The reporting period covers the entire growing and harvesting season of Maha rice and maize, as well as  the early sowing season of Yala crops (rice and maize). CropWatch assesses the overall crop condition to be below both the average of the previous five years and 2017.

Compared to average, rainfall increased 26%, while temperature and radiation were slightly below (0.6℃ and 2%, respectively). The fraction of cropped arable land (CALF) remained stable compared with the five-year average. Excess precipitation may have had a negative influence on  crop condition and led to a decrease in BIOMASS compared with the five-year average. The crop condition development graph based on NDVI describes an unfavourable situation. Crop condition dropped below average after January and remained so up to mid-April. The condition recovered to normal compared to average in late April.  

There were, however, some spatial differences according to NDVI profile clusters and map. In southern Sri Lanka, crop condition fluctuated around the average while all other regions experienced departures from average to some extent.  The North-western Province suffered bad conditions from February to mid-April except for its eastern part. In the east of the country, the  North-Central province and the Eastern Province crops did unsatisfactorily in late January and mid-April. The maximum VCI (VCIx) map displays patterns of spatial distribution that are similar to the NDVI clusters, with low and high values occurring throughout the country. The average VCIx value for Sri Lanka, however, is rather high at 0.86. CropWatch therefore puts the productions of rice during 2018 slightly above the output of 2017. 

Figure 3.21. Sri Lanka 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 3.52. CropWatch-estimated maize and rice production for Sri Lanka in 2018 (thousand tons)