Ecostat

REPORT  OF 
EXPERT COMMITTEE FOR 
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS 
    JULY  2017 
        CHAIRMAN  
M.NEELAKANTAN 
Additional Director General (Retd) 
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation  New Delhi 
   
DIRECTORATE OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS 
GOVERNMENT OF KERALA

PREFACE 
 
The  India  Statistical  Strengthening  Project  (ISSP)  launched  by  t he 
Govt. of India as a follow up measure of the National Stati stical Commission 
(NSC)  chaired  by  the  Dr.C.Rangarajan  is  a  very  important  project  as  fa r  as 
the  State  Statistical  System  is  concerned.  The  object  of  the  project  is  t o 
strengthen  the  State  Statistical  System  on  the  lines  of  National  St rategic 
Statistical  Plan.  The  State  Strategic  Statistical  Plan  (SSSP)   is  expected  to 
provide a strategy for strengthening the statistical capacity across the entire  
state statistical system. 
As  per  the  guidelines  for  preparation  of  SSSP  and  implementation  of  
the plan, the state government constituted a High Level Steering  Committ ee 
under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary to Government. A core team and  
specialized  teams  were  also  constituted  for  the  successful  preparation  and 
implementation  of  the  project.  Accordingly,  the    Expert  Committee  on 
Agricultural Statistics  was setup under  my chairmanship for  reviewing t he  
methodology being followed in EARAS and other aspects  of  the Dep artment 
of    Economics  and  Statistics    in  respect  of  Agriculture  Statistics  and  
recommend suitable measures for improvement in the conduct of EARAS. 
Since the constitution of the Committee,  fifteen meetings were held in 
all  and  Committee  discussed  various  issues  faced  by  the  department. 
Meetings of the line departments and stake holders were also conducted and  
various  issues  concerning  the  process  of  data  collection  and  tabulation   of 
data  and  co-ordination  with  other  agencies  were  also  deliberated  in  d etail. 
Non availability of adequate funds was found to be a major p roblem faced by 
the  Committee  on  different  occasions.  This  impediment  delayed  DES  in 
taking up activities suggested by the Committee and completing the same in  
time. 
I  would  like  to  touch  upon  briefly  some  of  the  major  initia tives  taken 
up  by  the  Committee  after  detailed  discussions.  The  most  important  su ch 
initiative  was  the  Pilot  Study  taken  up  for  testing  the  suitabi lity  of  the 
modified  sampling  design  and  revision  of  the  existing  methodology  bein g 
followed  in  the  EARAS  by  DES.  Due  to  shortage  of  funds,  the  st udy  could 
not be taken up and completed as envisaged. However, the field work o f the 
Pilot  Study  was  later  on  completed  satisfactorily  as  also  data  ent ry  work.  
Chairman  and  two  Members,  Shri.A.Meera  Sahib  and  
Shri.M.Madhusudanan  carried  out  field  inspections  in  three  districts  to  
observe  the  conduct  of  field  work.  They  had  provided  on  the  spot  gui dance 
and important clarifications to the field staff on the correct pro cedures to be

