Crop condition in the Philippines was generally average from October to January. The monitoring period covers the harvesting stage of last year’s main rice, as well as the sowing and growing stage of secondary rice and maize. Environment indices show decreased rainfall(-5%) and slightly increased temperature (0.3°C) compared to average. As are sult of rainfall deficit, the biomass accumulation shows a significant 9%decrease compared to that same average, which is also shown in the NDVI development graph: crop condition was the lowest among the curves in December. The overall maximum VCI index is 0.89, therefore, average to good yields can be expected for secondary rice.

Figure 3.24. Philippines crop condition, October 2014-January 2015

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

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