During the current monitoring period, most parts of the Central Europe to Western Russia MPZ presented favorable conditions of winter and summer crop (average VCIx=0.87). Colder and drier than usual weather has been experienced across the MPZ, with decreased rainfall (RAIN, -7%) and slightly decreased temperature (TEMP, -0.3°C). Radiation (RADPAR) increased 1%over the recent average. (See figure 2.6.)

As indicated by the rainfall profile analysis, the west and south of Russia and eastern Ukraine received well above average rainfall since May, with significant rainfall peaks in mid-June, especially in the Krais of Krasnodar and Stavropol and the Oblast of Rostov, which received almost 30%more rainfall than average. Most regions of the MPZ presented below averagemoisture conditions in late-June and July except the eastern part of the MPZ inRussia. Temperature profiles show that the western part of the MPZ experienced lowtemperatures over the monitoring period, including Romania, Poland, Belarus,and western Ukraine. Most arable land in Russia shows low temperature in July.

Most arable land was actually cropped during this period,with a CALF of 93%. Due to the low temperature in the western part of the MPZ,the accumulated potential biomass (BIOMSS) is below the five-year average in Romania, Poland, Belarus (<-20%), while as a result of the BIOMSS increase in the eastern part, the biomass accumulation of the whole MPZ shows a slight increase of 1%. The average maximum VCI values reach a high of 0.87.

Figure 2.6. Central Europe-WesternRussia MPZ: Agroclimatic and agronomic indicators, April-July 2015