Agricultural Census 2020
Lithuania, 2020
Identification
LTU_2020_ZUS_v01_M_v01_A_ESS
Agricultural Census 2020
2020 metų Žemės ūkio surašymo
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Lithuania | LTU |
Agricultural Census [ag/census]
The first general Agricultural Census in Lithuania was conducted in 1930. The second in 2003, then in 2010, and the latest in 2020.
Census/enumeration data [cen]
Agricultural holdings
Scope
The census scope covered agricultural (crops and animal production) activities.
The questionnaires collected information on:
- General information
- Farmland
- Number of livestock
- Farm workers and Employees
- Other activities
- Livestock rearing
- Fertilization, manure and/or slurry production on the farm
- Agricultural production methods, 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 of ISIC 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 of ISIC, only the activities "Raising and breeding of semi-domesticated or other live animals" (apart from raising of insects) and "Bee-keeping and production of honey and beeswax" were included.
Two types of agricultural holdings were considered:
- farmers' and family farms
- agricultural companies and enterprises.
Agricultural holdings with at least one cattle, pig, sheep, goat or poultry were included in the animal housing and manure management module.
Lithuania applied the following thresholds to the Agricultural Census 2020 for all farmers' and family farms:
- 1 ha of utilised agricultural area (UAA)
- 0.5 ha of potatoes (including seed potatoes) - outdoor or fresh vegetables (including melons) and strawberries - outdoor
- 0.2 ha of aromatic, medicinal and culinary plants, flowers and ornamental plants, seeds and seedlings, nurseries
- 0.3 ha of fruit trees, berries, nut trees, citrus fruit trees, other permanent crops excluding nurseries, vineyards and olive trees
- 0.01 ha of UAA - under glass or high accessible cover or cultivated mushrooms
- 1.7 livestock units
- EUR 1000 of standard output
All agricultural companies and enterprises were included.
Producers and sponsors
| Name |
|---|
| Statistics Lithuania (Valstybės duomenų agentūra), Agricultural Statistics Division |
Sampling
The frame used in the Agricultural Census 2020 was compiled based on the Statistical Farm Register, the Register of Agricultural and Rural Business of the Republic of Lithuania (Register of Agricultural Holdings), declarations of agricultural land, and other areas, and the Register of Livestock. The Statistical Farm Register is a list frame, continuously updated several times per year, including new farms and excluding farms which finished their activity. This list involves all active farms in Lithuania.
The Agricultural Census 2020 used a combination of complete and sample enumeration. The core module and data on rural development were collected using complete enumeration of all holdings meeting the threshold, while the two supplementary thematic modules on labour force and other gainful activities, and animal housing and manure management were collected using sample enumeration. A third module on rural development was collected using administrative data - for this module no sampling procedure was applied.
For the supplementary thematic modules, agricultural companies and enterprises were completely enumerated, whereas for farmers' and family farms stratified sampling was used as detailed below.
For both modules the farmers' and family farms were stratified using production from the previous year and municipalities. The production was computed from statistical farm registers, administrative sources, and previous statistical survey data. For the labour force and other gainful activities module, 278 strata were considered and for the animal housing and manure management module, 274 strata.
For the labour force and other gainful activities module, a sample of 30 000 farmers' and family farms was selected, and a sample of 25 000 farms was considered for the animal housing and manure management module. Sample sizes were allocated between strata using Neyman allocation.
For the labour force and other gainful activities module complete enumeration was conducted for: holdings with income from agricultural activity per calendar year of at least EUR 8000; certified organic farms; holdings belonging to specific groups growing walnut trees, nurseries, perennial crop for weaving and plaiting, flax, oilseeds, tobacco, hops, aromatic, medicinal, and spice crops, seed and seedling crops, other energy, industrial and fiber crops; and farms raising ostriches.
For the animal housing and manure management module, a full coverage stratum was defined by agricultural holdings with a standard output of EUR 8000 or more from livestock, certified organic livestock holdings; and those belonging to specific group keeping ostriches.
Survey instrument
Two questionnaires, agreed with the Ministry of Agriculture of Republic of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Institute of Agrarian Economics, were used in the Agricultural Census 2020:
- farmers' and family farms questionnaire, which included the questionnaires for the two thematic modules as annexes to be applied to the sampled holdings
- agricultural companies and enterprises questionnaire
The questionnaires covered 19 out of 23 essential items recommended in the WCA 2020.
