Archive:Farm structure in Italy - 2007 results
- Data from October 2008. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article is part of a series of country-specific publications on the results of the European Union (EU) Farm structure survey (FSS) 2007. It provides a brief but nevertheless comprehensive insight into the farm structure in Italy.
The Farm structure survey recorded 1 680 000 agricultural holdings in Italy in 2007 (3% less than in 2005). The labour force involved in agriculture activity has fallen by 5%, while the utilised agricultural area (UAA) and the total of livestock have increased by 0.3 % and 4% respectively.
Main statistical findings
75 % of the agricultural holdings are specialised in crop production
Due to the different coverage of the FSS across Member States, the total number of farms is not comparable between countries. This is why the present analysis, including Tables 1-4 and the graphs focus on holdings of at least one European size unit (ESU).
In 2007, 82% of the Italian agricultural holdings (1.4 million) had an economic size of at least 1 ESU.
They used about 12.5 million ha of utilised agricultural area (UAA), an increase of 0.3% compared with 2005. This area represents 98% of the total UAA in Italy and an average of 9 ha per holding.
These holdings employed 1.2 million AWUs, the equivalent of 1.2 million people working full time; (4% less than 2005). The AWU per holding has reduced from 0.92 in 2005 to 0.88 in 2007. They had 9.88 million livestock units (LSU) in 2007, an increase of 3.6% compared with 2005.
Amongst these 1.4 million agricultural holdings:
- 66% made use of less than one AWU, another 11% made use of 2 or more AWUs;
- 41% used less than 2 ha, while 3% used 50 ha or more;
- 26% produced mainly for own consumption and 19% mainly for direct sales;
- 75% of Italian farms specialised in crops.
- 21% of the holdings specialised in olives;
- 12% specialised in cereals, oil seed and protein crops;
- 11% specialised in mixed cropping.
The family labour force has decreased by 4% from 2005 to 2007 but its weight in the total labour force has decreased from 67% in 2005 to 66% in 2007.
Amongst the sole holders:
- 31% were women;
- 66% were aged 55 or more and 3% were younger than 35 years;
- 26% of the sole holders had another gainful activity in 2007.
In Italy in 2007, 8.8 million hectares (71%) of the agricultural area was farmed by its owners, a 4% decrease compared with 2005.
The area of permanent crops rose by 3% from 2005 to 2007. The increase was mainly in the olive trees (4%) and vineyards (5%). 72% of the area of permanent crops was in holdings with less than 20 ha.
In spite of a 6% decrease in the number of holdings with organic farming, there was a 15% increase in the area under organic farming; in 2007 it counted for 5.6% of the UAA (a rise compared to 4.9% in 2005).
The number of farms with livestock increased by 5%. The number of beehives reduced by 30%, and the number of holding with beehives, was down by 13% since 2005.
Data sources and availability
Due to the different coverage of the FSS across Member States, the total number of farms is not comparable between countries. This is why the present analysis, including Tables 1-4 and the graphs focus on holdings of at least one European size unit (ESU).
The Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT), in collaboration with its regional offices was responsible for the implementation of the 2007 FSS in Italy. The FSS 2007 was the third sample survey after the last Agricultural Census in 2000 (AC 2000).
The farms covered by the survey were all holdings of at least 1 hectare, or bellow 1 ha and with production reaching a certain physical threshold or with sales of agricultural products of at least 2 500 €.
The sample was selected from the reference population of near 2.6 million units (from the 2000 Agricultural Census as updated by the 2003 and 2005 FSS) with a random stratified sampling method, where the large farms were exhaustively sampled. The stratification was based on the regions, the UAA and LSU and the economic size of the holdings. The sample included about 64 000 holdings.
The data collection was carried out by personal interviews. Among the sampled holdings about 7% did not respond and close to 13% were inactive. The final result was close to 50 500 holdings representing about 1.7 million holdings (3%).
Non-response in the 2007 FSS in Italy was treated in three different ways: the unit non-response was corrected by reweighing; the item non-response for influent holdings was handled with imputation from administrative sources or by telephone checks; and for the item non-response for non-influent holdings automatic imputation was used.
Between FSS 2005 and 2007 "maintaining land in good agricultural and environmental conditions" (GAEC) became an agricultural activity and the concerned land has been included in the agricultural area. In Italy it covers close to 41 640 ha, 94% in holdings with at least 1 ESU.
For each activity (`enterprise`) on a farm (for instance wheat, dairy cow or vineyard), a standard gross margin is estimated, based on the area (or the number of heads) and a regional coefficient. The sum of such margins in a farm is its economic size, expressed in European size units (ESU, 1 ESU is a 1200-euro SGM). An annual work unit (AWU) is equivalent to a worker employed on a full time basis for one year. In Italy it is 1800 hours (225 working days of 8 working hours per day).
Context
European Commission Rural development policy aims to improve competitiveness in agriculture and forestry, improve the environment and countryside, improve the quality of life in rural areas and encourage the diversification of rural economies.
As agriculture has modernized and the importance of industry and services within the economy has increased, so agriculture has become much less important as a source of jobs. Consequently, increasing emphasis is placed on the role farmers can play in rural development, including forestry, biodiversity, the diversification of the rural economy to create alternative jobs and environmental protection in rural areas.
The FSS continues to adapt to provide timely and relevant data to help analyse and follow these developments.
See also
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- Farm Structure Survey in Italy - 2007 - Statistics in focus 38/2009
- National Methodological Report – FSS 2007 Italy (available on request)
Main tables
- Agriculture, see:
- Farm structure: historical data (1990-2007) (t_ef)
Database
- Agriculture, see:
- Farm Structure (ef)
Dedicated section
- Ad-hoc tables: Farm Structure Survey
Methodology / Metadata
- Farm Structure (ESMS metadata file — ef_esms)