Annual growing season length | Environmental indicators

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Annual growing season length is increasing almost everywhere in Europe, mostly in Eastern and Northern part. In Slovenia, the length of the annual growing season is increasing, especially since mid-1990s. According to projections, duration of the annual growing season throughout Europe will increase in future. This will affect the expansion of more thermally demanding plants to areas towards the north of Europe, where the cultivation of such plants has not been possible so far, and in the southern part of Europe where changed thermal conditions will allow the growing season to extend towards the winter season. In all parts of Central and South-Eastern Europe, dry and hot summers will hamper crop production.

Definition

The length of the annual growing season is the period between the day when the average daily air temperature in spring exceeds 5°C and the day when it drops below this value in autumn.

An air temperature of 5°C is generally recognised to be the lowest temperature threshold for plant vegetation. The 5°C temperature threshold is also used as one of the conditions for the classification of agro-ecological zones. In the context of climate change, it enables assessing the impact of changing climate on the development of plants and their environment. This indicator also serves as a tool in preparing for adaptation to new conditions, thus minimising the potential negative impacts of climate change.

Charts

Figure PP06-1: Average length of annual growing age within individual places, Slovenia, reference periods 1961-1990 and 1991-2020

Sources:

Meteorological data archive, Slovenian Environment Agency, 2021 (25. 02. 2021)

Show data


	1961-1990 [number of days]	1991-2020 [number of days]
Ljubljana	243	260
Novo mesto	238	253
Bilje	278	284
Slap pri Vipavi	276	290
Murska Sobota	237	247
Maribor	243	253
Rateče	187	203

Export Table Data

Figure PP06-2: Changes of length of annual growing age in Ljubljana, 1961-2020

Sources:

Meteorological data archive, Slovenian Environment Agency, 2021 (25. 02. 2021)

Show data


	growing season[number of days]	5-y running average[number of days]
1961	279
1962	227
1963	249	250.80
1964	256	240.20
1965	243	248.40
1966	226	247.20
1967	268	243
1968	243	241.20
1969	235	245.40
1970	234	245.80
1971	247	240.40
1972	270	238.60
1973	216	244.80
1974	226	243.20
1975	265	244.80
1976	239	252.60
1977	278	256.60
1978	255	248
1979	246	249.40
1980	222	238.20
1981	246	234.60
1982	222	232.40
1983	237	230
1984	235	229.40
1985	210	229.80
1986	243	228
1987	224	231.40
1988	228	241.40
1989	252	240.20
1990	260	252.20
1991	237	251
1992	284	255.60
1993	222	249.80
1994	275	251.60
1995	231	244.60
1996	246	246.20
1997	249	243.40
1998	230	254
1999	261	254
2000	284	260.20
2001	246	261.60
2002	280	263.20
2003	237	256.20
2004	269	261.60
2005	249	258.80
2006	273	259.20
2007	266	262.40
2008	239	263.20
2009	285	258
2010	253	260
2011	247	259
2012	276	264
2013	235	267
2014	310	268
2015	265	268
2016	256	258
2017	272	263
2018	236	269
2019	285
2020	294

Export Table Data

Figure PP06-3: Timeline of change for the length, beginning and end of growing season in Ljubljana over the 21st century

Sources:

Climate change atlas, 2021 (25. 02. 2021)

Chart note:

The timeline of change is shown for temperature threshold 5 °C for two scenarios relative to the reference period 1981-2010. Bold coloured curves show smoothed model median and lighter colours show model spread. Under RCP4.5 the growing season length will increase by approximately 25 days and under RCP8.5 by approximately 60 days.

Figure PP06-4: Change of length of annual growing age of crops, Europe, 1985-2014

Sources:

EEA, Growing season for agricultural crops (CLIM 030), 2014 (25. 02. 2021)

Show data

Goals

• To estimate the effect of climate change on the growing season length
• To prepare adaptation measures in the agriculture sector

Annual growing season lenght is an important measure in the field of the climate change adaptation. The first package of the EU Climate Change Adaptation Strategy was presented in 2013. The main objectives of the strategy are to provide a database for better decision-making and to promote adaptation in most vulnerable sectors.