Afghanistan is a new inclusion in CropWatch system. The country is part of the semi-arid climate area that extends from the Sahara to central Asia. Wheat is by far the major cereal but maize, barley and rice are also grown. The reporting period corresponds to winter wheat and early spring wheat. The country recorded average rainfall (203 mm), above average TEMP (6.7°C, +0.8°C)  and below average RADPAR (979 MJ/m², -5%), which resulted in average BIOMSS (640 gDM/m², +1%) .

The cropped arable land fraction (CALF) was only 5%, which represents a very significant drop (-63%) below the 5YA. According to the NDVI profiles for the country, 74.6% of the areas had below average crop condition. NDVI was very low (below 5 year average), and it was below 0.2 even at its peak. Low VCIx (0.31) indicates poor crop condition; there are only some patches of high VCIx in the east. CropWatch estimates the production of wheat in the country to be  21.7% below last year's.

Figure XX.  Afghanistan crop condition, January-April 2018

(a) Phenology of major crops

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

(d) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA                      (e) NDVI profiles

Table XX.  Afghanistan January-April 2018 agroclimatic indicators by agro-ecological region, current season's values and departure from 15YA

Table XX. Afghanistan  January-April 2018 agronomic indicators by agro-ecological region, current season's values and departure from 5YA

Table XX. CropWatch estimated wheat production for Afghanistan in 2018 (000t)