Ninth agricultural census begins

KOCHI: The Department of Economics and Statistics has begun the ninth Agricultural Census in the state.The main thrust of the enumeration is on ascertaining the ownership of land, its utility in agriculture, details of crops, mode of irrigation, use of fertilisers, pesticides etc. Twenty per cent of the wards are selected from all panchayat, municipal and Corporation. The enumeration will be conducted in households and establishments of the selected wards.The survey will be completed in three phases based on 2010-11. During the first phase, the gender ownership of land holdings will be ascertained. In the second round, the pattern of crops and the source of irrigation will be collected.The third round will be a detailed survey on all the factors related to agricultural use. The enumerators will be statistical investigators from the Department of Economics and Statistics.The survey is more significant to Kerala than other states. As a result of the implementation of Land Reforms Act in 1957, the area of each land holding in the state is much lesser than that in other parts of the country. The Agricultural Census in India is being conducted according to the guidelines prescribed by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) as partof world-wide Census.The Agricultural Census is being conducted once in five years. A monitoring committee under the supervision of District Collector Sheikh Pareeth and Deputy Director of Economics and Statistics R Sudharsa has appealed to the people to cooperate with the enumerators by providing all necessary information.A meeting convened in this regard at the Collectorate was attended by the officials of the Departments of  Economics and Statistics, Agriculture and Local Self-government. The listing of the wards has begun and the enumeration of households will start soon.The survey gains significance in the light of the issues created by endosulfan.