northern Hubei, while the biomass departure was slightly negative (-10% to 0%) in the remaining areas. The average VCIx of this region was 0.93, and most of the area had VCIx values ranging from 0.8 to 1. The current value of the crop production index (CPI) is 0.99, slightly below the 5-year average.

In general, the crop conditions in the Lower Yangtze region were normal.

Figure 4.8  Crop condition China Lower Yangtze region, July 2024 - October 2024

(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                                                                                  (h)CPI time series chart