Romania presentedaverage crop conditions over the monitoring period (maximum VCI=0.76), a periodcorresponding with the wintering stage of winter wheat. The seeding of maizestarts from the beginning of April. During this monitoring period, the fractionof cropped arable land (CALF) was 8% below its five-year average. Overall,weather was warm with temperature (TEMP) 0.6°C above average. Precipitation waslower than usual (RAIN, -2%), while the potential biomass was up (BIOMSS, +5%over average), due to the warm weather. The phenology of winter crops inRomania will be somewhat advanced due to the warm weather.

As shown by the spatialNDVI patterns, in most parts of the country the crop condition is below averagestarting in March. In the southeast, including Bucharest, Alexandria, and Craiova,crops were affected by water logging from January to March; all NDVI curvesexperienced a significant decline. Crop condition in other parts of Romania isfair. Overall, the expectation for national winter wheat production in Romaniais average.

Figure3.26. Romania crop condition, January-April2015

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

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