1. Contact

1.1 Contact organisation

ISTAT

1.2 Contact organisation unit

Crop statistics

1.3 Contact name

1.4 Contact person function

1.5 Contact mail address

Viale Oceano Pacifico 171 - Rome - Italy

1.6 Contact email address

1.7 Contact phone number

1.8 Contact fax number

2. Statistical presentation

2.1 Data description

Main changes since 2011
Which new data sources have been introduced since the previous quality report (2011)?	Agricultural Census 2010
Type of source?	Agricultural Census 2010
To which Table (Reg 543/2009) do they contribute?	Table1/2/3
Which data sources have been dropped since the previous quality report (2011)?
Type of source?
Why have they been dropped?
	Completeness	Punctuality	Accuracy	Reliability	Overall quality
How would you describe the overall quality development since 2011?	Stable	improvement	stable	light improvement	stable
Additional comments	Punctuality : The regional framework in charge of promonth data very often do not respect deadline Reliability: light improvement in 2014

2.2 Classification system

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.3 Coverage - sector

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.4 Statistical concepts and definitions

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.5 Statistical unit

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.6 Statistical population

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.7 Reference area

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.8 Coverage - Time

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

2.9 Base period

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

3. Statistical processing

See points 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4

3.1 Source data

Data sources: Please indicate the data sources which were used for the reference year 2013
	Data source (indicate the number and the name(s) of data sources)
	Census		Sample Survey		Administrative Data		Expert Estimation		Other
	Number	Name(s)	Number	Name(s)	Number	Name(s)	Number	Name(s)	Number	Name(s)
Table 1: crops from arable land
Early estimates for areas			1	Early Estimates Survey
Final area under cultivation					3	EnteRisi Absi Agea	110	Expert Estimation
Production					3	EnteRisi Absi Agea	110	Expert Estimation
Yield							110	Expert Estimation
Non-existing and non-significant crops
Table 2: Vegetables, melons and strawberries
Early estimates for harvested areas
Final harvested area							110	Expert Estimation
Production							110	Expert Estimation
Non-existing and non-significant crops
Table 3: Permanent crops
Early estimates for production area
Final production area							110	Expert Estimation
Production							110	Expert Estimation
Non-existing and non-significant crops
Table 4: Agricultural land use
Main area
Non-existing and non-significant crops
Total number of different data sources (no double counting)			1		6		770
If the box 'others' is ticked, please specify.
Additional comments

3.2 Frequency of data collection

Phases of the data collection	Source 1	Source 2	Source 3	Source 4	Source 5
Name of the source	Expert Estimation	AGEA (The Agency for disbursement in agriculture) (Administrative data)	EnteRisi (Administrative data)	Absi (Administrative data)	Early estimates survey
Planning	2012	2013	2013	2013	2012
Preparation	2012	2013	2013	2013	2012
Data collection	12 month/2013	2013	2013	2013	2012
Quality control	12 month/2013	2013	2013	2013	2012 - 2013
Data analysis	12 month/2013	2013	2013	2013	2013
Dissemination	12 month/2013/2014	2013	2013	2013	2013
If there were delays, what were the reasons?

3.3 Data collection

Definitions
Are the national definitions of cultivation/production area and crops the same as in Reg. 543/2009?	Yes
If not, please explain the differences

Population
Which measures were taken in order to make sure that the requirement stipulated in Art. 3.2 are met. (Statistics shall be representative of at least 95 % of the areas of each table in the Regulation).	Provincial/Regional estimates cover the whole reference population
Is the data collection based on holdings?	No
If yes, how the holdings were identified?
If not, on which unit the data collection is based on?	Estimation by provincial/Regional experts. Data are provided by local authorities that collect experts evaluations on area and yield of different crops.
When was last update of the holding register?	No farm/agricultural holding register is available at the moment
Was a threshold applied?	No
If yes, size of the excluded area	Area excluded on the basis of the threshold (in % of the total area for that crop)
Cereals for the production of grain
Dried pulses and protein crops
Root crops
Oilseeds
Other industrial crops (included all industrial crops besides oilseeds)
Plants harvested green from arable land
Total vegetables, melons and strawberries
Vegetables and melons
Strawberries
Cultivated mushrooms
Total permanent crops
Fruit trees
Berries
Nut trees
Citrus fruit trees
Vineyards
Olive trees

