120. The Commission discussed the integration of agricultural censuses with other censuses and surveys to enable consistency of results and enable better analysis of data across collections.
121. The Commission noted that there were few areas for integration between the agriculture and population censuses and that the data from population census were normally used as a frame for preparing and conducting the agricultural census and that the former contained most of the demographic variables and details. The Commission recommended that future population censuses should include a few of the core questions of the agriculture census as per the draft guidelines on WCA 2010 as one approach to reduce costs for those countries with budget constraints.
122. The Commission was informed of other concerns arising from the conduct of a population census such as: a) confidentiality of data and the possibility that the population census could not provide the frame for agriculture census; b) the difference in concepts used (population census covered individual households while agriculture census covered agriculture land holdings), which made the two activities difficult to integrate; and, c) the reference period.
123. The Commission was advised that it was possible to link the population census and agriculture census through village data collected during the population census.
124. The Commission was informed of the results of the agriculture census conducted in India through Document APCAS/04/INF10, "Agriculture Census in India". The Commission learned that: (1) the main objectives of the census in India were to study the structure of operational holdings, land utilization and to generate benchmark data for planning; (2) India had been conducting the censuses quinquennially to synchronize it with the country's five-year plan period; (3) the censuses in India were conducted on complete enumeration and sample basis in three phases, phase-I covered number of holdings and area operated and was based on complete enumeration, phase-II included items on land tenure, land use, sources of irrigation, cropping pattern and was conducted on the basis of 20 percent sample villages and phase-III was "Input Survey" which was conducted only in 7 percent sample villages; and, (4) an analysis of the time-series data of the censuses revealed that average area per holding had declined which implied that fragmentation of land was taking place. The Commission was also informed of the need for the enactment of Statistical Legislation for the collection of data under the agricultural census, the reduction in time lag between the enumeration of the census and the release of the reports.