followed  in  the  pilot  study  and  this  helped  to  complete  the  wo rk  as  per 
prescribed  instructions  and  guidelines  and  in  time.  DG,  DES  and  member  
secretary also inspected field work of pilot survey. 
The  tabulation  and  analysis  of  data  was  undertaken  by  Dr.U.C.Su d, 
Director, IASRI and member of the Committee and findings were provided t o 
the  Committee.  The  Committee  appreciated  the  gesture  on  the  part  of  
Dr.U.C.Sud  in  undertaking  this  important  work  and  it  greatly  hel ped  the 
Committee.  The  findings  of  the  Pilot  Survey  were  very  much  encouraging 
which  enabled  the  Committee  to  conclude  that  the  modifications  o f  the 
sampling  design  suggested  and  tested  in  the  field  were  acceptable.  The 
Standard Errors from the survey conducted as per the modified design were 
also  found  to  be  within  acceptable  limits.  The  Committee  therefore  has 
recommended  adoption  of  modified  sampling  design  and  procedures  for 
EARAS,  from  Agriculture  Year  2018-19,  after  DES  completes  the 
administrative  and  other  formalities  including  obtaining  clearance  from 
Government  of  Kerala  and  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  Cooperation,  
Government of India. 
As  part  of  the  work  of  the  Committee,  Chairman  and  Members  also 
undertook  a  study  tour  to  Idukki  District  to  appreciate  the  field   problems 
including  increased  workload  due  to  hilly  terrain  and  complex  nature  of  
revenue records and BTR and subsequently held a meeting of the Committee  
in Idukki district. This enabled the members to interact with  field  officers of 
the  district  and  to  get  a  first-hand  experience  of  field  situatio n  in  this  hilly 
terrain  and  consider  possible  changes  in  procedures  of  data  collection. 
Based  on  these  discussions,  the  Committee  was  convinced  that  there  is 
need  to  increase  the  manpower  resources  in  the  district  for  collection  of  
quality data under EARAS. 
Another  important  issue  critically  analyzed  by  the  Committee  was  the 
heavy  workload  of  investigators  in  EARAS.  The  Committee  observed  that  f or 
proper  implementation  of  the  scheme,  it  was  essential  to  provide  additi onal 
posts of 103 investigators which was recommended in Interim Report itself. 
The  Committee  gave  special  attention  to  discussing  the  possibility  of 
application of Remote Sensing  Technique in the area enumeration an d yield 
estimation of agriculture statistics for which a special study was carried  out 
in two districts of Alapuzha and Palakkad with the guidance  and support of 
Space  Application  Centre,  Ahmedabad.  The  estimates  made  from  the  study  
by  SAC  and  comparative  analysis  of  DES  estimates  and  those  by  MNCFC  
were  critically  examined  by  the  Committee.  Based  on  encouraging  results 
from  the  study,  the  Committee  recommended  use  of  Remote  Sensing

methodology for area estimation to start with, after carrying out t he study in 
some more districts to evolve a sound methodology for the purpose. 
The  Committee  conducted  in-depth  discussion  on  all  the  Terms  of 
References  before  arriving  at  its  detailed  findings  and  recommendations  
including  strengthening  the  technical  capability  of  staff  and  adop tion  of 
latest  technological  advancements  and  use  of  hand  held  devices  for  data  
collection. 
The  Committee  had  submitted  an  Interim  Report  to  the  Government 
in  July  2016  after  completing  deliberations  on  some  of  the  major  T erms  of 
References  like  requirement  of  additional  staff  for  timely  completion  of  f ield 
work and ensuring quality of data. However Committees’ view was that si nce 
the Government has declined to sanction these posts twice DG may take up  
the  matter  personally  again  with  the  Additional  Chief  Secretary,  pl anning 
and Economic Affairs for reconsideration of the proposal.  
I would like to take this opportunity to place on record my deep  sense 
of  appreciation  and  gratitude  to  the  eminent  members  of  the  Committee  for  
extending  to  me  their  full  support,  guidance  and  cooperation  in  th e 
deliberations  and  help  in  arriving  at  decisions  on  complex  issues.  In  
particular, my sincere thanks to Dr.U C Sud, Director, IASRI, New Del hi and 
Shri.A.K.Srivastava,  former  DDG  (Agriculture  Statistics)  NSSO,  FOD, 
Faridabad  and  currently  FAO  Consultant  who  are  two  outstand ing  experts 
in  the  country  on  Agriculture  Statistics.  The  Committee  was  therefore 
fortunate  to  have  the  benefit  of  their  expertise  in  successfully  achieving  t he 
tasks assigned to it. My sincere gratitude also to Shri.A.Meera Sahib fo rmer 
Director,  DES  who  contributed  immensely  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
meetings and tackling technical and field  problems,with his vast experi ence 
in  conduct  of  Agriculture  Statistics  Surveys  and  deep  knowledge  of  Sta te 
statistical  system  in  general.  Shri.A.K.Srivastava  and  Shri.A.Meera  Sahib  
also took pains to go through in detail the interim and final  reports, suitably 
editing the reports, fine tuning both content and presentation and  achieving 
excellence  in  work,  in  close  coordination  with  Member  Secretary  and  
Chairman. 
 My special thanks are also due to Dr.Manjunath and Shri C. Patna ik, 
Scientists  and  other  officers  of  SAC  who  attended  the  meetings  and  
extended  to  the  Committee  their  full  support  and  cooperation  in  exp loring 
the  possibility  of  adoption  of  remote  sensing  technique  for  crop  est imation 
surveys  in  Kerala  and  in  the  conduct  of  Pilot  Survey.  With  their  suppo rt, 
Kerala has also been included in the Project of Mahalonobis Natio nal Centre 
for  Crop  Forecasting  (MNCF)  for  the  first  time.  I  am  also  grateful  to  Shri

