Agricultural Census 2020
Slovenia, 2020 - 2021
Identification
SVN_2020_PK_v01_M_v01_A_ESS
Agricultural Census 2020
Popis Kmetijstva 2020
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Slovenia | SVN |
Agricultural Census [ag/census]
The first agricultural census to be carried out in the Republic of Slovenia took place in 2000; the second in 2010; and the most recent in 2020. Previously, as part of former Yugoslavia, censuses of agriculture were undertaken in 1931, 1951, 1960, and 1969. In 1981 and 1991, the enumeration of agricultural holdings was conducted in the framework of the Population and Housing Census.
The Agricultural Census is a census of all agricultural holdings that takes place every ten years. It is part of an EU-wide programme of agricultural censuses carried out in 2020 under EU Regulation 2018/1091 on integrated farm statistics and conducted under the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture (https://www.fao.org/world-census-agriculture/en/). The objective of the Agricultural Census (Popis Kmetijstva) 2020 is to collect useful information for the purposes of monitoring, evaluating, and revising the common agricultural policy.
Census/enumeration data [cen]
Agricultural holdings
Scope
The census scope covered agricultural activities (crop and animal production).
The questionnaire collected information on:
- Information about the owner/manager of the family farm
- Livestock
- Land use
- Field crops
- Berries, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants
- Vegetable and crop seedlings and seeds
- Permanent crops
- Permanent pastures and meadows
- Irrigation
Coverage
The Agricultural Census 2020 covered the entire country.
The statistical unit was the agricultural holding, defined as a single unit, both technically and economically, that has a single management and that undertakes economic activities in agriculture in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 belonging to groups A.01.1, A.01.2, A.01.3, A.01.4, A.01.5 or to the "maintenance of agricultural land in good agricultural and environmental condition" of group A.01.6 within the economic territory of the Union, either as its primary or secondary activity, as it is stated in the Regulation (EU) No. 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated agricultural statistics. Regarding activities of class A.01.49, only the activities "Raising and breeding of semi-domesticated or other live animals" (except for raising of insects) and "Bee-keeping and production of honey and beeswax" were included.
To allow the census frame to cover 98 percent of the total utilised agricultural area (UAA) - excluding kitchen gardens - and 98 percent of the livestock units, the thresholds applied in the core module of the Agricultural Census 2020 were set to:
- at least 1 ha of UAA
- less than 1 ha of UAA, but only if one of the following conditions were met:
- at least 0.1 ha of UAA and 0.9 ha of forest
- at least 0.3 ha of vineyards and/or orchards
- 2 or more livestock units
- from 0.15 to 0.3 ha of vineyards/orchards and one or two livestock units
- more than 50 beehives
- the holdings are market producers of vegetables, herbs, strawberries, mushrooms, flowers or ornamental plants
In addition to the thresholds defined for the core module, the following additional thresholds were defined for the thematic modules on labour force and other gainful activities, and animal housing and manure management:
- at least 5 ha of UAA
- 2 ha of arable land
- 0.5 ha of potatoes, fresh vegetables, strawberries or aromatic crops
- 0.2 ha of medicinal and culinary crops, flowers and ornamental plants, seeds and seedlings, or nurseries
- 0.3 ha of fruit trees, berries, nut trees, citrus fruit trees, olive trees, other permanent crops excluding nurseries and vineyards
- 0.1 ha of vineyards
- 100 m2 of greenhouse or mushrooms
- 1.7 livestock units
Producers and sponsors
| Name |
|---|
| Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije) |
Sampling
The list of agricultural holdings was based on the Statistical Register of Agricultural Holdings (RKG, Registru kmetijskih gospodarstev) kept by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo, gozdarstvo in prehrano) of the Republic of Slovenia, which is annually updated with administrative registers and statistical surveys available.
The Agricultural Census 2020 used a combination of complete and sample enumeration. Data for the core module and for the on rural development module was collected using complete enumeration, while the two thematic modules on labour force and other gainful activities, and animal housing and manure management were collected using sample enumeration.
