11th Agriculture Census to Begin in Kerala by mid-November

By mid-November, Kerala is set to begin the 11^th Agriculture Census, which has been postponed owing to COVID-19. This activity would include all local body wards.

In Wayanad, a district-level training session for the 11^th Agriculture Census was previously held, and for the first time, data was gathered utilizing mobile application software.

As per the Economics and Statistics Department's Agriculture Census Division, which was entrusted with carrying out the exercise, has finished training the department employees who would serve as supervisors. Soon, training sessions for the almost 7,000 enumerators employed to gather the data through fieldwork will start. Senior agency officials anticipate having finished the census by January 2023.

The five-year exercise used to be conducted as a sample survey, encompassing 20% of the local bodies' wards that were chosen. But this time, a comprehensive exercise including all the wards would be conducted. The new format is anticipated to give a more precise and thorough view of the industry.

The State's 10th Agriculture Census was held in 2015–2016; the subsequent one was scheduled for 2021–2022, but the pandemic caused a postponement.

A 12-member State-level coordination committee and eight-member District-level coordination committees were established last week by instructions issued by the Planning and Economic Affairs Department to win the cooperation of various government agencies for the 11th Agriculture Census.

The State Agriculture Census Commissioner, also known as the Additional Chief Secretary for Planning and Economic Affairs, serves as the head. The Director of the Department of Economics and Statistics will be the panel's moderator. The District Collector will serve in the capacity of the District Agriculture Census Officer.

As per media reports, the overall number of operating holdings in the state had increased by 11.02 per cent, as per the 2015–16 census. From 68.31 lakh in 2010–11 to 75.83 lakh in 2015–16, the number of holdings increased. However, it reported a reduction in the size from 15.11 million to 13.95 million hectares (7.67 per cent).