Characteristics of Farmholdings in the Philippines
In 1960, the NSO started the Census of Agriculture (CA), and has been conducting the survey rounds on 10-year intervals thereafter. The CA gathers structural data and basic characteristics of farms across the country such as size of farmholdings, tenurial status, main utilization of land, types and sources of irrigation, major crops planted, livestock and poultry raised, agricultural practices and technology adoption, farm equipment and machineries used, and demographic characteristics of farm operators, among others. However, the CA Reports and the information disseminated by NSO are limited to basic and descriptive statistics only. Therefore, this research was conducted to provide a more detailed analysis of the results and findings of CA 1991 and CA 2002, by identifying major improvements in the entire Philippine agricultural sector. The assumption was that sector improvements such as in research and development, rural financing schemes, production, value-addition and market-linkaging, can be a result of policy change, introduction of new technology, shift in demands, or other factors.
This research recommended that the Department of Agriculture and the NSO combine their efforts in developing new and appropriate methodologies, in gathering pertinent data and analyzing the results, as well as in coordinating with local governments for accuracy in collecting farm information. To support policies through timely implementation of programs, the study also recommended that the two government agencies should be allocated with sufficient funding and the release must be timely. Lastly, various users of agricultural data, such as researchers, academics, and policymakers should be encouraged to do or commission more exploratory research in order to identify gaps and areas in the agriculture sector that need improvement.
Partners:
- Philippines National Statistics Office (NSO)
Date Completed: June 2012
