PPPs are active substances or their derivates intended for the protection of plants or their products. Active substances have a general or specific effect on harmful organisms or plants, plant parts and plant products.

The indicator shows the sales of active substances used as plant protection products (PPPs) and the consumption of PPPs per hectare of arable land (fields, gardens) and permanent crops.

The indicator does not take into account (due to the unavailability of reliable data) the use of PPPs on other non-agricultural land (e.g., railways, roadsides, lawns, golf courses and other sports fields), where plant protection measures are also implemented using PPPs. According to various estimates, this category of land in Slovenia represents more than 50,000 ha. As a result, current consumption of PPPs per hectare of cultivated land is greater than it would be if the actual areas where PPPs are used were taken into account.

Plant protection products (PPPs) are a pesticide subgroup containing active substances or their derivates that exert general or specific action on harmful organisms or plants, parts of plants or plant products. Compared to the base year 1992, the use of PPPs in Slovenia has decreased by almost a half compared to 2007. While 2.031 tons of PPPs were used in 1992, their total consumption in the next fifteen years was significantly reduced to 1,155 ton in 2007. The PPPs use during the past 10 years remained largely unchanged with a minor decrease to 942 tons in 2019.

The consumption of PPPs per unit of cultivated land (arable land and permanent crops) has also been fairly even over the last ten years (2009–2019). Consumption remained at about 5.4 kg of active substance per hectare in this period, and fluctuations between years are mainly related to weather conditions. Compared to the 10-year average, the lowest quantity of total use of PPPs use was observed in 2019, i.e. 4.66 kg of active substance per hectare of cultivated land.

When considering the consumption per hectare of cultivated land in Slovenia, it should be taken into account that it is slightly overestimated, as the land data not cover all areas on which PPPs are used (non-agricultural land, lawns, sports fields, roads, etc.).

Consumption of PPPs per hectare of cultivated land in Slovenia is higher than in most other EU countries, but comparable to other countries with similar types of cultivated plants and agroclimatic conditions. Slovenia agriculture production is characterized by a large share of permanent crops - orchards, vineyards and hop gardens, where the consumption of plant protection products (especially fungicides) per hectare is much higher than for cereals and other field crops. Fungicides account around two thirds of all PPPs used in Slovenia in the whole analyzed period (1992–2019), with the largest share of environmentally less harmful sulfur-based inorganic fungicides.

The downward trend in the herbicide consumption is mainly due the novel products applied at a lower dose of active substance per hectare and significant changes in the cropping practice, and less due to the replacement of herbicide use with non-chemical weed control methods.

Consumption of insecticides, which account for less than 5% of all PPPs used, varies mainly depending on weather conditions affecting pest development.

The registration, trade and use of PPPs for the protection of consumers of agricultural products and the protection of the environment - especially water resources - are regulated by legislation, where special restrictions are imposed within a water protection areas.