Crop condition was generally below average from October 2016 to January 2017 in Iran. The planting of winter wheat has been completed, while it was still underway for barley in late January. Accumulated rainfall (RAIN, -1%) and temperature (TEMP, -0.3°C) were below average during the monitoring period, while radiation (RADPAR, +1%) was close to average. The unfavorable weather conditions resulted in the decrease of the potential biomass indicator (BIOMSS) by 15%. The national average of VCIx (0.42) was below average and rather low for a national value.

According to the national NDVI development graphs, crop condition was below average for the entire monitoring period in most of Iran. Above average crop condition from October to early December was mainly distributed in the Ardabil province of the northwest region. Some areas of Mazandaran and Golestan provinces of the central-north region, and Fars province of the southwest region, experienced favorable crop conditions over the reporting period.

Overall, the outcome for the winter crop season is estimated to be unfavorable.

Figure 3.18. Iran cropcondition, October 2016-January 2017

(a)Crop condition development graph based on NDVI                       (b)Maximum VCI

(c)Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA and the coresponding NDVI departure profiles