Data collection
| Start | End |
|---|---|
| 2020-08-19 | 2020-12-31 |
Reference day:
- 1 June 2020, for livestock and animal housing facilities, and other variables
Reference periods:
- year 2020, for crops
- from 1 June 2019 to 1 June 2020, for irrigation and soil management practices, fertilization, manure management and labour force
- from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020, for rural development measures
- Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]
- Computer Assisted Web Interview [cawi]
- Computer Assisted Telephone Interview [cati]
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.
All census data related to the module on rural development was collected directly from administrative registers, which were also used for part of the core module.
In the Agricultural Census 2020, data was collected using CAWI, CAPI and CATI methods. Farmers' and family farms were encouraged to complete the questionnaire through the CAWI method from 19 August to 9 September 2020. The farms that did not complete the questionnaire using this method, were contacted in person or by phone, and data was collected using CAPI and CATI method, respectively.
Due to the high Covid-19 intensity during the last few weeks of the CAWI period, in some municipalities the data collection method was changed, and interviews were carried out via CATI rather than CAPI. Two separate companies were selected during a public procurement procedure for the above-mentioned data collection methods. Agricultural companies and enterprises completed the questionnaire using CAWI from 10 October to 16 November 2020.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
In 2007, a quality management system, conforming to the requirements of the international quality management system standard ISO 9001, was introduced at Statistics Lithuania (Valstybės duomenų agentūra). The main trends in activity of Statistics Lithuania aimed at quality management and continuous development in the institution are established in the Quality Policy. Quality was ensured and assessed through training courses, use of best practices, quality guidelines, designated quality manager, quality unit and/or senior level committee, compliance monitoring, and self-assessment. In 2019, the review of the Agricultural Census 2020 statistical forms was carried out and recommendations received were implemented. Quality of the statistics obtained was analyzed during the evaluation of the indicators.
Different actions were carried out to minimize non-sampling errors: Removal of ineligible units from the records, leaving unchanged the weights for the other units to minimize over-coverage errors; population checks via various administrative data sources to minimize under-coverage errors; pre-testing questionnaire, explanatory notes or handbooks for enumerators or respondents, on-line FAQ or Hot-line support for enumerators or respondents, and training of enumerators to minimize measurement errors; reminders, imputation, and weighting to minimize non-response errors.
In the Agricultural Census 2020, the statistics derived from sample enumeration were accompanied by estimates of sampling errors according to the sampling design used. If the coefficient of variation was higher than 30 percent, then the estimation was not published.
Data processing
Validation of the questionnaires was carried out by interviewers, supervisors and staff from central department and included data format checks, completeness checks, range checks, relational checks, comparisons with previous rounds of the data collection, and comparisons with other domains in agricultural statistics.
Two types of errors were identified:
- ignorable, which did not cause the rejection of the questionnaire
- significant, which caused its rejection
The accepted questionnaires were re-verified. The errors were solved by re-contacting the respondents to check their answers or using administrative sources or previous surveys. Missing information from agricultural companies and enterprises was obtained by repeatedly re-contacting the respondent. In the case of farmers' and family farms, administrative register and previous statistical surveys were used to complete the missing data. Sampling weights were adjusted for non-response.
For data capture of agricultural companies and enterprises, the ABBY Form Filler 2.5 software was used; for farmers' and family farms, the ORBEON software was employed. For data processing, analysis, and tabulations, the software used were Oracle, SAS, and R.
DATA PROCESSING NOTES
Direct data capture was ensured by the CAWI, CAPI, and CATI methods of data collection. The data collection system contained internal checks to validate data when entered, and the questionnaire was not accepted until all errors were solved.
Data Access
The data request procedure and the data request form are available at "How to apply for microdata access?" at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/farm-statistics.
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | URL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural Statistics Division | Statistics Lithuania (Valstybės duomenų agentūra) | [email protected] | https://osp.stat.gov.lt/ |
Metadata production
DDI_LTU_2020_ZUS_v01_M_v01_A_ESS_FAO
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agricultural Statistics Division | Statistics Lithuania | Metadata producer | |
| Statistics Division | ESS | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations | Metadata adapted for FAM |