Here, we quantitatively determine temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of main grain crops in the West Liaohe River basin, Inner Mongolia, China, from 2000 to 2010 based on MODIS remote sensing data and NDVI time series information for the years 2000, 2005 and 2010. Phenological calendars and a decisionmaking tree extraction model were also used to obtain spatial distribution information of spring maize, spring wheat and soybean. We found that in 2010, the sown area of the main grain crops in the West Liaohe River basin was 11 965.08km², of which, the sown area for spring maize accounted for 92.28%and was concentrated in the lower reaches of the region. Spring wheat accounted for 3.14% and was mainly in the middle reaches. Soybean accounted for 4.58% and was predominantly in the upper reaches. From 2000 to 2005, the sown area of these grain crops in the West Liaohe River basin grew by 29.77%, mainly in the lower reaches: spring maize grew by 38.99%, spring wheat by 39.04% and soybean by 21.27%. From 2005 to 2010, growth in the sown area of these crops was slow (5.18% growth) and mainly in the lower reaches of the basin. The sown area of spring maize increased, but decreased for both spring wheat and soybean.