Crop condition in Huanghuaihai was not favorable over the current monitoring period. The main crop in the region during the period is winter wheat, which was sowed in early October last year, in full development since April and with harvests starting in early June. And summer maize is planted after the harvesting of winter wheat. According to the crop condition development graph based on NDVI, crop condition was almost constantly below the 5YA during the entire period, especially in early April, June and early July, and recovered to average in late July. Poor condition of winter wheat may be related to less radiation, which dropped 15% compared to 5YA, while precipitation and temperature were 10% and 0.4℃ above. In addition, low values in April and June may be due to the sowing and growth of some other crops. The fraction of cropped arable land (CALF) decreased by 1%. Though the crops performed poorly, sufficient precipitation and warmer weather led to a 7% increase in biomass potential.

The spatial distribution of crop condition follows patterns that are similar to those of NDVI profiles. Several regions in southern Hebei and eastern Shandong had above-average condition in May and July. Very low values occurred in the south after May, confirmed by VCIx map and biomass departure map.

NDVI values over the whole region improved late in July and the regional average VCIx was 0.90 at the end of July. There is currently no specific concern about Huanghuaihai summer crops.

Figure 4.14a. Huanghuaihai crop condition development graph based on NDVI, comparing the April to July 2018 to the previous season, to the five-year average (5YA), and to the five-year maximum

Figure 4.14b. Huanghuaihai spatial NDVI patterns for April to July 2018 (compared to the (5YA) (left) and NDVI profiles associated with these spatial patterns (right)

Figure 4.14c. Huanghuaihai maximum VCI, April to July 2018

Figure 4.14d. Huanghuaihai biomass, April to July 2018