This monitoring period covers the harvest of the rainy season rice in North and Central Vietnam, as well as the planting of winter and winter-spring rice. The winter-spring rice in the Mekong Delta and Southeast Vietnam will be harvested in February.

The proportion of irrigated cropland in Vietnam is 32%. Therefore, precipitation plays an important role in crop production. The agro-climatic condition showed TEMP (19.6°C, +0.2°C) was close to the 15YA and the RADPAR (1170 MJ/m², +6%) was above the average. Although the RADPAR had a increase of 6%, BIOMSS (910 gDM/m², -2%) was  below the 15YA due to the below-average RAIN (563 mm, -6%). The VCIx was 0.95, and the CALF (96%, 0%) was at the 5YA. The CPI in this monitoring period was 1.13 which represents a normal crop production situation.

Based on the NDVI development graph, the crop conditions were below the 5YA throughout the whole monitoring period except at the beginning of January. In the middle of October and December, the precipitation was below average. In most of November and January, the precipitation surpassed the 15YA. The temperature was at the 15YA in the whole monitoring period except for mid November. The spatial distribution of the NDVI profiles shows that the crop conditions in most of the country were below average during the whole monitoring period. But 11.9% of the country exceeded the average in December and January. The drops in NDVI are most likely artifacts, caused by cloud cover in the satellite images. The peaks in all clusters were close to the average. Therefore, crop conditions can be assessed as normal. 

Regional analysis

Based on cropping systems, climatic zones, and topographic conditions, several agro-ecological zones (AEZ) can be distinguished for Vietnam: Central Highlands (213), Mekong River Delta (214), North Central Coast (215), North East (216), North West (217), Red River Delta (218), South Central Coast (219) and South East (220) .  

In the Central Highlands, although the TEMP (20.5°C, -0.3°C), the RADPAR (905 MJ/m², -2%) and the  RAIN (592 mm, -5%) were all below the average, the estimated BIOMSS still increased by 6%. The crop condition development graph showed that the NDVI was near the 5YA in most of the monitoring period, but there was a sharp drop in mid-November, which may have been due to cloud cover in the satellite images. The CPI was 1.13, which indicates that the crop production situation was normal. The CALF was 99% and VCIx was 0.93. The crop conditions in this region are expected to be near the average. 

In the Mekong River Delta region, the TEMP (25.5°C, -0.4°C) and the RADPAR (1079 MJ/m² -2%) were both below the average.The above average RAIN (875 mm, +16%) in this region has resulted in an increase of BIOMSS (1375 gDM/m², +10%), which was 10% higher than the 15YA. The VCIx was 0.91 and the CALF was 92%. The CPI was 1.14, which implies that the crop production was at a normal level.  The crop condition development graph showed that NDVI steadily increased from far below average levels and reached close to average levels in January.  The crop conditions in this monitoring period improved to close to average.

In the North Central Coast, the TEMP (17.8°C, -0.1°C) was at an average level. Although the RADPAR (724 MJ/m², +7%) was above the average, the BIOMSS (882 gDM/m², -3%) also had a slight drop, this condition can be attributed to the decrease of RAIN, which had a decrease of 7%. The VCIx was 0.92 and CALF was 94%. According to the crop condition development graph, the NDVI  had a wide fluctuation range. The minimum was lower than 0.4 in the beginning of October, while the maximum was close to the maximum of past 5 years in January. The CPI was 1.06. The crop conditions were close to the average.

In the North East region, although the TEMP increased by 0.7°C and the RADPAR (787 MJ/m², +17%) showed a significant increase compared to the 5YA, the BIOMSS (615 gDM/m², -18%) also  declined. This was caused by a precipitation deficit (RAIN -26%). The VCIx was 0.98 and CALF was 100%. According to the crop condition development graph, the NDVI was close to the 5YA from October to December except for late November, when it dropped sharply. It subsequently surpassed the average in January. The CPI was 1.18. The crop conditions in this region were average.

In the North West region, the TEMP (15.8°C, +0.4°C) was above average. Although the RADPAR increased by 12%, the BIOMSS still dropped by 22%, which may have been caused by the decrease of RAIN (197 mm, -35%). The VCIx was 0.96, the CALF was 100%. The CPI was 1.15, indicating normal crop conditions. The crop condition development graph showed that NDVI was close to or surpassed the 5YA throughout the whole monitoring period, especially in December and January. The crop conditions in this region are expected to be normal, despite of the precipitation deficit. 

In the region of the Red River Delta, the RAIN increased by 2%. The TEMP (19.4°C, +0.5°C) and the RADPAR (759 MJ/m², +17%) were both higher than the average. But the BIOMSS had a decrease of 11%. The VCIx was 0.89 and the CALF increased by 2%. As shown by the crop condition development graph, the NDVI was close to or surpassed the 5YA throughout the whole monitoring period, except in the beginning of October and December, when it decreased. The CPI was 1.1. The crop conditions in this region were estimated to be  above average.   

In the South Central Coast, the RAIN (1080 mm, -5%) was lower than the 15YA. With the increased TEMP (20.2°C, +0.4°C) and RADPAR (706 MJ/m², +1%), the BIOMSS showed an slight increase by 3%. The VCIx was 0.88 and the CALF dropped by 2%. The CPI was 0.98. According to the NDVI development graph, crop conditions fluctuated greatly. In mid-October, December and January, the NDVI was far below average, but was near or above the average otherwise. Overall, the crop conditions in this region were normal.

In the South East region, the TEMP (24.3°C, -0.1°C) and the RADPAR (1096 MJ/m², +1%) were close to the 15YA. The RAIN (673 mm, -2%) was lower than the average. But the BIOMSS increased by 6%. The VCIx was 0.89 and the CALF was 96%. The CPI was 1.11, which indicates that the crop conditions were normal. The crop condition development graph showed that NDVI was slightly below the 5YA throughout the whole monitoring period, but in  October, its value was far below average. The crop conditions in this region were near average.

Figure 3.46 Vietnam's crop conditions, October 2022 - January 2023

(a) Phenology of major crops

(b) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI  

 (c)  Maximum VCI

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

  (f) Rainfall profiles                                            (g) Temperature profiles             

(h) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI Central Highlands Vietnam (left), and Mekong River Delta (right)

(i) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI North Central Coast Vietnam (left), and North East Vietnam (right).

(j) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI North West Vietnam (left), and Red River Delta (right).

 (k) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI South Central Coast Vietnam (left), and South East Vietnam (right).

Table 3.84 Vietnam's agroclimatic indicators by sub-national regions, current season's values and departure from 15YA, October 2022 - January 2023

Table 3.85 Vietnam's agronomic indicators by sub-national regions, current season's values and departure from 5YA, October 2022 - January 2023