The reporting period covers the planting and early stages of winter wheat. According to the regional NDVI profile, crop condition was partly below average during the reporting period in Southwest China, but was about average in late-October and late-December. Rainfall and sunshine were low compared to their averages (RAIN -18%, RADPAR -13%) while temperature was average (TEMP - 0.3℃).

The cropped arable land fraction stayed at an average level, decreasing just 1% below the 5YA. As shown by NDVI clusters and maps, very low NDVI values occurred in some parts of eastern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi. This was due to early harvest of maize and single cropped rice last year, accounting for about 7.6% of the region (red curve). The situation turned average from the end of November. The east of northeastern Sichuan is a lowland area (300m-500m) and the most heavily irrigated area  in Southwest China. Therefore, although the rainfall in Sichuan was low compared to the average (RAIN -11%), the irrigation has made up for the necessary agricultural water. The apparently low NDVI in January for north central, central and south central Guizhou was due to the heavy snow and rainfall which led to waterlogging. CropWatch will closely monitor these regions.

Figure 4.17a. Southwest China crop condition development graph based on NDVI, comparing the current season up to January 2018 to the previous season, to the five-year average (5YA), and to the five-year maximum

Figure 4.17b. Southwest China spatial NDVI patterns for October 2017  to January 2018 (compared to the (5YA) (left) and NDVI profiles associated with these spatial patterns (right)

Figure 4.17c. Southwest China maximum VCI, October 2017  to January 2018

Figure 4.17d. Southwest China BIOMSS, October 2017  to January 2018