Although the crop condition has fluctuated over the growing cycle, by October it was comparable to last year’s condition and the average of the last five years. The main crops in this region (single rice and late rice) have already been harvested between late-August and mid-October. The analysis shows that TEMP and RAIN are above average, while RADPAR is below average by 5%. Potential biomass (BIOMSS) shows an increase of 13% when compared to the five-year average. Although NDVI fluctuated widely, crop condition in the central and north of the region remained above average, which is confirmed by the average VCIx value of 0.89and the VCIx map. In late May and June, crop condition in the south of the region (in particular in northeast Guangxi, northern Guangdong, and most parts of Fujian province) dropped sharply because of heavy rainfall. As the LowerYangtze region is the main producer of rice in China, almost all the arable land in this region is cropped except for some areas scattered along theYangtze River; the fraction of cropped arable land (CALF) in this region is similar to its five-year average. The map of the potential biomass also shows that crop condition in most parts is better than the five-year average, with aspectacular BIOMSS increase of 10 percent when compared to the five-year average.

Figure4.11. Crop condition Lower Yangtze region, July-October 2014

NDVI  background            (b)Crop condition development graph based on NDVI

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

(e)Maximum VCI

(f)Cropped arable land fraction

(g)Biomass