Starting from 2025, the frequency of CropWatch bulletins will be adjusted from quarterly to bimonthly, with releases at the end of February, April, June, August, October, and December each year. This change aims to enhance the timeliness of information and better meet the urgent needs of global users and friends who follow CropWatch for agricultural information.

The structure of the CropWatch bulletins has also been innovatively adjusted. Each issue will focus on the production situation and dynamic changes in yields of major global food and oil crops, with particular attention to major producing countries and hotspots that significantly impact global food supply during the monitoring period. The February bulletin specifically highlights the production of maize and soybeans in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as the dynamics of rice in equatorial countries, striving to provide more precise data support and analysis for global agriculture.

The bulletins adopt a progressive monitoring and analysis model that moves from data, models, and systems to information. Innovatively integrating API encapsulation and cloud computing support, this approach has significantly improved monitoring efficiency. During the analysis phase, we have introduced several large language models to further enhance the objectivity of the monitoring results and the efficiency of analysis. CropWatch will continue to make its monitoring and analysis tools openly accessible, building an open and participatory agricultural monitoring ecosystem. This not only provides global users with professional agricultural information support but also offers customized self-monitoring functions to enhance the transparency and timeliness of global agricultural monitoring information.

We sincerely thank the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO) and the Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) for their long-term support. Looking ahead, CropWatch will continue to work hand in hand with colleagues to meet challenges and promote a more prosperous future for agricultural monitoring.

Bingfang Wu
CropWatch Lead