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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

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

19. Progress to date
1st briefing on the 28th June, 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

20. Thank you for your attention

28. 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
2,113
875 44
3,032
2+3+6
3,696
1,776
113
5,585
5,809
2,651
157
8,617
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29. 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 30 50 44
124
2+3+6 53
109
113
275 83
159
157
399
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