The survey results serve as information to national authorities when monitoring the pesticide use and in the ongoing work to reach stipulated goals on reduced health and environmental hazard from such substances.
The survey comprised the following crops: Potatoes, onions, common cabbage, carrots, strawberries, apples, meadows and pastureland, barley, oats, spring wheat, winter wheat and oilseeds. These crops comprised about 96 per cent of total agricultural area in use in 2022.
The population for the survey was 37 300 holdings applying governmental subsidies as per October 2022. The gross sample included 4 097 holdings. When considering the results from this survey, one should bear in mind that pesticide use varies significantly from one year to another, mainly depending on weather conditions.
32 per cent of the areas included in the survey were treated with pesticides in 2022. This was about the same as, or slightly lower than, the previous surveys. While less than 6 per cent of the meadow and pasture area was sprayed, 91 per cent of the remaining agricultural area was treated. With the exception of meadows and pastures, the proportion of agricultural land that was treated at least once with pesticides varied from 70 per cent to 98 per cent.
The investigations for 2017 and 2022 also included integrated pest management. These are a number of measures used as part of reducing dependence on chemical pesticides. For example, at least 90 per cent of the agricultural enterprises with carrots, cabbage, strawberries, onions, oats, winter wheat, spring wheat and oilseeds used problem prevention through crop rotation, resistant species/varieties, good cultivation techniques, adapted fertilization, drainage, conservation of beneficial organisms, good cleaning, and similar measures as one of its methods within integrated pest management.
The consumption of pesticides, measured as active substance, has varied between 282 and 357 tonnes in the years in which investigations have been carried out. The total consumption of pesticides in agriculture increased from 2017 to 2022, but it was still used less than in most of the years examined apart from 2008 and 2017. Measured by amount of active substance, the consumption of pesticides increased by 21 per cent from 2017 to 2022. This consists of a greater consumption of herbicides and insecticides and less fungicides compared to 2017. Of the total consumption of 311 tonnes, herbicides made up 64 per cent and fungicides around 20 per cent. Insecticides represented just under 2 per cent of total consumption. Other pesticides, which mainly include growth regulators in cereals, accounted for almost 14 per cent of consumption in 2022.