5.1 Global Crop Production Index

Figure 5.1 Global CPI for the past 11 years during the current monitoring period (from October of the previous year to January of the current year).

For the current monitoring period, the Crop Production Index (CPI) for global crop production reached its highest level in almost 11 years in 2020. However, from 2021 onwards, the global CPI declines for three consecutive years, from 1.19 to 1.12 in 2023, which is close to the lowest level in the past 11 years (i.e. 1.11 in 2015) and the second lowest level in nearly 11 years. The downward trend in the CPI over the past three years indicates that global agricultural production is facing severe challenges, which are expected to continue in 2023. The causes of this trend are complex, but climate change and extreme weather events appear to be key factors. Effective strategies are needed to mitigate the impact of these factors and ensure sustainable agricultural production to meet the growing global demand for food.

The Crop Production Index (CPI) is an indicator proposed by CropWatch to characterize the agricultural production situation in a designated area. The index takes into account the distribution of irrigated and rainfed cropland, VCIx, CALF, land productivity, and crop acreage in a designated area to measure the production situation in a given growing season in a normalized value.