CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Historicai DeveLopment and OTganisationoj AgTicuLtuTaL Census

1.4 The gradual evolution of theland systems necessitated the m~inte-nance of the village forms and registers

Agriculture has traditionally been giving details of the land held and thethe mainstay of the economy of India. various conditions under which they wereLand revenue was the major source of held. Changes in the content and theincome of the State for a long time. coverage of these forms have been madeCollection of land revenue necessitated from time to time to meet the increasingmaintenance of some records relating to requirements of data for revenue adminis-cultivation. tration.

1.2 Collection of agricultural statis- #;..5 A fairly comprehensive systemtics in India dates back to third or fourth for collection and maintenance of agri-century Be. Later collection of these cultural statistics through the landd t d . I b d t f records by the revenue machinery existsa a was one mam y as a y-pro uc 0 f I di D t '1 dIdrevenue administration. In certain parts over dlarge Pta~t~ 0 n tl~. 1 e ai e

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hf h recor s con ammg par ICUars 0 eaco t. e country, permanent settlement plot of land in 5' village existed inwas ID:troduc~d where private landlords")2> ut of the 2 ~es in India and thesecame mto bemg to whom Gov:ernment ords serve as the basis for land utili-granted . some but. not all rights of sation, crop and irrigation statistics. Suchprivate property in land .. These ~ew a system did not exist in Sates, viz.,landlords acted as the intermediary Kerala, Orissa, West Bengal, Meghalaya,between the Government and the actual Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim and 'I'ripura,cultivators. This land revenue system Of the 9 Union Territories in the countrycame, to be known as the Zami~dari only 5 have complete lane! records:system. In other parts, an entirely During the past few years, step's havedifferent land revenue system was deve- been taken for establishment of anloped ,wherein only temporary settle- agency for collection of agriculturalments were made. In this system, known statistics on complete enumeration basisas the Ryotwari system, the Government in those States where comprehensive landdirectly dealt with cultivators or Ryots. records do not exist now. This scheme

is reported to have been initiated in theState's of Kerala and Orissa. The States /:UTs' having' land records account' for'about 85 pet cent of 'the' operational hold~ings and about 90 per cent of the operated'area.

./rv eed for data by operational holdings '

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HistoricaL backgmund of development ojaqricuuura; statistics .

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1.3 -After the attainment 'of Inde-pendencer- the land laws were changedwith. the aim to bring the peasant andthe State into di~ect contact. In thearea where Zamindari system prevailed,the new laws provided for abolition of,the intermediary. In areas where Ryot-wari SYstem prevailed, the new lawsaimed at providing protection to thetenants who were the. actual tillers, ofthe land. '

Changes since Independence

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,1.6 "In the context of the strategy .for agricultural 'development, "a kriow- 'ledge of the detailed structure. andcharacteristics of agricultural holding, isimperative for effective and efficient

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planning and implementation of the.pro-grammes. For this purpose, it is essen-tial to have information by operationalholdings as distinct from ownershipholdings. Information by ownershipholdings is no doubt useful to have anidea of the distribution of wealth -butinformation by operational holdings ismore important for implementation ofthe agricultural development programmesas such. An operational holding is de-fined as "all land which is used whollyor partly for agricultural production andis operated as one Technical Unit by oneperson alone or with others withoutregard to title, legal form, size or loca-tion". It is the operational holding whichis the fundamental unit of decision mak-ing in agriculture and consequently fordevelopment programmes aimed at im-proving the lot of the individual culti-vators and also the production. Thus aCensus of operational holdings or whatis otherwise known as the AgriculturalCensus for providing the basic data onthe number, size, tenancy, land utilisa-tion, cropping pattern and irrigationparticulars, etc., assumes importance.

