Methodology

The Agricultural Census 2020 is a comprehensive statistical survey aimed at obtaining more accurate data on Croatian agriculture and identifying the importance of this activity for the Croatian economy.
The Agricultural Census 2020 collects data on the following:

  • land management and agricultural production methods
  • methods of agricultural land use (land tenure)
  • livestock, animal housing and manure management
  • irrigation
  • labour force in agriculture
  • other gainful activities on agricultural holdings
  • sale of agricultural products
  • rural development measures
  • adjustments to organic agricultural production and environmental protection aspects
The collected data on the structure of agricultural holdings will be comparable at the European Union level and will provide the necessary statistical knowledge base for planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and audit of the related policies, in particular the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including the rural development measures, the environmental policy, the policy of adaptation to and mitigation of climate changes, land use and some sustainable development goals.

COVERAGE

The Agricultural Census should cover 98% of the total utilised agricultural area (without kitchen gardens) and 98% of livestock units of each Member State. It also includes land used by several agricultural holdings due to the application of common rights.

BASIC TERMS

Agricultural holding is a production management unit engaged in agriculture and operating as a company, craft or cooperative if it is registered for agricultural activities as well as a peasant farm or a private family farm. This survey covers all farms with more than 0.4 hectares of utilised agricultural land and more than 0.5 livestock size units.

Utilised agricultural area is the total agricultural area that was used for crop production in the reference year. It covers arable land, kitchen gardens, meadows, pastures, nurseries, orchards, vineyards and land under osier willow.

Arable land refers to the land that is regularly farmed and cultivated and is under crop rotation. The following plants are grown on arable land: cereals, pulses for dry grain, root and tuber crops, industrial crops, fodder crops, vegetables, flowers and horticultural plants as well as seeds and seedlings.

Kitchen gardens are areas scheduled for growing of crops (mostly vegetables) that are intended for consumption by persons living in a household and mainly not intended for sale. Only occasional surplus of products grown on these areas is sold outside the household.

Common land can be a pasture or other utilised agricultural area, which is jointly used as a state land by more than one farm for pasture.

Land under permanent crops includes orchards, vineyards, olive groves, nurseries and osier willows.

Poultry includes broilers, hens, turkeys, geese, ducks and other poultry.

Regularly employed labour force are persons who worked on the weekly basis for the holding during the last 12 months ending on the reference day of the survey, irrespective of the number of hours they worked weekly, and persons who worked regularly during only a part of that time for some reason, e.g. because of education, sickness, disease, accident or death, commencement or termination of employment within the last 12 months or cessation of work due to natural disasters (floods, fires, etc.). Employed persons do not include seasonal workers, who do not have an employment contract.