Survey method (this question block is only for surveys)
	Survey 1
Name of the survey	Early estimates survey
Which survey method was used? see the options below
- Postal questionnaire filled in by respondent	No
- Electronic questionnaire filled in by respondent	No
- Telephone interview, paper questionnaire	No
- Telephone interview, electronic questionnaire	Yes
- Face-to-face interview	No
- Other	No
If 'other', please specify
Data entry method, if paper questionnaires?	Manual/Optical
Please provide a link to the questionnaire

Administrative data (This question block is only for administrative data)
	Admin source 1	Admin source 2	Admin source 3
Name of the register	AGEA	Enterisi	Absi
Description	Declarations from producers	Declarations from producers	Industrial treatments
Data owner (organisation)	AGEA The Agency for disbursement in agriculture	Enterisi The Ente Nazionale Risi (rice sector)	Absi (Association sugar beet Italian)
Update frequency	One each year	One each year	One each year
Reference date (month/year)	2012	2012	2013
Legal basis	Bilateral agreement	Bilateral agreement	Bilateral agreement
Reporting unit	Producer	Category associations	Enterprises
Identification variable (e.g. address, unique code, etc.)	Aggregated data (no microdata)	Aggregated data (no microdata)	Aggregated data (no microdata)
Percentage of mismatches (%)	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
How were the mismatches handled?
Degree of coverage (holdings, e.g. 80%)
Degree of completeness (variables, e.g. 60%)
If not complete, which other sources were used ?
Were the data used for sample frame?	No	No	No
Were the data used for validation?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Were the administrative data used directly for the estimates?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Were the data used for other purposes, which?
Which variables were taken from administrative sources?	Tobacco : Surface and production	Rice: Surface and production	Sugar beet: Surface and production
Were there any differences in the definition of the variables between the administrative source and those described in the Regulation?	No	No	No
Please describe the differences
What measures were taken to eliminate the differences?
How were the reliability, accuracy and coherence (comparison to other available data) of the data originated from administrative data source (ex-ante- and/or ex-post) checked?
What were the possible limitations, drawbacks of using the data from administrative source(s)?

Expert estimations (This question block is only for expert estimates)
	Expert estimates
Name of the estimation	expert estimates
Data owner (organisation)	Regions and two Autononomous Province
Update frequency (in months)	Monthly
Reference date (Month/Year e.g. 1/13 - 8/13)	Month/year
Legal basis	National Statistical Programme
For what purposes the expert estimates were used?	To provide update crops statistics for territorial bodies, policy decisions, category associations
What kind of expertise the experts have?	Statistical and agronomic skills
Describe in detail the estimation methods used	Panel survey addressed to main crops producers and analysts, in order to estimate used surfaces and to update the average production by hectar. Statistics are produced using expert information. Data are provided by local authorities that collect experts evaluations on area and yield of different crops. The auxiliary information could be included in expert's estimate, such as verifying the availability of external sources (eg professional bodies or associations of producers, administrative sources, auxiliary sources of data related to the cultivation being estimated). Crops under investigation are different for each month and take into account the phenological stage of cultivation. For this reason more than one estimate can be determined for each crop during the year (provisional, temporary or permanent).
Were there any differences in the definition of the variables between the experts' estimates and those described in the Regulation?	No
If yes, please describe the differences
What measures were taken to eliminate the differences?
How were the reliability, accuracy and coherence (comparison to other available data) of the data originated from experts' estimates (ex-ante- and/or ex-post) assessed?
What were the possible limitations, drawbacks of using the data from expert estimate(s)?
Describe the possible plans to replace the expert estimates by other data sources (e.g. surveys, administrative data)
Additional comments

For all data sources
Note down any other relevant information linked to the methodology, weather conditions during the agricultural year (reference period) etc.
What improvements have been planned for the future?