1. 7 While the system of agriculturalstatistics that was in vogue in the countryprovided for aggregates at various geo-graphical levels, data on structure ofholdings had not been tabulated. As earlyas 1830 the Famine Inquiry Committeestressed the need for adequate statisticsof land holdings. Again the FamineInquiry Commission of 1945 tried to gaugethe relationships between the land tenuresystems and the efficiency of agriculturalproduction but the Commission washandicapped in this regard due to non-availability of data and the Commissionmade a number of recommendations forimprovement of Agricultural Statistics.Due to various reasons, these recom-mendations were not given effect to.

lnternational effort for AgriculturalCensus

1.8 The decennial World Census ofAgriculture sponsored by Food and Agri-cultural Organisation (FAO) of the

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United Nations essentially constitutes aseries of national Agricultural Censustaken all over the world in or around thesame year within the framework of uni-form concepts and definitions and acommon programme of item coverageand tabu lation. The first step towardsthe World Census of Agriculture wasinitiated in 1924 by the InternationalInstitute of Agriculture, Rome whichpersuaded member-countries to carry outa gener 11 programme of agriculturalcensus on a comparable and uniformpattern. The object was to obtain fromthese various countries internationallycomparable information on the structureof agriculture through holding-wise enu-meration of crop areas and livestock inone operation. Sixty-three countries andterritories participated in the first Censusin 1930 and of these only 46 countries tookit by holdings and the rest obtainedaggregates on various levels of geographi-cal areas. The next census was plannedfor 1940 but could not be carried out dueto Second World War. Hence the secondWorld Agricultural Census was carriedout around the year 1950 under theguidance of FAO which had since replac-ed the former International Institute ofAgriculture. One hundred and sixcountries and territories participated illthe second census.

1.9 The Government of India want-ed to take the opportunity of the 195tlround of the World Census of Agricul-ture to overhaul the country's machineryfor collection of agricultural statistics.A Technical Committee on Coordinationof Agricultural Statistics was set up t ythe Ministry of Agriculture for the pur-pose. The Committee worked out detail-ed forms for collecting comprehensi vedata relating to the agricultural economvof the country. The Committee's recom-mendations for carrying out a censuswith 1950-51 as the reference year couldnot, however, be implemented due toconstraints on resources. The Third WorldAgricultural Census was carried out in1960. Here also India could not go in fora comprehensive agricultural census inthe country.

Initiational

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Initiai efforts in Indid for data on opera-tional hoLdings by NSSO

1.10. As the Government of Indiawere, however, keen to obtaininformationon operational holdings, hence both for1950 and 1960 rounds of AgriculturalCensus, data required by the World Agri-curtura; Census were collected throughsample surveys carried out by NationalSample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Inconnection with the 1950 round of WorldAgricultural Census, data were collectedin India for the major crop season of theAgricultural year 1853-54 during the 8thround of NS;:; (1954-55). For the 1960round of World Agricultural Census, datawere collected during the 16th round(1960-61) and 17th round (1961-62) ofNSS. These gave estimates for thecountry as a whole and for States. Theseestimates were of limited value for micro-level planning, say, for district or lowerregional levels. NSSO also carried out asamplesurvey of land holdings in its 26thround.

First Comprehensive Agricultural Censusin India

1.11 When the proposal for 1970World Census of Agriculture was received

~ from the FAO, the Government of Indiadecided to participate in the Census andconveyed their decision to the FAO.According to the proposal of FAO, the1970 World Census of Agriculture envi-saged in principle the collection of datafor all individual holdings by direct enu-meration. FAO, however, suggested thatsampling may be resorted to for areaswhere complete enumeration may not bepossible. As mentioned earlier, in mostparts of India ;the system of land recordsexisted containing plot-to-plot detailsin every village. Only in a few Statesand territories of India such a system wasnot in vogue. Hence the Government ofIndia decided to obtain the necessaryinformation for the Census by a systemof retabuIation of the data available inthe land records for those states andterritories where such comprehensive re-

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cords exist. In other areas where landrecords did not exist or gave insufficientcenus information, sample surveys werethought of and the size of the samplewas such as to provide reliable estimatesat the district level and for majorcharacteristics even at levels lower thandistrict such as Tehsil/block levels.