For the thematic modules of labour force and other gainful activities, and animal housing and manure management, a sample was selected using stratified random sampling. The stratification was based on level 2 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), and four classes of agricultural holdings and agricultural enterprises based on size. The sample size was determined by making experimental samples of different sizes, estimating different response rates, and it was then allocated using proportional allocation. Full coverage strata were defined for agricultural enterprises and big family farms. Bias caused by non-response was reduced with weighting adjustments using the groups identified with NUTS2 and size classes.
Survey instrument
Three questionnaires were used for the Agricultural Census 2020:
- a questionnaire for the core module for the family farms which did not have data in administrative registers
- a questionnaire for family farms for the thematic modules on labour force and other gainful activities, and animal housing and manure management
- a questionnaire for legal entities for the thematic modules on labour force and other gainful activities, and animal housing and manure management
Census questionnaires covered 20 out of 23 essential items recommended in the WCA 2020.
Data collection
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-07 | 2020-08 | Data collection for the core module |
| 2020-11 | 2021-01 | Data collection for the thematic modules |
Reference day:
- 1 February 2020, for livestock and animal housing
Reference periods:
- from 1 January to 31 December 2020 for land variables, irrigation and soil management practices
- from 2 December 2019 to 1 December 2020 for manure management and labour force
- from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020 for rural development measures
- Computer Assisted Telephone Interview [cati]
- Mail Questionnaire [mail]
The Agricultural Census 2020 was composed of a core module and three thematic modules on labour force and other gainful activities, animal housing and manure management, and rural development. Some census data for the core module, the module on labour force and other gainful activities, and the module on animal housing and manure management, and all census data related to the module on rural development was sourced from administrative registers kept by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food and other agencies. Data for holdings without administrative records was collected through CATI or by printed questionnaires via the mail out/mail back method.
Census activities involved 1 sampling methodologist, 3 subject methodologists, 3 general methodologists, and 5 IT staff. Furthermore, data collection for the core module employed 36 interviewers and one to three supervisors, while data collection for the thematic modules employed 27 interviewers and one to three supervisors. Finally, additional staff not fully dedicated to census activities were employed to support census activities.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije) operates on the basis of the National Statistics Act and Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 on European statistics. In performing its tasks, it follows the general principles of quality management, the European Statistics Code of Practice, and the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics. In line with the stated, SURS declares that it considers the following principles: professional independence, process orientation, quality of products and services, planning of improvements, stimulating working environment for employees, data providers-friendly official statistics, user-oriented official statistics. Quality was ensured and assessed through training courses, use of best practices, quality guidelines, and compliance monitoring.
Some actions were carried out to minimize non-sampling errors: maintaining ineligible units in the registers, recalculating weights of all units by considering the corrected population, and updating administrative sources to minimize coverage errors; training of enumerators to minimize measurement errors; follow-up interviews, reminders, imputation and weighting to minimize non-response errors. Further, some administrative registers collected data for crops at the national level that were used to check the bias of the Agricultural Census 2020 for these variables.
Data processing
Direct data capture was ensured by the CATI method, while manual data entry was used for the postal method. Staff from central department carried out data validation using data format checks, completeness checks, range checks, relational checks, and data flagging. Blaise software was used for CATI data collection.
Data were edited with the combination of systematic corrections, individual corrections, and imputation procedures. Data editing, analysis and tabulation were carried out by SURS using the SAS software. The following imputation methods were used: mean imputations, random and sequential hot-deck imputations, nearest neighbour imputation.
Sampling weights were adjusted for nonresponse but were not calibrated to the number of agricultural holdings from the census core module.
Data Access
The data request procedure and the data request form are available at on the website of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia at "For researchers" at https://www.stat.si/StatWeb/en/StaticPages/Index/For-Researchers, or at "How to apply for microdata access?" at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/farm-statistics.
Contacts
| Name | URL | |
|---|---|---|
| Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije) | [email protected] | https://www.stat.si/StatWeb/en |
Metadata production
DDI_SVN_2020_PK_v01_M_v01_A_ESS_FAO
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije) | Metadata producer | ||
| Statistics Division | ESS | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Metadata adapted for FAM |