3.4 Data validation

Are the data validated before the submission to Eurostat?	Yes
If yes, what kind of validation rules are applied (see the options below)
- Logical conisistency	Yes
- Outliers against time-series	Yes
- Completeness of data	Yes
- Aggregates (are parts summed up correctly)	Yes
- Cross-domain coherance	Yes
- Others, which?
Are the validation rules documented?	No
Please provide the link to the validation rules or attach a file

3.5 Data compilation

Not relevant

3.6 Adjustment

Not relevant

4. Quality management

4.1 Quality assurance

Not available.
New concept added with the migration to SIMS 2.0.
Information (content) will be available after the next collection.

4.2 Quality management - assessment

Overall quality management for annual crop statistics
Which kind of data validation measures are in place?	manual
What do they target?	Unit - Completeness/Item completeness/Valid value/Ranges/Relational checks
Are the data cross-validated against an other dataset?	Yes
If yes, which kind of dataset?	Previous results/agricultural census
If other data sets, which?
Is there a quality management process in place for crop statistics?	Yes
If, yes, what are the components?	Specific working group (started in March 2014) involving Istat, Regions, AGEA (Agency for disbursement in agriculture) and Ministry of Agriculture. Questionnaire sent to Regions in July 2014, main results elaborated in 2015.
Is there a Quality Report available?	No
If yes, please provide a link
To which data souce is it linked?
Has a peer-review been carried out for crop statistics?	No
If, yes, which were the main conclusions?
What quality improvement measures are planned for the next 3 years?	systematic data validation and respect of deadline
If, other, please specify
Additional comments

5. Relevance

See points 5.1 and 5.2

5.1 Relevance - User Needs

Are there known unmet user needs?	Yes
Describe the unmet needs	Demand for crops reported in aggregate items or crops not detected (eg. truffles)
Does the Regulation 543/2009 meet the national data needs?	No
If not, which additional data are collected?	On the contrary, the EU Regulation asks for too many data in comparison with the national needs
Additional comments

5.2 Relevance - User Satisfaction

Have any user satisfaction surveys been done?	No
Tick the appropriate box on next row	Highly satisfied	Satisfied	Neutral	Not completely satisfied	Not at all satisfied
How satisfied the users were?
Additional comments

5.3 Completeness

Please refer to the European level Quality Report

5.3.1 Data completeness - rate

Please refer to the European level Quality Report

6. Accuracy and reliability

See points 6.2, 6.3.1, 6.3.2 and 6.3.3

6.1 Accuracy - overall

Not relevant

6.2 Sampling error

These questions apply only to surveys
General questions	Survey 1
Name of the survey	Early estimates survey
Sampling basis?	List
If 'other', please specify
Sampling method?	Stratified
If stratified, number of strata?	120
If stratified, stratification basis?	Location/Size
If 'other', please specify
Size of total population	586722
Size of sample	9890
Which methods were used to assess the sampling error?	Relative standard error
If other, which?
Which methods were used to derive the extrapolation factor?	Other
If other, which?	calibration of basic weights using auxiliary variables and the corrisponding population totals derived from sampling frame
If RSE was calculated, please describe the calculation methods and formulas	Formulas related to the calibration estimators
If the results were compared with other sources, please describe the results
Which were the main sources of errors?	Coverage errors; unit nonresponse error

Coefficient of variation (CV) for the area (on the MS level)	not available
Name of the survey
Cereals for the production of grain
Dried pulses and protein crops
Root crops
Oilseeds
Other industrial crops (included all industrial crops besides oilseeds)
Plants harvested green from arable land
Total vegetables, melons and strawberries
Vegetables and melons
Strawberries
Cultivated mushrooms
Total permanent crops
Fruit trees
Berries
Nut trees
Citrus fruit trees
Vineyards
Olive trees
Additional comments

6.2.1 Sampling error - indicators

Not relevant

6.3 Non-sampling error

N.A.

