Poland enjoyed favorable conditions during this monitoring period (maximum VCI=0.83), which corresponds with the wintering stage of winter wheat; maize seeding starts in the beginning of April. The cropped arable land fraction (CALF) for the country is the same as the average of the last five years. Weather during January to April was wetter and warmer than average, with RAIN up 7% and TEMP 1.4°C, which is significant at the national scale over a four-month period. RADPAR dropped 1% below average and the potential biomass indicator BIOMSS was 14% above average due to the combination of abundant precipitation and mild weather.

Due to the favorable weather condition during the wintering stage, the crop condition in Poland is very goodin most parts of the country (maximum VCI values over 0.8), and the phenology of winter crops must be much advanced. As shown by the spatial NDVI patterns,in about 81.5% of Poland, including Poznan, Warsaw, and Bialystok, the NDVI isclose to average before February and significantly above average in the three months after. Because of this, the production of the country’s winter crop is predictedto be very satisfactory.

Figure3.25. Poland crop condition, January-April2015