Pointing out deficiencies in the current system of agricultural data collection, an expert committee on Friday recommended a radical restructuring of farm statistics in a phased manner for ensuring objectivity and reliability.
The committee of experts headed by agricultural economist A Vaidyanathan, constituted in 2009, has suggested setting up of a National Crop Statistics Centre (NCSC) as the nodal agency to undertake the work in collaboration with the departments of agriculture and space.
?NCSC’s primary responsibility will be to provide reliable and timely estimates, at state and national levels, of area under major crops through complete enumeration of plots in selected sample villages and of crop yields based on properly conducted crop cutting experiments,? the committee has noted.
The expert committee, was set up to study the current system of agricultural statistics and recommend necessary improvement, has identified the deficiencies in the current system, of both area and yield estimation, arise from serious lacunae in institutional arrangements to collect, supervise and validate basic data on large scale on diverse crops.
The immediate focus, therefore, should be on putting in place an institutional arrangement that would provide reliable and timely data needed for monitoring agricultural trends and for policy making at the state and national levels, it said.
The committee, which had S P Mukherjee, chairman, Calcutta Statistical Association & UR Rao, former chairman, Space Commission as members, has also recommended the expansion of the present remote sensing programme. ?The aim is to provide reliable and validated in-season forecasts and end-season estimates of area for a wider range of crops at state and national levels, as well as comprehensive and detailed plot level data of land use and crops at village level?.
The expert committee submitted its final report to agriculture secretary, PK Basu.It had submitted its interim report in July, 2010.
The remote sensing unit will be an integral part of the NCSC and will work under the guidance of governing council. It will provide independent estimates of land use and crop area in the villages selected for NCSC?s field survey for a rigorous comparison of RS estimates with estimates based on plot wise data collected in these villages, the committee has suggested.