  
 
  
 
DDG,  NSSO  (FOD),  Trivandrum,  Shri.T.K.Datta,  Statistic al  Adviser, 
MOA  and  Shri.Chanderkant,  Additional  Statistical  Advi ser,  MOA  for  their 
valuable  contribution  to  the  deliberations  in  the  mee tings  of  the  Committee 
and help to resolve various issues under consideration . 
I  record  my  deep  appreciation  to  the  hard  work  rendered  by   Shri.K. 
Damodaran,  Member  Secretary  of  the  Committee  in  organiza tion  of  the 
Meetings  of  the  Committee  from  time  to  time,      preparat ion  of  agenda  notes 
and  other  papers,  providing  logistical  support  to  Co mmittee  members  and 
finally,  in  drafting  the  Interim  and  Final  Reports.  Sh ri  V.  Ramachandran 
DG,  DES  extended  excellent  support  and  cooperation  t o  the  Committee  in 
successful  completion  of  the  tasks  assigned  to  it,  a bly  assisted  by  senior 
officers  and  staff.    My  thanks  are  also  due  to  Shri.T .Gorkey  Jose,  former 
Additional  Director  and  Member  Secretary  who  also  pr ovided  very  good 
technical support to the Committee in its deliberati ons during his tenure.    
I  look forward  to acceptance  of  the  important  recomm endations  of  the 
Expert  Committee,  by  Government  for  undertaking  EARAS  w ork  more 
efficiently and to bring out lasting improvements in th e Agriculture Statistics 
System in the State in the near future.  
  
  
 
 
M.Neelakantan 
Chairman, Expert Committee 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 

CONTENTS   
Chapters
 	Topic  Page 
No. 	
 	Preface	 	i 	
 	Annexure	 	vi 	
 	List of abbreviations	 	vii	 	
 	Summary and Recommendations	 	1 	
1 	Genesis of N	ational Agriculture Statistical 	System	 	9 	
2 	India Statistical Strengthening Project	 	13	 	
3 	EARAS an Overview	 	16	 	
4 	Constitutio	n and Terms of Reference of the 	
Committee 	
20	 	
 	1st Sub Committee 	 	23	 	
 2nd	 Sub Committee 	 	23	 	
5 	Deliberations  and Major Recommendations of the 	
Expert Committee 	
25	 	
 	(1)	 	Work load  of the Investigators	 	25	 	
(2) 	 	Modification in sampling design	 	31 	
(3) 	 	New Sampling methodology	 	34	 	
(4)	 	Special Aspects 	Of Idukki District	 	35 	
(5) 	 	Methodology for fruits, vegetables and 
floriculture	 	
39 	
(6) 	 	Analysis of Data n Productivity of major crops	 	42 	
(7) 	 	Production and consumption of rice in Kerala	 	45 	
(8) 	 	Cost of cultivation Survey	 	46 	
(9) 	 	Uniform 	methodology in data Collection	 	51 	
(10) 	 Strengthening of data collection capacity 
through use of ICT  	 	
55 	
(11)	 	Method of small area and production 
estimation and possibility of remote sensing  
Application	
 	
56	 	
(12) 	 Possibility of  Generating 	Agricultural statistics 	
at disaggregated level	 	
59 	
 	(13) 	 Other relevant Items Discussed	 	59

