Workshop on Pesticide Indicators Istanbul 13-14th September, 2007 Carlos Camenzuli Mary Rose Debono National Statistics Office - Malta

Summary Overview of Maltese Agriculture Planning and Approach Problems faced during the interviewing stage Progress to date

Overview of Maltese Agriculture Utilised Agricultural Area (FSS 2005) ≈ 10,200 ha 4,600 ha forage areas 1,100 ha fallow land 800 ha potatoes 1,000 ha kitchen gardens 700 ha vineyards 450 ha orchards 1,600 ha horticulture Approx 12,500 holdings

Overview of Maltese Agriculture Average holding size is 0.85 ha 9,800 holdings (80%) have an area less than 1.0 ha Maltese agriculture is characterised by small scattered parcels An agricultural holding may have various parcels in different locations

Administrative Sources PPP information No local production - All importation is recorded in ‘Intrastat” Total volume of PPP is known – only 6 importers. 2 major reasons for the survey are that ppp’s used for agriculture may not be determined from import statistics and you can not determine which crops are the PPP’s are used on SCOPE OF SURVEY - to determine on which crops PPP’s are being used and to estimate the total active substances used in agriculture

Planning and approach Sampling Method UAA < 0.2 ha not included – approx 4,000 holdings excluded with a combined area of approx 250 ha Not all crops surveyed but crops surveyed according to their physical area. It is impossible to survey all crops in horticulture Sample size of approx 400 holdings out of 8,600 i.e. 4.7% of population

Planning and approach Sampling Method Target population allocated according to typology and size class of UAA Random sampling based on the optimum allocation method The greater the variance within a stratum the more holdings were extracted from that stratum

Planning and approach Sampling Method Sampling with replacement – holdings refusing to take part in the survey where possible, have been replaced Sample split into 6 strata Census on largest stratum

Planning and approach Interviewers & Briefing Technical officers from the ministry of Agriculture have been used - 9 from Malta 2 from Gozo All officers have to observe the confidentiality stipulated by Statistical legislation Reference to IACS data and LPIS maps Interviewers provided with a list of regulated PPP’s as per legal notice and an instruction manual on how to collect the data

Planning and approach Questionnaires Two questionnaires were used in the PPP survey of 2007 The first questionnaire relates to the land area of the holding. This is a summary questionnaire which obtains information on the land use of the holding The second questionnaire relates to the areas that were actually treated. Those crops identified as treated in the summary questionnaire will be asked further questions on the PPP treatment of those crops in those parcels

Planning and approach Summary questionnaire Information collected in the summary questionnaire is as follows: Parcel number Area under parcel Pre-planting treatment Cycle number Crop Code Area under crop Irrigated Treated Sown date Harvest date

Planning and approach Summary questionnaire From this questionnaire we may estimate the total land area that has been treated in comparison to the total land area From this questionnaire we may identify the areas that received PPP treatment Estimation of treated areas of an individual crop to the total area of that crop

Planning and approach Treated areas Information collected in the treated areas questionnaire is as follows: Treatment round Area under crop Area treated Application date Product name Amount applied Method of application

Planning and approach Treated areas Through the product name we will be able to identify the % of active ingredient and the active substance We may also identify the volume and type of active substance used per crop We may identify the method of application by the parcel area

Planning and approach Treated areas We may estimate the average number of treatments per crop We may be able to estimate the total sprayed areas in comparison to the total physical area We may be able to identify the usage of certain types of PPP according to specific periods

Problems faced during the interviewing stage Very small parcels May find several crops on one parcel Successive cropping on same parcel If the farmer has one type of crop spread over a large area then the survey is not as difficult The farmer has many different parcels scattered over a large area and the parcels may not necessarily be next to each other Some farmers do not have site plans

Problems faced during the interviewing stage The farmer has to remember PPP’s used in the previous year Farmer does not keep records Time taken to conduct survey is rather long Can be easily subject to errors due to high amount of paperwork involved Frustration from the farmers point of view Problems faced in small countries where the same farmers are interviewed for various projects. We are always going to the same farmers for different types of information

Example Example of a holding with one crop Summary questionnaire Treated areas questionnaire Example of a holding a number of crops

Progress to date 1st briefing on the 28th June, 2007. Enumerators were provided with all relevant information required for the survey Data collection started in the 2nd week of July Approx 75% of holdings have been interviewed Program still being written in-house at NSO. Data inputting will start as soon as program is ready

Thank you for your attention

Planning and approach Target Population Distribution of holdings by size class of UAA (ha) and typology Size class of UAA (ha) 0.2-<1 1-<5 >=5 Total Typology 1+4+5+7+8 2,113 875 44 3,032 2+3+6 3,696 1,776 113 5,585 5,809 2,651 157 8,617 Back

Planning and approach Sample Design Distribution of holdings by size class of UAA (ha) and typology Size class of UAA (ha) 0.2-<1 1-<5 >=5 Total Typology 1+4+5+7+8 30 50 44 124 2+3+6 53 109 113 275 83 159 157 399 Back