Agricultural Census 2001

Data Limitations:

The AC 2001, as stated in one of its objectives, provides basic information on the structure of agricultural holdings in the Kingdom and its characteristics that do not change over a certain period of time. Like any other census and surveys, it has limitations which are enumerated in the following:

1. No data on crop production was included in this census since this information would be better asked in a follow up survey specifically designed for major crops.
2. The level of agricultural activity of a household was determined only through its involvement in the cultivation/growing of crops and size of its agricultural land which should be more than 1/8 of an acre. A household having only livestock or poultry was not considered to have an agricultural holding for this census.
3. The size of the agricultural holding, to be considered as an agricultural holder, was more than 1/8 of an acre.
4. The economic characteristics of the household members were asked for member 15 years old and over as recommended and being done internationally and in other local surveys.
5. Apart from Livestock animals, only information on dogs was included in the Livestock Section of this census. Other domesticated animals such as cats and birds like parrots were excluded.
6. Fisheries Section was asked for only few data items such as main purpose of fishing, type of fishing method engaged in, use of fishing boats and proportion of fish/other sea products sold.
7. The holding and parcels included only those agricultural lands cultivated by the holder whether owned or leased from other households. On the other hand, all lands owned by the holder but rented out to other households whether for a fee or for free were excluded in the Holding Questionnaire and Parcel Questionnaire.
8. Sections on Agricultural Income and Loan, Agro-Forestry on the Holding and Handicraft Making were asked only for agriculturally active households. The nonagricultural and minor agricultural households did not have such information.
9. Questions on the use of fertilizers were answerable only by “Yes” or “No” and questions on agricultural chemicals were the name of chemical and crops it was used on. Quantities on these agricultural inputs were not taken for it is best to include these items in a follow-up survey.
10. Small implements such as knife, spade and other gardening tools were not included in this census since it is assumed that almost all agriculturally active households owned and used such small tools.
11. The section on Agro-forestry was limited to the name of the trees/shrubs and its uses, not on the number of trees for this would create problems on data processing. Hence, a follow-up survey using this information as a frame can be done to get additional information on agro-forestry.
12. The section on Crops Planted and Already Harvested of the Parcel Questionnaire was supposed to be answered by all agricultural holders who answered the section on Parcel Details of the Holding Questionnaire. However, due to memory recall of the respondents, information on this section might have been under reported.
13. The quality of the data collected can be affected by many factors. For example, the complete enumeration and coverage limits the completeness of data, the concepts and interpretation of questionnaires may not be fully understood by enumerators, inadequate supervision and others.