Abstract: In the process of photosynthesis, water is one of the irreplaceable and indispensable raw materials. Crop water content is one of the main factors in plant photosynthesis, and has a great significance for the growth of crops. Remote sensing technology with the characteristics of rapid, economical and macroscopic changes provides an important real-time dynamic data source for crop water content monitoring. In this paper Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 500m reflectance dataset is used for the retrieval of crop water content over Songnen Plain during the period 2000-2012. MODIS data have higher temporal resolution and larger spatial coverage. Global Vegetable Moisture Index (GVMI) has higher correlation and stability with vegetation water content to retrieval of crop water content of Songnen Plain in the growing season during the period 2000-2012, then the temporal and spatial change charactersics and the reasons were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) The crop water content of Songnen Plain during the period 2000-2012 showed a trend of significant growth. The crop water content of 2012 is the highest, while 2001 is the lowest. The crop water content changes with crop growth in the growing season: it’s higher in July and August than other months. The crop water content has uneven distribution in Songnen Plain, the southeast is higher than others, and the west variable coefficient of crop water content is higher than the east. The crop water content of Songnen Plain shows that a trend of growth is mainly distributed in central, northwest and southeast areas. (2) Precipitation has a certain influence on crop water content of cities in Songnen Plain, and is quite regional. The crop water content of Qiqihaer, Daqing, Baicheng and Songyuan in the west Songnen Plain has a more significant correlation than the cities in the east, but the influence of precipitation change on crop water content in the same period is smaller. (3) The temperature effect on crop water content of cities in Songnen Plain has the latitude zonality. The temperature has a higher influence on Baicheng, Songyuan, Daqing, Changchun and Siping which have a lower latitude than Heihe, Qiqihaer, Suihua and Harbin with a higher latitude. The influence of temperature on crop water content in the same period is smaller. (4) The crop water content has a significant correlation with the grain yield of the cities in Songnen Plain as the grain yield increases according to crop water content.