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Publication - Statistics

Pesticide usage in Scotland: arable crops and potato stores 2020

Published
15 December 2021
Directorate
Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate
Topic
Environment and climate change, Farming and rural
ISBN
9781802016352

This publication presents information from a survey of pesticide use on arable crops and potato stores in Scotland during 2020.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Appendix 2 – Survey statistics

Census and sample information

Table 6 Distribution of sampled potato stores - 2020, Number of potato growers sampled in each region
Region Number of stores
North: Highlands & Islands, Caithness & Orkney, Moray Firth and Aberdeen 15
Angus 40
Central: East Fife, Central Lowlands and Lothian 18
South: Tweed Valley, Southern Uplands and Solway 8
Scotland 81
Table 7 Distribution of stored potatoes in sample - 2020, Quantity (tonnes) of potatoes sampled in each region
Crop North Angus Central South Scotland
Seed potatoes 35,908 68,525 20,762 8,925 134,120
Ware potatoes 40,707 114,041 90,651 67,494 312,893
Total 76,615 182,566 111,413 76,419 447,013
Table 8 Distribution of sampled areas – 2020, Areas (ha) of potatoes sampled in each region
Crop North Angus Central South Scotland
Seed potatoes 940 2,126 773 285 4,124
Ware potatoes 908 1,667 1,515 1,205 5,294
Total 1,847 3,792 2,288 1,490 9,418
Table 9 Distribution of census areas – 2020, Areas (ha) of potato crops grown in Scotland
Crop North Angus Central South Scotland
Seed potatoes 4,171 5,551 1,721 560 12,003
Ware potatoes 1,579 7,785 5,066 1,864 16,294
Total 5,750 13,336 6,787 2,424 28,297
Table 10 Raising factors – 2020
Region Seed Ware
North 4.4392 1.7397
Angus 2.6112 4.6714
Central 2.2255 3.3449
South 1.9656 1.5468
Table 11 First adjustment factors for ware potatoes – 2020
Region Ware
North 1.1924
Angus 0.9405
Central 0.9663
South 1.0043
Table 12 Second adjustment factors – 2020
Crop Adjustment Factor
Seed 0.9730
Ware 0.6065

Financial burden to farmers

To minimise the burden on farmers and to comply with COVID-19 restrictions, the survey team used non-visit methods of collection such as email, post, or telephone call.

To determine the total burden that the 2020 Potato Storage survey placed on those providing the information, the surveyors recorded the time that 78 respondents spent providing the data during the surveys. This sample represents 96 per cent of growers surveyed. The median time taken to provide the information was 10 minutes.

The following formula was used to estimate the total cost of participating:

Burden (£) = No. surveyed x median time taken (hours) x typical hourly rate*

(* using median “Full Time Gross” hourly pay for Scotland of £15.62)(13)

The total financial burden to all growers resulting from participation in the 2020 Potato Storage survey was calculated to be £210.87.

Contact

Email: psu@sasa.gov.scot

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