Service d'Economie Rurale

Division of agricultural statistics, agricultural markets and external relations

115, rue de Hollerich L-1741 Luxembourg

See sub-categories below.

The quantities of pesticides used by agricultural holdings are determined on the basis of the accountancy data of the farm accountancy data network (FADN) in Luxembourg.

The network for the collection of accountancy data on the income and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Union (FADN) is set up by Council regulation (EC) 1217/2009 (modified since).

The national committee and the liaison agency in charge of FADN in Luxembourg are designated by “règlement grand-ducal du 13 novembre 2009”. These bodies are responsible for the collection of data on a national basis and the transmission of the data to the European Commission (DG Agri).

The field of observation consists of commercial farms. In Luxembourg, all farms beyond a standard output of 25.000€ (size classes 6 – 14) are considered to be commercial farms and are covered by the FADN.

All types of farming existing in Luxembourg, except horticulture, are represented in FADN.

A sample of farms (450 farms) is selected among the 775 bookkeeping farms of the accountancy office of the Service d’Economie Rurale (SER). The SER is an administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, one of the divisions of the SER being the accountancy office for FADN. As an administration, the SER is fully independent from the professional farming sector.

A plan for the selection of returning holdings (FADN-sample) is drawn up which ensures a representative accounting sample of the field of survey.

The FADN-sample is a stratified sample, the stratification criteria being the economic size of the farm and the farm type according to the Union typology of agricultural holdings (the typology).

A special weighting system is used in the calculation of FADN results. The individual weight of a holding is equal to the ratio between the number of holdings of the same classification cell in the field of observation and in the sample.

The purpose of the weighting system is to rake account of different sampling factors for different cells. In the production of FADN results, weighted averages are calculated using these weights applied to each individual farm recorded in the sample.

In 2018, the number of farms in the field of observation (SO> 25.000€) is 1.346 and the number of farms in the

FADN- sample 450. The average weight of the farms in the sample is thus 2,18. This is very good compared to other countries and illustrates the high representativeness of the FADN-sample in Luxembourg.

The accountancy data used for statistics on agricultural use of pesticides are the quantity of pesticide per pesticide product (or active substance) and per crop used, the value of the pesticides purchased (in €) (for checks) and the area cultivated per crop (information on the area treated is not available in the accounting data).

The variables obtained per holding are the quantity of pesticide product (or active substance) used per crop and the corresponding cultivated area of the crop.

The results at the level of the field of observation (commercial farms) are established using the FADN methodology (FADN-sample, weighting system).

The FADN results are extrapolated to the field of observation of the Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS) using the crop area under IFS.

Data collection refers to the year 2018 only.

The classification used for pesticides corresponds to Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/1185/2017-03-09) of the European Parliament and of the Council.
The classification system for crops derives from the Annual crop statistics Handbook 2019 (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/Annexes/apro_cp_esms_an1.pdf).

The covered economic sector is the agriculture only. The selected crops are the most commun crops in Luxembourg. Other crops may have only been cultivated by a small number of farmers. Due to confidentiality issues the selection of crops is limited.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

Not applicable

The data reported are the quantity of each active substances listed in Annex III of Regulation 1185/2009 contained in plant protection products used on a selected crop, expressed in kg. The area treated with each substance are expressed in hectares. There is no double-counting for aggregated pesticide classes/categories/groups.

The basic unit of statistical observation are agricultural holdings.

See 2.1 data description

See sub-categories below.

Utilised agricultural area of the holdings under IFS.

Not applicable.

2011 onwards.

Not applicable for Pesticide Use Statistics, because it is not based on an index number of time series.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

Annually on a national level, but only one year out of the five-year reference period (2018) is provided to Eurostat.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

See 2.1.1 Main characteristics of statistics

See 2.1.1 Main characteristics of statistics

See 2.1.1 Main characteristics of statistics

See sub-categories below.

The accountancy data used are of high quality. Special care is applied during book keeping (name of the product, quantity, price,….).

Special checks (name of the product, price of the product per weight unit versus average price per weight unit) are used to eliminate or correct errors.

The high sampling rate of FADN Luxembourg (the average weight of the farms in the FADN sample is stable and situated around 3,5 during the last 5 years) is an indication of the good quality of the final data.

The main deficiency lies in the fact that accounting data are originally not collected for the purpose of pesticides use statistics. The only area data available are the data on the area cultivated, but not on the area treated with pesticides

The data are highly relevant. There is a high demand for quality data on agricultural use of pesticides. However due to high variability between years due to variation in meteorological conditions, one has to be cautious in using the results as long as data are only available for a very limited time period, as is the case actually in Luxembourg. The data are used to develop an indicator on the frequency of pesticide treatment in Luxembourg. This indicator is part of the follow-up indicators to be developed in the framework of the national action plan on pesticides.

Not applicable

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

See sub-category below.

Not applicable for Pesticide Use Statistics because in this data collection, there is no target on the number of data. Member States are asked to collect data on representative crops without stipulating the number of crops.

Not calculated.

See 2.1.1 Main characteristics of statistics

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

See sub-categories below.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

See the attached Excel file in the Annexes.

Seasonal adjustment is not applicable to pesticide use statistics since all plant protection treatments associated directly or indirectly with the crop during the reference period are reported.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

No data revision.

See sub-categories below.

Data on pesticide use are normally available 18 months after the end of the accountancy period.

Data on pesticide use are normally available 18 months after the end of the accountancy period.

See sub-categories below.

Data were delivered to EUROSTAT before the end of the delivery period.

No comparison of data between geographical areas needed.

Not applicable, because there are no mirror flows in Pesticide Use Statistics.

Not applicable for Pesticide Use Statistics, because it is not based on time series.

Not applicable for Pesticide Use Statistics, because it is not based on time series.

Data can be combined to FADN data (data on economic situation of agricultural holginds) and to IFS data.

A detailled comparaison with pesticides placed on the market is not feasible at this point in time. However, a rough comparaison has shown that the data are quite comparable.

Not applicable for Pesticide Use Statistics, because the data collection is based on a five-year period.

Not applicable, because it has no relevance for national accounts.

A good internal coherence of the data was ensured due to the harmonised classification of pesticides and crops.

Not applicable.

No publication released.

No online database.

Not available

No access to microdata.

Data tables available: https://agriculture.public.lu/content/dam/agriculture/statistiques/produits-phyto/Publication-matiere-active-pesticides-2014-2018.xlsx

FADN-methodology: cf documentation by DG Agri; documentation on collection and treatment of data on pesticide use: SER-internal documents

See documentation on FADN by DG Agri and SER

Metadata are complete

Consultation on demand

No calculation of costs associated with the collection and production of pesticide use statistics since only administrative data has been used.

Burden for respondents: no supplementary burden on respondents (data are already collected in the framework of FADN

High importance is given to confidentiality issues due to the legal obligations and due to the high sensibility of the respondents and administrations regarding confidentiality, especially the data on the use of pesticides in agriculture.

Confidentiality of data has to be respected according to regulation (EC) 1217/2009 (FADN).

The European provisions on confidentiality of data used for statistical purposes: Regulation (EC) 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics …..

The national provisions on confidentiality of data used for statistical purposes: « Loi du 11 juillet portant organisation de l’Institut national de statistique et des études économiques …… »

General rules applicable at the level of public administrations

Special rules applicable at the level of Service d’Economie Rurale – division de la comptabilité agricole