6.3.1 Coverage error

	Early estimates survey	Survey 2
Error type	Under-coverage, over-coverage, contact errors
Degree of bias caused by coverage errors	Moderate
What were the reasons for coverage errors?	Incomplete, wrong or not updated contact information (mainly phone numbers)
Which actions were taken for reducing the error or to correct the statistics?	Compensation of the possible bias by means of reweighting procedures (calibration procedures)
Additional comments

6.3.1.1 Over-coverage - rate

Not relevant

6.3.1.2 Common units - proportion

Not relevant

6.3.2 Measurement error

Preparation and Quality of the Questionnaire	Survey 1
Name of the survey	Early estimates survey
Was the questionnaire based on usual concepts for respondents?	Yes
Number of surveys already performed with the current questionnaire (or a slightly amended version of it)?	6
Preparatory (field) testing of the questionnaire?	No
Number of units participating in the tests?
Explanatory notes/handbook for surveyors/respondents?	Yes
On-line FAQ or Hot-line support for surveyors/respondents?	Yes
Were pre-filled questionnaires used?	No
Percentage of pre-filled questions out of total number of questions
Were some actions taken for reducing the measurement error or to correct the statistics?	Yes
If yes, describe the actions and their impact	Same unit in previous data/similar units/other sources
Additional comments

6.3.3 Non response error

	Survey 1
Name of the survey/census	Early estimates survey
Unit level non-response rate (in %)	32,20%
Item level non-response rate (in %) (Reply to rows below).
Min% / item	N.A.
Max% /item	N.A.
Average %	N.A.
Was the non-response been treated ?	No
Which actions were taken to reduce the impact of non-response?	informative letter to the holders in the list, telephone help desk and e-mail address help desk
Which items had a high item-level non-response rate?	not calculable
Which methods were used for handling missing data? (several answers allowed)	Imputation/Weighting/Other
In case of imputation which was the basis?	Same unit in previous data/similar units/other sources
In case of imputation, which was the imputation rate (%)?	Not calculable
Estimated degree of bias caused by non-response?	None
Which tools were used for correcting the data?	Same unit in previous data/similar units/other sources
Which organisation did the corrections?	Crop statistics Unit
Additional comments

6.3.3.1 Unit non-response - rate

Not relevant

6.3.3.2 Item non-response - rate

Not relevant

6.3.4 Processing error

Not relevant

6.3.4.1 Imputation - rate

Not relevant

6.3.5 Model assumption error

Not relevant

6.4 Seasonal adjustment

Not relevant

6.5 Data revision - policy

Not relevant

6.6 Data revision - practice

Not relevant

6.6.1 Data revision - average size

Not relevant

7. Timeliness and punctuality

See point 7.1

7.1 Timeliness

The number of days between the delivery/release date of data and the target date on which they were scheduled for delivery/ release.
	Cereals	Dried pulses and protein crops	Root crops	Oilseeds	Other industrial crops	Plants harvested green	Total vegetables, melons and strawberries	Vegetables and melons	Strawberries	Cultivated mushrooms	Total permanent crops	Fruit trees	Berries	Nut trees	Citrus fruit trees	Vineyards	Olive trees
How many main data releases there are yearly in the national crop statistics?	3	2	2	2			not available	2	2	1	not available	3	1	not available	2	4	4
How many of them are forecastings (releases before the harvest)?	1	1	1	1			not available	1	not available	not available	not available	not available	not available	not available	not available	not available	not available
When is the first forecasting published? (day/month/year)	(19/02/2013)	(19/02/2013)	(19/02/2013)	(19/02/2013)				(19/02/2013)
When are the final results published?	(15/01/2014)	(30/12/2013)	(15/04/2013)	(15/01/2014)				(30/05/2014)	(30/11/2013)	(30/05/2013)		(30/06/2014)	(15/06/2013)		(30/07/2013)	(30/05/2014)	(15/07/2014)
Additional comments	Due to a delay in the provision of data by regions, the 2013 data have been published with delay

