Crop condition was abovethe five-year average in the Lower Yangtze region. The CropWatch agroclimaticindicators indicate that temperature was above average, while rainfall waslower than average in this region. The potential biomass decreased by 24% overthe five-year average, probably resulting from unfavorable rainfall. During the past four months, crop condition was above average in almost 75% of the region;drought and below average rainfall constrained the growth of crops in the south of Hubei and north of Hunan provinces starting in October 2014. In the south ofHenan, northeast of Guangxi, and east of Hunan province, crop condition was above average due to adequate temperature and precipitation, which is confirmedby the distribution of maximum VCI. The value of the maximum VCI was 0.83,while the fraction of cropped arable land did not change compared to itsaverage value.

Fgure4.9. Crop condition Lower Yangtze region, October 2014-January 2015