August 2015 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 15, No. 3)

The current reporting period from April to July 2015 covers the harvest of winter crops and the growth of summer crops in the northern hemisphere, as well as the growth and harvest of winter crops in the southern hemisphere. After providing an overview of global agroclimatic conditions with some typical agronomic impacts in the major production zones (MPZs), the bulletin looks in detail at the major producers, including China, focusing on maize, rice, wheat, and soybeans. A particular focus area for this bulletin is production and trends in North America. The bulletin also includes a new section (4.2) on the impacts of pests and diseases on agriculture in China

May 2015 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 15, No. 2)

May 2015 CropWatch bulletin released. The current CropWatch bulletin is based mainly on remotely sensed data. It focuses on crops that were either growing or harvested between January and April 2015. The bulletin covers prevailing weather conditions, including extreme factors, as well as crop condition and size of cultivated areas, paying special attention to the major worldwide producers of maize, rice, wheat, and soybean. The bulletin also describes current conditions in China and presents the likely global production prospects for crops to be harvested throughout 2015. A special focus section describes agricultural developments in South America.

February 2015 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 15, No. 1)

February 2015 CropWatch bulletin released. The CropWatch February 2015 bulletin presents an overview of global and regional crop development and agricultural production up to the end of January. The bulletin’s analyses of agroclimatic and satellite-based agronomic indicators focus on worldwide patterns and zoom into major production areas, countries, and large administrative areas. Although the latest reporting period covers a relatively quiet period from an agricultural standpoint, as described in the bulletin global weather and extreme weather events have caused damages to agriculture or will otherwise impact agricultural outcomes for the next season. The bulletin includes updated estimates for wheat production in Argentina, Brazil, and Australia, as well as a focus section on agricultural development in Africa.

November 2014 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 14, No. 4)

November 2014 CropWatch bulletin released. The CropWatch November bulletin assesses the agroclimatic and agronomic factors up to October 2014 that determine crop development and agricultural production. The analyses of environmental and satellite-based agronomic indicators focus on worldwide patterns and zoom into major production areas and countries. The report presents the CropWatch provisional estimates for 2014 production, putting the combined global estimate of 2014 maize, rice, and wheat output at 2,469 million tons and soybean at 295 million tons; for China, these numbers are 513 million (main cereals) and 13 million (soybean). The bulletin’s focus section this time discusses extreme weather events—including cyclone Hudhud in India, El Niño developments, and rice.

August 2014 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 14, No. 3)

The CropWatch August bulletin assesses the agroclimatic and agronomic factors up to July 2014 that determine crop development. The analyses of environmental and satellite-based agronomic indicators focus on worldwide patterns and zoom into major production areas and countries. Over the reporting period, rainfall deficits and excess rainfall both markedly affect crop development. The bulletin reports on 2014 crop production estimates and also summarizes recent disasters and severe weather events that have impacted agriculture. The focus section further discusses El Niño perspectives and recent trends and an outlook for maize.

May 2014 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 14, No. 2)

The May 2014 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 14, No. 2) summarizes global crop condition developments and agroclimatic factors from January to April 2014, focusing on key crop producing and exporting areas and China. The bulletin reports on cold spells, warm spells, and droughts affecting large areas, with resulting impacts on regional and national agricultural production. Findings also include that some of the observed climatic anomalies are in line with El Niño induced weather patterns. The report lists current production estimates for maize, rice, wheat, and soybean for calendar year 2014, using CropWatch information on crop condition and areas of cropped land compared to recent years. The bulletin’s special focus is on disasters, wheat, and El Niño.

February 2014 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 14, No. 1)

The February 2014 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 14, No. 1) presents a global overview of crop stage and condition between October 2013 and January 2014. Using a hierarchical approach mostly based on remote sensing indicators, the bulletin describes environmental variables—rainfall, temperature, radiation, and biomass—for the globe, along with agronomic indicators—vegetation condition and health indices, ratio of uncropped arable land—for major production areas, thirty key countries, and China. The bulletin also summarizes disasters and extreme weather events over the monitoring period and presents a focus section on soybean.

November 2013 CropWatch bulletin (Vol. 13, No. 7)

The November 2013 CropWatch bulletin provides a comprehensive overview of the 2012-13 global production of wheat, rice, maize, and soybean. It is based on a thorough analysis of environmental conditions and a quantitative assessment of their impact on crops, focusing on some of the major production areas and countries, including China. The CropWatch analysis presented in the report takes advantage of newly available data, including the high quality data from the Chinese FY-3 and HJ-1 satellites, and introduces new spatial units of analysis, new methods, and several innovative remote sensing-based indicators. The report marks CropWatch’ first systematic contribution to GeoGLAM and the G20 Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) and for the first time is released in both English and Chinese.