ANNEXURE 
 
Annexure No.  Title  Page 
No. 	
Annexure -  I  Government  order  setting  up  Expert Committee  62 
Annexure – II  Improvement  of  agriculture 
statistics - Genesis  63 
Annexure 	– III	 	Expert Committee Meetings 	71 	
Annexure – IV  Estimated  Productivity  of 
Important Crops  72 
Annexure – V  Declining  Trend  in 
productivity of Rice  79 
Annexure – VI 
District  Wise  Production  and  
Consumption of Rice in Kerala  
from 2007-08 to 2012-13  94

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS   	
ADG	 	ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR GENERAL	 	
BTR	 	BASIC TAX REGISTER	 	
CCE	 	CROP CUTTING EXPERIMENT	 	
CIFRI	 	CENTRAL INLAND FISHERIES RESEARCH 
INSTITUTE 	
CSO	 	CENTRAL STATISTICAL ORGANISATION	 	
CSS	 	CENTRALLY 	SPONSORED SCHEME	 	
CWC	 	CENTRAL WATER COMMISSION	 	
DDG	 	DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL	 	
DES	 	DIRECTORATE OF ECONOMICS AND 
STATISTICS 	
DESMOA	 	DIRECTORATE OF ECONOMICS AND 
STATISTICS, MINISTRY OF  
AGRICULTURE 	
DMI	 	DIRECTORATE OF MARKETING AND 
INSPECTION 	
EARAS	 	ESTABLISHMENT OF AN AGENCY FOR 
REPORTING AGRICULTURE STATISTICS 	
FASAL	 	FORECASTING AGRICULTURE OUTPUT 
USING SPACE, AGRO-METEOROLOGY  
AND LAND BASED OBSERVATIONS 	
GCES	 	GENERAL CROP ESTIMATION SURVEY	 	
GDP	 	GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT	 	
GOI	 	GOVERNMENT OF INDIA	 	
GPS	 	GLOBAL POSITINING SYSTEM	 	
HLSC	 	HIGH LEVEL STEERING COMMITTEE	 	
IASRI	 	INDIAN AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS 
RESEARCH INSTITUTE 	
ICAR	 	INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL 
RESEARCH

ICS	 	IMPROVEMENT OF CROP STATISTICS	 	
ICT	 	INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION 
TECHNOLOGY 	
ISRO	 	INDIAN SATELITE RESEARCH 
ORGANISATION 	
ISSP	 	INDIA STATISTICAL STRENGTHENING 
PROJECT 	
KLSSSP	 	KERALA STATE STATISTICAL 
STRENGTHENING PROJECT 	
MNCFC	 	MAHALANOBIS NATIONAL CROP 
FORECASTING CENTRE 	
MOA  MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE  
MOU	 	MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING	 	
MRPC	 	MARKET RESEARCH AND PLANNING 
CELL 	
NAIS	 	NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE 
SCHEME 	
NCFC	 	NATIONAL CROP FORECASTING CENTRE	 	
NCSC	 	NATIONAL CROP STATISTICS CENTRE	 	
NSC	 	NATIONAL STATISTICAL COMMISSION	 	
NSSO	 	
(FOD) 	
NATIONAL SAMPLE SURVEY 
ORGANISATION (FIELD OPERATION  
DIVISION) 	
PPQ&S	 	PLANT PROTECTION,QUARANTINE AND 
STORAGE 	
RS	 	REMOTE SENSING	 	
SDP	 	STATISTICS FOR DECENTRALISED 
PLANNING 	
SDRT	 	SURVEY,DESIGN,RESEARCH AND 
TRAINING 	
TOR	 	TERMS OF REFERENCE	 	
TRS	 	TIMELY REPORTING SCHEME	 	
UT	 	UNION TERRITORY	 	
VFPCK	 	VEGETABLES  AND FRUITS PROMOTION 
COUNCIL OF KERALA

