KAZALCI OKOLJA

Key message
Neutral

Despite the fact that the level of education on Slovenian agricultural holdings has significantly improved in the period 2000-20120, it is still quite unfavourable. Still, more than half of the farmers have only practical experience with work in agriculture. In all age classes, the number of farmers who have completed one of the forms of formal agricultural education is increasing. Under the Rural Development Program, 105,406 participants participated in education and training in the sub-measure Support for Vocational Training and Skills Acquisition Activities. More than three quarter of them were educated in the field of Agri-environment-climate payments and Organic farming. The share of farmers with basic and complete agricultural education in Slovenia is higher than the average in the EU-28 countries, but Slovenia still lags considerably behind the most developed European countries.


The indicator shows the educational level of farmers of agricultural holdings in Slovenia based on the achieved agricultural education. Their favourable age and educational structure is one of the important factors which can contribute to the more efficient management of the agricultural holdings, as only well-educated, innovative and aware farmers can more easily adapt to contemporary economic, environmental and social conditions. The number of participants in the trainings under the Rural Development Programme does not provide a direct link between the achieved level of education and the environmental effectiveness of agricultural policy measures but shows the willingness of decision-makers on farms to educate and introduce environmentally friendly farming methods.


Charts

Figure KM07-1: Agricultural training of holding managers on family farms in Slovenia
Sources:

SORS, 2022

Show data
Agricultural training of holding managers  [Number] No data [Number] Practical experiences only [Number] Basic agricultural training [Number] Full agricultural trainingc [Number] No data [%] Practical experiences only [%] Basic agricultural training [%] Full agricultural trainingc [%]
2000 86336 1869 72440 7045 4982 2.16 83.90 8.16 5.77
2003 77037 1001 63104 7415 5518 1.30 81.91 9.63 7.16
2005 77042 0 55562 16368 5110 0 72.12 21.25 6.63
2007 75209 0 49141 20395 5673 0 65.34 27.12 7.54
2010 74425 0 47970 19896 6559 0 64.45 26.73 8.81
2013 72176 0 36152 27618 8405 0 50.09 38.26 11.65
2016 69671 0 34969 24720 9981 0 50.19 35.48 14.33
2020 52557 0 27235 16260 9062 0 51.82 30.94 17.24
Figure KM07-2: Agricultural education of holders on agricultural holdings in Slovenia by age classes
Sources:

Eurostat, 2022

Show data
2005[number] 2010[number] 2016[number]
Less than 35 years 2100 1730 1320
35-64 years 32000 29010 21670
Over 65 years 21480 17300 12040
Less than 35 years 660 780 960
35-64 years 11830 14790 17230
Over 65 years 3880 4370 6580
Less than 35 years 670 740 950
35-64 years 3680 4910 7860
Over 65 years 860 1020 1320
Total 77160 74650 69930
Figure KM07-3: Number of participants in training under Sub-measure M01:Support for vocational training and skills acquisition actions
Sources:

MAFF, 2022

Show data
Forestry[Number] Agri-environment-climate payments [Number] Organic farming[Number] Animal wellfare[Number] Young farmers[Number] Processing and marketing[Number] Total[Number]
2015 1146 1146
2016 6451 3154 173 9778
2017 1080 6896 3260 6812 219 18267
2018 6768 3339 7843 109 18059
2019 1023 108 3461 7897 101 12590
2020 967 7324 7092 8139 84 23606
2021 13289 8587 84 21960
Figure KM07-4: Share of holders with basic and fukll agricultural training in Slovenia and other EU Member States
Sources:

SORS, 2011; Eurostat, 2016

Show data
2005[%] 2010[%] 2016[%]
Romania 7.37 2.52 3.23
Greece 5.39 3.48 6.80
Bulgaria 5.30 3.42 9.30
Croatia 4.96 10.92
Hungary 13.38 14.64 21.27
Spain 10.45 15.33 21.61
Slovakia 14.60 23.79 23.03
Cyprus 6.42 5.71 27.48
United Kingdom 23.22 22.78 30.62
Malta 0.45 9.82 31.15
Lithuania 30.90 30.01 38.64
Estonia 32.90 36.51 39.76
Poland 38.50 45.94 44.75
Sweden 33.56 30.89 45.12
Austria 48.07 48.04 46.12
Latvia 34.06 38.52 46.78
Belgium 47.73 47.82 48.22
Slovakia 11.81 12.03 48.41
Ireland 30.69 31.01 49.75
Slovenia 27.98 35.65 49.89
Finland 40.61 43.98 51.44
Denmark 44.45 49.08 53.38
Czechia 44.71 56.65 57.22
France 54.34 50.32 63.27
Luxembourg 55.92 60.45 63.96
Germany 68.47 68.58 65.38
Netherlands 71.47 71.18 78.34
Italy 11.22 95.03 97.55

Goals

  • Improving the educational structure on agricultural holdings,
  • guiding future holders towards formal forms of education,
  • constant raising of awareness, training and education of stakeholders who ensure the protection of natural resources and ecosystem services.

The educational structure of farmers on Slovenian agricultural holdings is quite unfavourable. According to the data from agricultural census in the year 2000, there were 86,336 farmers in Slovenia. As many as 72,440 (85.8%) had no formal agricultural education and only had practical experience with agriculture, a further 7,045 (8.3%) completed basic courses in agriculture, and 4,982 (5.9%) had formal agricultural education. In the year 2016, when the last sample survey of the structure of agricultural holdings was carried out, the number of holders decreased to 52,557, and their educational structure improved significantly. The share of farmers with only practical experience in agriculture amounts to 51.8 %. This share is slightly higher than it was during the sample survey of agricultural holdings in 2016, but the data of labour force are not directly comparable due to different thresholds.

According to the data from the sample survey from 2016, the educational structure of farmers between different age groups is improving. Compared to the data from 2005, the number of farmers with only practical experience in agriculture in the age group up to 35 years decreased by more than a third (37.1%), while the number of farmers with basic and complete agricultural education increased by 43,1 %. The situation is similar in the age group over 65, where the number of those who have only practical experience in agriculture decreased by more than a third (33.9%), while the number of farmers with basic and complete agricultural education increased by as much as 66.7 %.

Under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 for Slovenia, the sub-measure Support for Vocational Training and Skills Acquisition Activities is being implemented. This sub-measure is intended for training courses required at the time of entry or at the time measure-related obligations are fulfilled for different sub-measures, such as: agri-environment-climate payment, organic farming and animal welfare. Training is also provided in the field of marketing and processing of agricultural products and occupational safety in forests. Trainings are also provided for young farmers, who are a specific target group. In the period 2015-2021, 105,406 participants attended education and training. The majority of participants attended training in the field of Agri-environment-climate measures (38.7 %) organic farming (37.4 %) and animal welfare (19.3 %).


Methodology

Date of data source summarization