The period from January to April covers the sowing and growingperiods of spring rice in both the north and south of the country, withdifferences due to altitude. Most of the rice cultivation regions aredistributed in the northern Red River delta and in the Mekong delta in thesouth. The fraction of cropped arable land (CALF) increased 2.1 percentagepoints compared with the average of the previous five years. The nationalmaximum vegetation condition index was also favorable (0.83).

CropWatch agroclimatic indicators show above average rainfall(RAIN, +14%), a marked decrease in radiation (RADPAR, -8%), and average temperature(TEMP, -0.1°C), leading to an increase in the biomass production potential(BIOMSS, +17%). According to the NDVI profiles linked to spatial patterns, only6% of croplands in the country suffered from poor condition, while conditionfor 27% of crop lands was consistently above average, with those areas mainlydistributed around the Red River delta (including BacGiang and HaiDuong) in thenorth and Qui Nhon in the south. Considering the favorable agroclimaticconditions, the prospects of the crops in the country are good.

Figure3.33. Vietnam crop condition, January-April2017