1 
 
 
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
  The  India  Statistical  Strengthening  Project  (ISSP)  launched  by  
the  Government  of  India  as  a  follow  up  measure  of  the  National  S tatistical 
Commission  (NSC)  is  an  important  project  towards  improvement  of  the 
entire  statistical  system  in  the  country.  As  a  sequel  to  this,  the  Sta te 
Strategic  Statistical  Plan  (SSSP)  has  been  prepared  to  provide  a  stra tegy  for 
strengthening  the  statistical  capacity  across  the  statistical  system  of  the 
states.  Kerala  State  Statistical  System  being  highly  decentralized  with  
coordinating role of  Department of Economics and Statistics, it is  necessary 
to streamline the entire system of Agriculture Statistics in the State.  
  The  present  Expert  Committee  was  constituted  by  the  
Government  of  Kerala  with  a  wider  objective  of  assessing  and  suggesting 
technical,  operational  and  administrative  improvement  in  the  present 
system  of  data  collection  through  the  ERARS  scheme  and  strengthens  the 
role  of  DES  in  respect  of  agriculture  statistics.  The  Expert  Committee  ha s 
been  asked  to  give  its  recommendations  on  12  specific  topics  under  its 
terms  of  reference.  The  Expert  Committee  attempted  to  touch  upon  these 
items by reviewing all aspects of  data collection from coverage, methodology 
and  resources  to  use  of  modern  technology  in  agriculture  statistics  system 
of  the  state  through  extensive  discussions  with  all  stake  holders.  In  i ts 
course  of  discussion  it  has  also  considered  recommendations  of  earlier 
committees  of  Government  of  India  constituted  with  similar  objectives.  T he 
Committee,  during  the  course  of  its  review  of  the  present  system,  also 
carried  out  two  pilot  studies  for  area  and  yield  estimation  in  a  f ew  districts 
by  suitably  modifying  the  sampling  design  in  respect  of  area  enumeration 
and  introducing  remote  sensing  technology  for  area  and  yield.  The  fin dings 
of both the pilot studies are encouraging so far as acceptable equal ity of the 
estimates  is  concerned.  The  Committee  has  held  detailed  deliberations  on 
the  Terms  of  References  and  has  attempted  to  provide  fruitful  answers  to  
them. The Recommendations on these TORs are listed below:  
TOR 1: Review of methodology of EARAS: 
Agriculture  Statistics  is  the  backbone  of  planning  for  agriculture 
dominated  economy.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  ensure  quality,  timeliness  
and  reliability  in  the  whole  gamut  of  agriculture  data.  Further  in   this 
technically advanced world, it is absolutely necessary to have data coll ection 
and  analysis  through  most  scientific  and  technological  tools.    Th erefore  re-
strengthening  of  the  existing  system  in  respect  of  design,  operational

2 
 
procedure  and  use  of  latest  statistical  and  scientific  tools  is  absol
utely 
necessary.    The  deficiency  in  the  current  system  of  both  area  and  yield  
estimation are not entirely due to the limitations in its sampli ng design.  The 
selection  of  sample  clusters  for  collecting  data  on  land  use  and  crop  a rea 
and  sampling  of  plots  for  crop  cutting  experiments  are  based  on  rigorous 
and  statistically  sound  principles.    But  the  sampling  frame  suffers  from  
serious  lacunae  due  to  non-availability  of  updated  land  records  as  per  BTR, 
FMB  etc.  which  make  the  data  collection  work  difficult,  time  t aking  for 
timely  completion  of  field  work    and  to  some  extent  it  even  affects  t he 
estimation  procedure.  If  the  re-surveyed  land  records  and  updated  BTR  are 
available,  accurate  and  reliable  data  can  be  generated  from  the  current 
methodology,  provided  sufficient  field  resources  are  provided.  It  is  in  thi s 
background  that  the  Committee  under  took  a  pilot  study  in five  Pa nchayats 
and  on  the  basis  of  observations  of  the  study  a  new  sampling  method ology 
was developed and suggested for implementation.    
TOR 2: Modification in sampling design:  
   The  Committee  after  considering  the  strength  and  weakness  of  the  
EARAS  sampling  design  strongly  recommends  that  updated  BTR  and 
resurveyed  records  by  the  Revenue  and  Surveying  department  needs  to  be 
provided  to  the  Economics  and  Statistics  Department  for  the  efficient  a nd 
reliable  agricultural  statistics  data  collection.  The  EARAS  design  is  largely 
suitable for data collection on crop area and yield. However in the  absence of 
un-updated  BTR,  the  post  stratification  technique  may  be  adopted   to 
overcome  the  problem.  It  is  also  felt  that  a  reduction  in  number  of  clusters 
will  be  helpful  in  efficient  field  data  collection  without  an y  loss  of  precision. 
The  results  of  pilot  study  reveal  that  sample  size  of  100  clusters  can  be 
safely reduced to 80 without any appreciable loss of quality and  reliability of 
estimate.  In  view  of  fragmented  household  holdings  prevalent  in  the  sta te, 
the household approach for agriculture statistics may not yield reliable d ata. 
TOR 3 and 7: Methodology of horticulture data collection:  
The  Committee  carried  out  a  detailed  discussion  on  the  issue  and 
concluded that at present there is no established methodology for esti mation 
of  area  and  production  of  horticulture  crops.  The  methodology  as  ado pted 
earlier  under  fruits  and  vegetable  survey  by  Government  of  India  is  under  
review  through  the  CHAMAN  project  launched  by  Ministry  of  Agriculture,

