Abstract:

Based on daily meteorological observations from approximately 1800 meteorological stations and agrometeorological observations from nearly 300 agrometeorological stations across the major production areas of the summer harvested grain and oil crops (winter wheat and rapeseed) in 2026, the methods of statistical analysis, satellite remote sensing and crop model simulations were utilized to obtain the climatic suitability, agrometeorological disaster indices and remote sensing based crop index to assess the impact of meteorological conditions in 2026 on the growth and yield of winter wheat and rapeseed. The results showed that the sowing period in the northern winter wheat region was significantly delayed due to persistent rainy weather in the autumn of 2025, resulting in relatively weak seedling condition under the pre−winter stage. However, favorable thermal and precipitation conditions in the winter of 2025 and spring of 2026 facilitated the upgrading transformation of wheat seedling and construction of high−yielding canopy. The winter wheat seedling continued to improve and reached the expected yield. Since rapeseed was sown in the autumn of 2025 across the southern major production zone, climatic resources, including sunshine, thermal and precipitation matched well in most periods. However, periodical low−temperature cold surged in the winter of 2025 caused frost damage to some rapeseed in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River region. Additionally, waterlogging owing to excessive moisture stress since late March adversely affected yield formation. Overall, the meteorological conditions during the winter wheat growing season were characterized by bad in the previous growing stages followed by good in the later stages, which was the opposite for rapeseed. 

Key words: Winter wheat, Rapeseed, Late sowing, Waterlogging