Pesticide Usage in Scotland: Arable crops and Potato stores 2022

Introduction

The Scottish Government (SG) is required by legislation⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ to carry out post-approval surveillance of pesticide use. This is conducted by the Pesticide Survey Unit at SASA, a division of the Scottish Government's Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate.

This survey is part of a series of annual reports which are produced to detail pesticide usage in Scotland for arable, vegetable and soft fruit crops on a biennial basis and for fodder and forage crops every four years. The Scottish survey data are incorporated with England, Wales, and Northern Ireland data to provide estimates of annual UK-wide pesticide use. Information on all aspects of pesticide usage in the United Kingdom as a whole may be obtained from the Pesticide Usage Survey Team at Fera Science Ltd, Sand Hutton, York, or visit the Fera website.

An Accredited Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

These statistics are accredited official statistics. The Office for Statistics Regulation has independently reviewed and accredited these statistics as complying with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The Scottish Pesticide Usage reports have been accredited official statistics since October 2014.

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

As well as working closely with Scottish Government statisticians, SASA receive survey specific statistical support from Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS).

All reports are produced according to a published timetable. For further information in relation to Pesticide Survey Unit publications and their compliance with the code of practice please refer to the pesticide usage survey section of the SASA website. The website also contains other useful documentation such as privacy and revision policies, user feedback and detailed background information on survey methodology and data uses.

Additional information regarding pesticide use can be supplied by the Pesticide Survey Unit. Please email psu@sasa.gov.scot or visit our website.

Structure of report and how to use these statistics

This report is intended to provide data in a useful format to a wide variety of data users. The general trends section provides commentary on recent changes in survey data and longer-term trends. The 2022 pesticide usage section summarises pesticide use on stored potatoes in 2022. Appendix 1 presents estimated pesticide usage data. Appendix 2 summarises survey statistics including census and holding information, raising factors and the financial burden to farmers. Appendix 3 defines many of the terms used throughout the report. Appendix 4 describes the methods used during sampling, data collection and analysis as well as measures undertaken to avoid bias and reduce uncertainty. Any changes in method from previous survey years are also explained.

It is important to note that the figures presented in this report are produced from surveying a sample of holdings rather than a census of all the holdings in Scotland. Therefore, the figures are estimates of the total pesticide use for Scotland and should not be interpreted as exact.