Daily Times

After the successful completion of 7th Population & Housing Census (1st Ever Digital Census), Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) is in the process to conduct the 7th Agricultural Census throughout the country. PBS has decided to integrate the Agricultural, Livestock, and Agricultural Machinery Censuses into one according to the best international practices and guidelines of the FAO. To initiate the process, PBS has started meetings with Partner Organizations and Provincial Stakeholders. The participation of stakeholders helped in diversified perspectives, identifying needs, and addressing the issues that may occur during the field operation of the Agricultural Census. The first provincial meeting was convened on 1st February, 2024 at Provincial Census Coordination Center (P3C), Sindh, PBS, Karachi under the chair of Dr. Naeem-uz-Zafar, Chief Census Commissioner, Pakistan, Muhammad Sarwar Gondal, Member (SS/RM), Dr. Naveed Iqbal, JACC, PBS, Dr. Hizbullah Bhutto, Director, Livestock Department, Dr. Ali Nawaz Channar, Director, Agriculture Extension, from Government of Sindh, Izat Ali Chachar, Sindh Bureau of Statistics, Mr. Munwar Ali Ghanghro, Director (Incahrge) PBS, Provincial Office, Karachi, Mr. Azizullah Bhatti, Director (DP), and Mr. Shakeel Qadeer Director (CPMU), PBS, Karachi, attended the meeting. After well come remarks by the chair, Mr. Muhammad Sarwar Gondal delivered a presentation and shared complete framework of the census. It has been highlighted that the agriculture sector contributes 23 % share in GDP and updated data on agriculture is need of the nation to plan and identify the resources that will further contribute to the maximization of the production.

PBS has planned to conduct the 7th Agricultural census with close cooperation of Provincial & District Administration by engaging the staff and using the resources of last Population Census. Two-tier training has been scheduled for the supervisors and enumerators. The plan for training and resources allocation has already been devised and shared with the house. By using the Tablets of last Population Census and by capitalizing the infrastructure, the utilization of resources will be optimized.

He said that the digitalization of all the leading censuses and surveys will ensure the transparency, accountability, and efficiency in data collection and its further dissemination for end users. All the participants from partner organizations have lauded the efforts of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics for such a great initiative of conducting the Agricultural Census after a lapse of thirteen years and have extended their full support to the national cause which will have far reaching impacts on the national economy.