In general, crops in Argentina underwent favorable conditions from January to April. Currently,maize and soybean are at maturity stage and the harvest is ongoing. Nationally,abundant precipitation (RAIN, 21% above average) and favorable temperatures(TEMP, +1.1°C) accelerated the development and maturation of maize and soybean.Good agroclimatic conditions were also observed in major producing provinces,except for Entre Rios, with 8% below average rainfall. Overall, the NDVI development graph shows above average crop condition and advanced cropphenology. The NDVI peak exceeds the corresponding 2014 and five-year average values, which indicates above average yield prospects. As confirmed by spatial NDVI patterns compared to the five-year average and corresponding NDVI departure cluster profiles, NDVI has been above the five-year average since November 2014 in 90% of arable land in Argentina. The remaining 10% of land,where condition was below average, is located in scattered spots in northern Argentina, mostly in Mesopotamia and the Chaco Region. Compared with average,only Central Buenos Aires shows below average crop condition. For 2015,CropWatch puts maize and soybean production for the country at 25.3 million tons and 52.2 million tons, respectively, close to the 2014 production levels(see table B.1 in Annex B).

Figure3.5. Argentina crop condition, January-April 2015

a)Crop condition development graph based on NDVI     (b) maximum VCI

(c)Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA             (d) NDVI profile