3 
 
(MOA),  in  which  use  of  Remote  Sensing  Technology  coupled  with  fi
eld  data 
collection is under experimentation in IASRI and Mahalonobis Nat ional Crop 
Forecasting  Centre  (MNCFC)  of  MOA.  A  Pilot  Survey  is  also  in  progress  to  
test  the  methodology  as  suggested  by  IASRI  in  five  states  and  the  initia l 
results  are  expected  to  be  available  shortly.  Therefore,  the  Committee 
unanimously  decided  that  it  would  be  prudent  at  this  stage  to  wa it  for  the 
completion of this study and examine the outcome thereon. 
Regarding  the  floriculture  issue  the  Committee  observed  that  at 
present there is no scientific sample study in the field of floriculture rel ating 
to its area and production but production of large quantity is b eing done by 
household cultivators for marketing purposes. The Committee recommended 
to  DES  to  conduct  a  pilot  study  of  floriculture  if  it  could  be  managed  with 
existing  resources.  Chairman  at  the  same  time,  expressed  his  anguish  that 
the  additional  103  statistical  investigator  posts  recommended  by  the  E xpert 
Committee  have  not  yet  been  sanctioned  by  the  Government.  DG  however 
agreed  to  explore  the  possibility  of  undertaking  the  study  as  suggested  by 
Chairman without affecting regular activities of DES.  
TOR  4:  Data  on  agriculture  productivity  cost  of  cultivation  a nd  farm 
price:  
While  the  methodology  of  the  survey  used  by  DES  Kerala  for  cost  of 
cultivation survey is broadly same as the one adopted by MOA, GOI, there  is 
urgent  need  for  considering  the  standard  concepts  and  definitions  used  in 
the  survey.  It  was  noticed  by  the  Committee  that  in  Kerala,  the  procedu re 
for  estimating  the  land  value  in  the  cost  of  cultivation  is  differen t  from  the 
one adopted in other states. As per the guidelines issued by MOA, the  rental 
value  of  land  is  taken  into  account,  which  is  estimated  on  the  b asis  of 
prevailing  rents  in  the  village  for  identical  type  of  land  or  as  report ed  by 
sample  farmers  subject  to  certain  ceiling  limits.  In  Kerala,  the  procedure  is  
different;  for  assessing  the  land  value,  the  interest  on  land  value  is  t aken 
into account. But interest on land value is very high in Kerala and  it pushes 
the cost upwards and due to this, the cost of cultivation estimates  are much 
higher  in  the  State  compared  to  even  states  like  Karnataka  and  TamilN adu. 
The Committee noted that the present methodology of the cost of culti vation 
survey  is  under  review  in  MOA,  GOI.  Therefore,  the  Committee  felt  it  
prudent  to  examine  the  issue  in  detail  based  on  the  guidelines  issued  b y 
MOA  and  in  consultation  with  all  stake  holders  in  the  state  in cluding 
Planning  Board  and  Department  of  Agriculture  and  take  a  final  ca ll  on  this