1.12 Thus the first comprehensiveAgricultural Census in India was carriedout with the Agricultural year 1970-71 asthe reference period. rAn-A1. - ndiareport on the Census was published in ~19'(5. Various States/UTs had alsobrought out similar reports for their ownareas.

Uses of data of First Agricultural Census I

1.13 The results of the AgriculturalCensus unu-'Il have been used widely I

by centrallVlinistries/Departments, StateGovernments, Universities/Research In-strtutions, Banks and Financial Corpora-tions, Industries and business firms,research workers, etc. The Central andState Governments made extensive useof the census data for planning and over-all strategy for agricultural developmentin general and for area development pro-grames, project formulation for develop-ment of small and marginal farmers; etc.With the increased emphasis on grass-root planning, the basic data available forthe lower level geographical units werewidely used for location of rural deve-lopment schemes, setting up targets andassessment of resources. Planning Com-mission and other organisations used thecensus data for the requirements ofcredit, inputs, irrigation potential,mechanisation, etc.

·v'second Agricultural Census-Referenceperiod and coverage

1.14 The experience gained in con-ducting the 1970-71 Agricultural Censushad been rewarding. The use of thedata from that census was encouragingand hence it was agreed that similaragricultural census should be undertakenat more frequent intervals of time, say.

quinquennially. The National Commis-sion on Agriculture also emphasised theneed for repeating the AgriculturalCensus every five years. The question ofcarrying out the next agricultural censuswas, therefore, examined in consultationwith the States and concerned CentralMinistries. It was originally decided inAugust, 1974 that the next census shouldbe carried out on sample survey basiswith the Agricultural Year 1975-76as thereference period; However, a number ofchanges were likely to take place in theexisting land records during 1975-76 andsince land records constituted the base forthe Agricultural Census in most parts ofthe country, it was decided to postponethe reference year from 1975-76to 1976-77.In the 1976-77 Agricultural Census,Sikkim and Mizoram were also coveredfor the first time to make the coveragecomplete. But the 1976-77 Cessus couldnot be carried out in Punjab for reasonsstated later on.

-JPilot studies and the procedure

1.15 It was envisaged that the 1976-77 Agricultural Census would in generalcover a sample of about 20 per cent of thevillages and the data on principalcharacteristics would be obtained fromthe resident cultivators in the selectedvillages. The experimental pilot studiescarried out to find out the problems indi-cated large scale under-estimation, bothin area' and the number of operationalholdings. The under-estimation wasmainly due to omissions of the residentcultivators and the land operated bythem. This was then considered by theTechnical Committee on AgriculturalCensus who recommended that the pri-mary data on the number and area ofoperational holdings (Table 1) should beprepared in respect of all the villages inthe States where comprehensive landrecords exist. For the rest of the items,namely, tenancy, land use, irrigation,crops etc. (tables 2 to 6) necessary datamight be collected from a sample of 20per cent of the villages and the residentcultivators therein. The advantage of

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this procedure was that all the surveynumbers operated within the village werecompletely covered and as such the entirecropped area of the village was account-ed for. In the case of non-land recordStates, however, the entire census wascarried out on sample survey basis.

Jlnput Survey ,1.16 The scope of the 1976-77agricul-

tural census was also widened to includea separate input survey to obtain inform-ation on the use of various inputs suchas fertilisers, manures, pesticides, agri-cultural implements and machinery,livestock for 5 broad size groups of opera-tional holdings. This report, however,presents only the results of the 1976-77agricultural census as such and the-results of the Input Survey will be pre-sen ted in a separate report.