7.1.1 Time lag - first result

Not relevant

7.1.2 Time lag - final result

Not relevant

7.2 Punctuality

Please refer to the European level Quality Report

7.2.1 Punctuality - delivery and publication

Please refer to the European level Quality Report

8. Coherence and comparability

See points 8.2 and 8.3

8.1 Comparability - geographical

Not relevant

8.1.1 Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient

Not relevant

8.2 Comparability - over time

	Overall
	Overall	Crops from arable land (Table 1)	Vegetables, melons and strawberries (Table 2)	Permanent crops (Table 3)	Agricultural land use (Table 4)
Have there been major breaks in the time series since 2011?	No	No	No	No	Yes
If yes, to which were they related?					Definitions and methods
If other, which?
Which items were affected?					area used for agriculture, nurseries,
Year of break					2011 - 2012
Impact on comparability					big
Additional comments	During a review of the time series for the period 2008 - 2012

8.2.1 Length of comparable time series

Not relevant

8.3 Coherence - cross domain

Tick the appropriate box(es)	Orchard survey	Farm Structure survey	Administrative data	Price statistics	National accounts	Others
With which other data sources have the crop statistics data been compared?	Orchard survey	FSS data not yet available	Administrative data
If no comparisons have been made, why not?
If yes, please give a brief description of the results of this comparison.	In the most part of cases there is a good match between compared data. Some discrepancies concerned (for example - citrus fruit (lemon) with Orchard survey and wine with Administrative data
If comparisons were made against administrative or other sources, please give the names	Agea (Agency for disbursement in agriculture)

	Differences between ACS and other data sources (%)
Results of comparisons	Annual crop statistics (ha)	FSS difference	Orchard survey difference	Administrative source(s) difference	Other source(s) difference
Cereals	3246,06		(%)		-10,3%
Dried pulses and protein crops	68		(%)		-50,9%
Root crops	53,8		(%)		-37,3%
Oilseeds	330,64		(%)		+8,6%
Other industrial crops	:		(%)		:
Plants harvested green	na		(%)		na
Total vegetables, melons and strawberries	426,51		(%)		+42,3%
Vegetables and melons	na		(%)		na
Strawberries	5,5		(%)		na
Cultivated mushrooms	na		(%)		na
Total permanent crops	2415,1				+1,4%
Fruit trees	382,1				-9,9%
Berries	:				na
Nut trees	na				na
Citrus fruit trees	146,05				+13,3%
Vineyards	702				+5,7%
Olive trees	1136				1,1%
If there were considerable differences, which factors explain them?					Different survey technique, very different years and different definitions
If you used the column 'Other sources', please give the name and a short description of the other source	Agricultural Census 2010
If no comparisons have been made, why not?
Additional comments

Not relevant

8.4 Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics

Not relevant

8.5 Coherence - National Accounts

Not relevant

8.6 Coherence - internal

Not relevant

9. Accessibility and clarity

See points 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.5 and 9.6

9.1 Dissemination format - News release

Crop statistics	Availability	Links
Press release	Yes, only early estimates survey	http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/114303

9.2 Dissemination format - Publications

Crop statistics	Availability	Links
Scientific publications	No
Publications	Yes	http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/134686
Publications in English	No

9.3 Dissemination format - online database

Crop statistics	Availability	Links
On-line database accessible to users	Yes	http://agri.istat.it/
Website	Yes	http://agri.istat.it/

9.3.1 Data tables - consultations

Not relevant

9.4 Dissemination format - microdata access

Not relevant

9.5 Dissemination format - other

Crop statistics	Availability	Links
Free/against payment access policy	Partially free and partially against payment
Additional comments	Free access to the data at the regional and provincial level

9.6 Documentation on methodology

Crop statistics	Availability	Links
Definitions and classifications	Yes	http://agri.istat.it/
Methodological report	No
Metadata	Yes	http://agri.istat.it/

9.7 Quality management - documentation

See chapter 3

9.7.1 Metadata completeness - rate

Not relevant

9.7.2 Metadata - consultations

Not relevant

10. Cost and Burden

11. Confidentiality

11.1 Confidentiality - policy

Not relevant

11.2 Confidentiality - data treatment

Not relevant

12. Comment

N.A.