Climatic region (BPEJ)

The climatic region is the first digit of the five-digit Czech BPEJ soil code. It covers an area with broadly similar climatic conditions for growing crops. Decree No. 227/2018 Coll. defines ten regions (0-9) by the sum of temperatures above 10 °C, average annual temperature, annual rainfall, the probability of dry growing seasons and moisture security.

How to read the digit

• 0 VT: very warm, dry
• 1 T1: warm, dry
• 2 T2: warm, moderately dry
• 3 T3: warm, moderately humid
• 4 MT1: moderately warm, dry
• 5 MT2: moderately warm, moderately humid
• 6 MT3: moderately warm (to warm), very humid
• 7 MT4: moderately warm, humid
• 8 MCH: moderately cool, humid
• 9 CH: cool, humid

For comparison: according to the decree, region 0 has an average annual temperature of 9-10 °C and 500-600 mm of rainfall, region 5 7-8 °C and 550-650 mm, and region 9 less than 5 °C and over 800 mm.

What it means

Warm regions (0-3) have a longer growing season and the best conditions for warmth-loving crops but suffer drought more often. Cooler regions (7-9) have a shorter season and more rainfall. The region also affects soil quality within the BPEJ code: in regions 0-5 a south-facing slope counts as unfavourable, in regions 6-9 a north-facing one. It therefore feeds into the protection class and the official farmland price.

Watch out for

The regions were defined from climate data for 1901-1950. The climate has warmed since then, and a 2021 methodology by Mendel University, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, therefore proposes updating them. The region also describes long-term conditions of a whole area, not the microclimate of a particular garden (shade, slope, frost pocket). For today's local temperatures and rainfall, the climate normals of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (ČHMÚ) are a better source.