Poland enjoyed favorable conditions during this monitoring period (VCIx=0.8), which witnessed the harvest of winter wheat and maize. The cropped arable land fraction (CALF) was the same as during the last five years. The weather during July to October was wetter and warmer than the last thirteen years average with rainfall up 10%,temperature up 1.0°C, and PAR up 4%. Due to the impact of rainfall, the potential biomass was 10% higher than usual. As shown in the spatial NDVI patterns figure, in southwest Poland (including Wroclaw and Opole), the NDVI under went a marked drop in July, which was caused by the harvest of wheat.Meanwhile, for the current monitoring period, most parts of the wheat planting area (including Poznan and Bydgoszcz) recorded NDVI values close to the recent five-year average. Because of the good climate condition from January to June,yields are forecast to be above average for wheat.

Figure3.25. Poland crop condition,July-October 2014

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

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