Pesticide usage in Scotland 2016: soft fruit crops

A revised version of this report has been issued to correct inaccuracies in active substance application weight data that were overestimated in the original report. This issue only affects certain herbicide active substances in relation to quantity applied. Please do not use the original version of this report as this has now been replaced by the revised 2020 report: Pesticide usage in Scotland 2016: soft fruit crops – revised 2020.

This publication presents information from a survey of pesticide use on soft fruit crops grown in Scotland during 2016.


Response rates

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

Table 47 Response rate - 2016

2016 % total
Target sample (no. of holdings) 82 100
Total achieved 47 57
Total number of refusals/non-contact 41
Total number of farms approached 88

Financial burden to farmers

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

To determine the total burden that the 2016 Soft Fruit Crop Survey and the Integrated Pest Management Survey placed on those providing the information, the surveyors recorded the time that 36 respondents spent providing the data during the surveys. This sample represents 77 per cent of growers surveyed. Information was recorded from all strata of the sample to ensure that the overall estimate of burden was representative. The median time taken to provide the information was 21 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 £13.48) (10)

The total financial burden to all growers resulting from participation in the 2016 Soft Fruit Crop Survey and the Integrated Pest Management Survey was calculated to be £222.

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