Studies on the impact of winter climate on rubber and wheat cultivation in the mountains of southern China, applying a fuzzy cluster analysis

Abstract

Data from climatic stations in China, located south of 30° N and > 400 m above sea-level, were analysed in order to study the relationship with winter climate, on the one hand, and with rubber and winter wheat cultivation, on the other. Three relevant agroclimatic parameters were investigated for January, namely mean temperature, precipitation total and sunshine duration. By applying a fuzzy cluster analysis, three agroclimatic regions were found in winter; the boundaries coincide with the macro-scale topography of southern China. In one case the boundary even corresponds with the position of the Kunming quasi-stationary front. Winter climate in the three agroclimatic regions was found to show a different pattern, hence gives evidence to different conditions during overwintering of crops. The affects were analysed of regional climatic conditions in January on growth and yield of rubber and winter wheat.