In mid-to-late August 2021, the spring maize in Xinjiang, North China, and Northeast China is in the silking and milk maturity stage. The summer maize in North China is in the silking stage. Soybean in Northeast China is in the bulging stage, while that in Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan and Hebei is in the flowering and pod stage. In most areas of southern and central China, mid-season rice is in the heading stage.

In general, the national crop condition is the same as the average level of the past five years. The crop growth in the north of the Yangtze River is good, mainly due to the abundant precipitation that provides suitable soil moisture protection for the growth of summer grains. However, the north of the Loess Plateau is affected by the continuous drought, and the rain-fed crop growth is poor. Continuous precipitation in southern Sichuan and most areas of Yunnan has restricted RADPAR, and crop growth is lower than the average level of previous years. Heavy precipitation in Henan Province from July to August caused partial fall crop production in the north.

In general, most of the main agricultural production areas in the country have good Agro-climatic conditions, which was generally conducive to the crop growth and development, such as maize, soybean, cotton, one-season rice, and late rice. The crop growth in the Northeast Plain, Huanghuaihai Plain, Fenwei Plain and other regions is better than average. The CropWatch team predicts that China's autumn grain production situation is better.

Figure 1: NDVI departure from 5 years average (2021.8.13 - 2021.8.28)