Margus Friedenthal - International Seed Testing Association

ESTONIA
Margus Friedenthal
Agricultural Research Center
The 31st ISTA congress will take
place in Estonia in 2016
LOCATION
in the Baltic region of Northern Europe,
next to Scandinavia and North-West
Russia. Finland is a short hop across the
sea – just 80 km away.
DISTANCE FROM CAPITAL
Helsinki 85 km
Riga 307 km
St Petersburg 395 km
Stockholm 405 km
Vilnius 605 km
AREA 45 227 km2
Similar in size to Denmark or the
Netherlands, but the population
is ten times smaller.
POPULATION 1.29 million
69% Estonians, 25% Russians
Capital Tallinn (420 000)
Estonia has more than 1,500 islands, 1,000 lakes (5% of the
Estonian territory), 7,000 rivers and streams. Bogs and wooded
swamplands of different types cover over one fifth of the country.
GOVERNMENT
Estonia is a democratic parliamentary
republic, single chamber Parliament
(Riigikogu) of 101 members.
EU & NATO
Estonia became a member of NATO on 29 March 2004 and joined
the European Union on 1 May 2004.
As of 21 December 2007, Estonia is part of the Schengen visa
area.
As of 1 January 2011 part of the EUR currency area.
NATIONAL LANGUAGE
Estonian. Other languages such as
English, Russian and Finnish are also
widely spoken.
CURRENCY € EURO
NATURAL RESOURCES
Timber, oil shale, phosphorite,
peat, limestone, dolomite
PS! The Estonian language is a
nightmare to learn.
ETHNIC GROUPS
68,7% of the population is of Estonian ethnicity. The second
largest ethnic group is Russian, forming approximately 24,8% of
the population. 1,7% of the population has Ukrainian roots, and
Belarusians and Finns each make up approximately 1% of the
population.
RELIGION
Overall, most Estonians are not religious. In general religious
beliefs do not affect business activities in Estonia. Estonians are
predominantly Lutherans. There are small Russian Orthodox,
Baptist and other communities across the country.
CLIMATE
Temperate climate, characterised
by warm summers and fairly
severe winters. The weather is
often breezy and humid due to
the proximity of the Baltic Sea.
Average temperatures range from
20.9°C in summer to -8°C in
winter. Occasionally the
temperature may rise to 30°C and
above in summer or sink below
-23°C in winter.
MEDIEVAL OLD TOWN
It’s impossible to deny
that this is the main
reason most people first
come to Estonia – to see
the best protected and
intact medieval city in
Europe, TALLINN
Aerial view of the old town in Tallinn
FORESTS
Estonia is about 50%
covered by forests.
Hiking trails criss-cross
the forests, many of
which are protected or
part of National Parks.
Moose at the Lahemaa National Park
MANOR HOUSES
Luxurious manor houses,
built over the centuries,
are open for visitors and
many also have been
converted to high-class
hotels.
Sagadi Manor in North-Estonia
ESTONIAN SONG FESTIVAL
First held in 1869, takes
place every five years. In
2009, 26,000+ choral
singers gathered to
perform for an audience of
80,000 people.
It is recognised by UNESCO
as a Masterpiece of the
Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity.
BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
A relatively good and rapidly-developing production
infrastructure (ports, roads, telecommunications, warehouse
facilities)
Highly-developed electronic communications: good access to
internet, digital signatures, ID cards, web based projects.
Estonia's economic freedom is regarded as one of the highest in
the World and the best in the CEE region (Economic Freedom
World Ranking 2012, 16th out of 183 countries).
Did you know that Skype was developed in Estonia?
KEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS
GDP per capita (PPS) (2011):
16 800 EUR
GDP per capita (PPS) (EU27=100)
67%
Real growth of GDP (2012 Q3)
3,5%
Inflation (2012)
3,9%
Unemployment (2012 Q3)
9,7%
Average monthly wage (2012 Q3)
855 EUR
Estonian exports have continued to grow at a relatively rapid pace, as their
main destinations of Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia have been
weakly linked to the epicentre of the economic recession.
Exports: €12 billion
Imports: €12.6 billion
The main export goods are machinery and equipment, wood and paper
products, textiles, food products, metals and chemical products.
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
2,2% of GDP
19 700 agricultural holdings
39,4% involved in growing cereals
26,6% producing milk
19% mixed farming
Average farm size 47,6 ha – more than half of agricultural
holdings (54%) have less than 10 ha of land and they use 5% of
agricultural land, at the same time 9% of holdings have more than
100 ha and they use 73% of agricultural land.
MAIN PRODUCE FOR 940 000 ha OF AGRICULTURAL LAND
2010
2011
2012
Growing
Growing
Growing
Amount Yield
Amount Yield
Amount
area
area
area
(th t)
(kg/ha)
(th t) (kg/ha)
(th t)
(th ha)
(th ha)
(th ha)
Cereals
Yield
(kg/ha)
275
670
2435
297
772
2598
291
991
3412
incl.rye
13
25
1993
13
31
2325
17
57
3381
winter wheat
51
146
2864
53
159
3013
64
296
4662
spring wheat
69
179
2600
76
201
2659
61
189
3102
oats
30
53
1734
28
63
2211
32
78
2471
barley
105
253
2414
118
294
2494
109
340
3130
Legumes
7
12
1640
9
16
1811
11
13
1179
Oilseed rape
98
130
1322
89
144
1620
87
158
1811
Oil flax
0
0
494
0
0
878
0
0
513
1449
7,9
Certified Seed
8,4
12
15 1943
8,2
19
2349
1. Analysis of food and feed control samples for Agricultural Board
and Food & Veterinary Board
2. Analysis of the seeds for seed certification
3. Monitoring of pesticide residues and other contaminants
4. Plant pest diagnoses
5. Variety testing
6. Inspection of intervention cereals takeover and storage
7. Soil monitoring
8. Evaluation of agri-enviroment measure under the rural
development plan accordingly EC 1257/99
Thank you !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHQt2ph5-yo