Headquarters Organisation at the Centreand State

1.17 The Agricultural Census pro-gramme is a Central Plan scheme imple-mented by the Ministry of Agriculture.The Agricultural Census Division of theMinistry is headed by an AgriculturalCensus Commissioner and Joint Secre-tary. The Division consisted of two JointDirectors, two Deputy Directors, twoResearch Officers, four Research Investi-gators and a part-time Under Secretarv,a Section Officer and other supportingstaff. At the State/UT level, a seniorofficer either the Revenue Secretary /Commissioner of Land Records/Reforms,Financial Commissioner, Secretary /Director of Agriculture or Director ofEconomics and Statistics was declaredthe State Agricultural Census Commis-sioner who was in overall charge forcarrying out the census in the respectiveState/Union Territories. A SeniorTechnical Officer either from the Revenueor Agriculture or Statistical Departmentof the State assisted the State Agricul-tural Census Commissioner. Each State/Union Territory was provided with aunit consisting of full-time TechnicalOfficers and other staff to attend to theagricultural census work.

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Field Agency

1.18 The field work was carried outby patwaries (village accountants) in thecase of Land record States and by statis-tical enumerators and others in the caseof non-land record States. Effectivesupervision was arranged by the concern-ed departmental officers like Tehsildars,Revenue Inspectors, etc., under the over-all charge of the District Census Officerswho were often District Collectors.Statistical supervision was also-arrangedby deploying staff from the statisticalagencies. Honorarium was paid to theprimary workers and the supervisorystaff as a token of recognition of the work.In all. about 1,00,000 primary workersand supervisors were deployed in thisgigantic task. The full-time staff at theState Headquarters was about '300.

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Technical Committe and Coordination1.21 At the Central level, the Mini-

stry of Agriculture was guided by aCentral Technical Committee on Agricul-tural Census in finalising the schedules,instructions, sampling procedure where-ver needed and other details. At theState aevel there was an Inter-depart-mental Coordination Committee to over-see the work. At District level also sui-table Committees headed by DistrictAgricultural Census Officer existed toimplement the programme and arrangefor inspection in adquate measure. Cen-tral officers also visited the States toobserve the field work. The work wasalso reviewed periodically at metings ofState Agricultural Census Commiss-ioners.

/Some Pr~blems1.22 In a large undertaking like the

Agricultural Census covering the entirecountry, there are always some problemsof organisation and management. Thewain responsibility of organising thework was on the States and UTs. One ofthe problems was sanctioning of the postsand filling in right type of persons andin time. The States somehow managedthese. A more serious problem was toget the cooperation of the patwaries whowere the primary workers for collectingthe basic data. The load of work on themwas quite heavy and onerous and thecompensation in terms of payment ofhonorarium was only a token for theeffort put in by them. There were ins-tances when the patwaries preferrednot to undertake this work, but the StateGovrnments did their best to obtain theircooperation in the execution of the task.However, the efforts did not succeed inone state, namely, Punjab. Hence theresults published in this report excludethe data for Punjab, though some esti-mate of only the total number and thearea of holdings has been made here forthe sake of completeness but no attempthas been made to extend this estimation toobtain detailed distribution by variousother characteristics, as that would be~ubject to many Iimitations. . -

Financing

1.19 As per the scheme, the entireexpenditure on salaries on the State Head-quarters staff, their travelling allowanceand contingencies were borne by theGovernment of India. Besides, the totalamount of honorarium paid to the primaryand supervisory workers and also thecost of tabulation was borne by theGovernment of India. The States/U'I's.on their part were required to arrangefor the printing of the schedules and thereports of the Census from their own re-sources.

Tr,aining

1.20 Training is an essential part incarrying opt the census. The Ministry ofAgricul ture organised training of theSenior Technical Officers of the states

.who in turn arranged for training of thesupervisory staff: The training of theprimary workers was decentralised at thedistrict and Tehsil levels. Care wastaken that all concepts and definitionsand procedure for carrying out censuswork were explained in as much detailas possible.' .. . .. .-. 1< ~ ••