Pesticide Usage in Scotland: Protected Edible Crops 2015 - Summary Report

Report on a survey of pesticide use on protected edible crops in Scotland.


Appendix 2 - Survey statistics

Census and sample information

Table 12 Estimated crop area

Census area (ha) of permanently protected crops grown in Scotland

  2015 2013 % change
Tomatoes 2.54 3.25 -22
Vegetables 8.80 11.58 -24
All protected edible 11.34 14.83 -24

Note: Data taken from the 2015 and 2013 June Agricultural Census. All areas exclude multi-cropping.

Table 13 Sample & census areas (ha) of protected edible crops in Scotland

Crop Census areas Sampled areas % Census area sampled
Tomatoes 2.54 0.92 36
Vegetables 8.80 0.90 10
All edible crops 11.34 1.82 16

Note: Data taken from the 2015 June Agricultural Census. All areas exclude multi-cropping.

Table 14 Distribution of sample

Number of holdings sampled in each region

Highlands & Islands Caithness & Orkney Moray Firth Aberdeen Angus East Fife Lothian Central Lowlands Tweed Valley Southern Uplands Solway Scotland
5 0 1 3 0 0 1 5 0 1 0 16

Raising factors

Table 15 Raising factors

  Scotland
Tomatoes 2.7694
Vegetables 9.7679

Note: Raising factors are calculated by comparing the sampled crop area to the census crop area. Please see Appendix 4 - survey methodology for a full explanation.

Response rates

The table below summarises the number of holdings which were contacted during the survey.

Table 16 Response rate

  2015 % total
Target sample (no. of holdings) 16 100
Total achieved 16 100
Total number of refusals/non-contact 5  
Total number of farms approached 21  

Financial burden to growers

In order to minimise the burden on farmers the survey uses non-visit methods of collection, such as email, post or telephone call, where possible.

To determine the total burden the 2015 Protected Edible Crop survey placed on those providing the information, the surveyors recorded the time that 15 respondents spent providing the data during the survey. This sample represents 94 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" pay for Scotland of £13.45) 3

The total financial burden to all growers resulting from participation in the 2015 Scottish Protected Edible Survey was calculated to be £34.

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