Home / Food and Agriculture Microdata Catalogue / AGRICULTURAL-CENSUS / MDA_2011_RGA_V01_M_V01_A_ESS
Agricultural-Census

General Agricultural Census 2011

Republic of Moldova, 2011
Reference ID
MDA_2011_RGA_v01_M_v01_A_ESS
Producer(s)
National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova (Biroul Național De Statistică Al Republicii Moldova)
Collections
Agricultural Censuses
Metadata
Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON
Created on
Oct 12, 2026
Last modified
Oct 20, 2026
Page views
53
  • Identification
  • Scope
  • Coverage
  • Producers and sponsors
  • Sampling
  • Survey instrument
  • Data collection
  • Data processing
  • Data Access
  • Contacts
  • Metadata production

    • Identification

    Survey ID number

    MDA_2011_RGA_v01_M_v01_A_ESS
    Title

    General Agricultural Census 2011
    Translated Title

    Recensămîntul General Agricol 2011
    Country
    Name Country code
    Republic of Moldova MDA
    Study type

    Agricultural Census [ag/census]
    Series Information

    The General Agricultural Census 2011 was the first comprehensive agricultural census conducted in the Republic of Moldova. Before 2011 only specialized agricultural censuses were conducted, such as the census of sown area in 1985, the livestock census in 1992 and the census of permanent crops in 1994.
    Abstract

    The General Agricultural Census 2011 is a large scale statistical operation that collects data on the structure of agriculture which is necessary for socioeconomic analyses and for the planning of policies for the agricultural sector.
    Kind of Data

    Census/enumeration data [cen]
    Unit of Analysis

    Agricultural holdings

    Scope

    Notes

    The census scope covered agricultural activities (crops and livestock), as well as agricultural services provided by the holding. Some data on aquaculture carried out in association with the agricultural activities of the agricultural holding were also collected in the census.

    Form 1-GAC collected information on:

    1. General information on the agricultural holding
    2. Land use
    3. Livestock
    4. Agricultural construction, technical means and equipment
    5. Labour force
    6. Plat protection products, fertilizers and irrigations
    7. Organic farming, soil degradation and rural development
    8. Non-agricultural activities

    Form 2-GAC collected information on:

    1. General information
    2. Land use
    3. Livestock
    Keywords
    Structure of Agriculture Land use Crops Livestock and Poultry Labour in the Agricultural Sector Machinery and Equipment Aquaculture

    Coverage

    Geographic Coverage

    The General Agricultural Census 2011 covered both rural and urban areas, except for the territories of the Territorial administrative unit from the left part of the Nistru River and Bender municipality.
    Universe

    The main statistical unit covered in the General Agricultural Census 2011 was the agricultural holding, defined as a technical-economic unit of agricultural production (with or without juridical status) with a single management, performing agricultural activities by using agricultural land and/or raising livestock or activities to maintain the agricultural land in good agricultural and environmental conditions, whether as a principal activity or as a secondary activity.

    No thresholds were applied to the agricultural holdings in the non-household sector and for those in rural areas.

    For the agricultural holdings in the household sector in urban areas and for the members of horticultural associations (tenants of horticultural plots), the following minimum size limits were established:

    • 10 ares (corresponding to 0.1 hectares) of agricultural land
    • 1 are (corresponding to 100 square metres) of land under greenhouses
    • 1 cattle, sheep, pig, or goat
    • 20 poultry

    Producers and sponsors

    Primary investigators
    Name
    National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova (Biroul Național De Statistică Al Republicii Moldova)
    Producers
    Name Role
    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Technical assistance
    Funding Agency/Sponsor
    Name Role
    Government of the Republic of Moldova Funding
    Government of Sweden Funding
    European Union Funding

    Sampling

    Sampling Procedure

    A combination of complete and sample enumeration was used in the General Agricultural Census 2011.

    Agricultural holdings were completely enumerated, whereas small-size agricultural units (SSAUs), were sampled and enumerated using a short questionnaire (Form 2).

    Two-stage sampling was used to select SSAUs. At the first stage, in urban areas, Enumeration Massifs (EMs) were sampled with probability proportional to size in terms of area. At the second stage, SSAUs were randomly selected from the sampled EMs.

    Survey instrument

    Questionnaires

    Two questionnaires were used for the census:

    1. Form 1-GAC: was used to collect data from the agricultural holdings
    2. Form 2-GAC: was used to collect data from the small-size agricultural units (SSAUs),

    The questionnaires covered all 16 core items recommended in the WCA 2010.

    Data collection

    Dates of Data Collection
    Start End
    2011-03-15 2011-04-15
    Time Method

    Reference day:

    • 1 March 2011, for items related to livestock, agricultural buildings, agricultural and equipment.

    Reference period:

    • From 1 November 2009 to 31 October 2010, for land use and tenure, purpose of agricultural production, labour force, use of pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, etc.
    • Previous three years, for rural development measures.
    Mode of data collection
    • Pen and Paper Interview [papi]
    Data Collection Notes

    Census activities involved more than 6000 census staff, of which approximately 4500 were enumerators, and 15 000 were other personnel (supervisors and data processing staff like coders, IT specialists, scanning and other technical personnel).

    QUALITY ASSURANCE
    The pilot census was conducted one year before the census enumeration, and its findings were used to finalize the census methodology and tools. A comprehensive mechanism for monitoring and supervision of fieldwork was established. It included two-level supervision of fieldwork (by supervisors and rayon/municipalities coordinators), regular reporting and analysis of response rates during data collection, field checks, etc. Soon after the census enumeration, a post enumeration survey was carried out to assess the quality of census data, particularly to measure content errors.

    Data processing

    Data Editing

    Census data was captured through scanning of questionnaires using optical mark recognition (OMR). Data entry and processing were undertaken by the National Bureau of Statistics using the integrated data processing system (IDPS) developed via outsourcing. Logical and arithmetical coherency within and between tablets were incorporated into the IDPS. Data from the General Agricultural Census 2011 was stored in the census database.

    Data Access

    Access conditions

    For additional information on data access and use, please contact the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova.
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Website: https://statistica.gov.md/en

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Email URL
    National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova (Biroul Național De Statistică Al Republicii Moldova) [email protected] https://statistica.gov.md/en

    Metadata production

    DDI Document ID

    DDI_MDA_2011_RGA_v01_M_v01_A_ESS_FAO
    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation Role
    National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova (Biroul Național De Statistică Al Republicii Moldova) Metadata producer
    Statistics Division ESS Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Metadata adapted for FAM
    Back to Catalog