4 
 
important  issue.  As  per  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  the  Ministry  
of Agriculture, New Delhi made a comparative study of the figures of Cen
tral 
and  State  in  respect  of  cost  of  cultivation  and  production  of  paddy  and 
coconut.  On  the  basis  of  the  observation  of  this  study,  the  Commit tee 
suggested  to  follow  a  uniform  procedure  in  the  estimation  of  cost  of 
cultivation survey and to consider rental value of land instead of I nterest on 
land while estimating cost of cultivation. 
TOR 5: Uniformity in data collection by different agencies:  
The  data  collection  and  compilation  of  other  commodities  by  differen t 
departments  as  per  the  methodology  decided  by  them  but  without  formal  
concurrence  of  the  nodal  agency,  DES  and  without  adopting  proper 
statistical  techniques  cannot  be  continued  any  longer.  For  such  data 
collection in future, DES, being the nodal agency for agriculture stat istics in 
the state, it is incumbent on the part of DES to provide all tech nical support 
and  guidance  to  them  and  if  possible  manpower  to  all  data  collect ing 
agencies.  It  is  emphasized  again  that  data  collection  by  all  agencies  sh ould 
be  under  the  technical  guidance  and  the  support  of  the  DES.  Wherever 
necessary,  the  administrative  formalities  for  this  purpose  should  be 
completed  quickly  and  the  new  system  should  be  put  in  place  without   any 
further delay. 
TOR 6:  Use of ICT tools in data collection:   
The  DES  is  presently  having  minimum  ICT  infrastructure  and  a  web 
site  host  in  the  state  data  centre.  The  Committee  is  of  the  view  that  
extensive  use  of  the  ICT  technology  for  strengthening  the  statistical  system  
in Kerala is need of  the day.  This includes updating the computin g facilities 
at  Head  Quarters  and  District  Offices,  Taluk  Offices  and  establishin g  web 
enabled  online  data  sharing  between  DES  and  each  line  department.   A 
portal  with  web  based  data  storage  and  online  data  transmission  f acilities 
needs  to  be  established  which  will  be  hosted  in  a  State  Data  Cen tre  owned 
by the Government of Kerala. The portal shall be accessed by the users and 
the  beneficiaries  through  a  dedicated  and  reliable  Wide  Area  Network. 
Further,  up  gradation  of  computer  skill  of  the  existing      employees  for  
efficient use of latest ICT tools, networking  and use of hand h eld devices for 
data  collection  is  absolutely  necessary  by  imparting  them  intensive  training  
in reputed institutions.    
  Immediate  attention  should  be  given  to  provide  PDA/IPAD/Mini  Tab  
to  field  functionaries  for  data  collection  and  onward  transmission   of  the 
collected data to districts and State Head Quarters.

5 
 
  The  Committee  noted  with  satisfaction  the  following  developments  
were speeded up in DES in the recent past as per directions from it:   
Distribution  of  140  laptops  to  Taluk  statistical  offices  in  a
ddition  to  two 
computers  each,  development  of  software  for  data  entry  and  data  
transmission  and  also  establishment  of  work  stations  at  3  Taluks,  two 
Android  smart  phones  were  supplied  to  collect  data  from  the  field  and  
onward  transmission  of  data  in  connection  with  vegetable  survey,  ful ly 
equipped networking system in all Taluk offices etc are some of the act ivities 
carried  out  under  ICT.    Moreover,  DES  decided  to  use  Mobile  Application  
Software  in  the  field  of  agricultural  data  collection  with  th e  technical 
support  of  IASRI,  New  Delhi.  The  Committee  appreciated  the  gesture  of 
IASRI  to  supply  the  mobile  application  software  free  of  cost  an d  to  impart 
the necessary training to DES officials. 
TOR 8: Methodology for small area and production estimation:-  
With  the  introduction  of  decentralized  planning,  the  need  for  loca l 
level  data  on  agriculture  crops  and  fruits  and  vegetables  has  been  
emphasized  by  Planning  Board  in  various  meetings  of  the  Committee.  The 
Committee  discussed  this  important  issue  in  detail  and  endorsed  the 
suggestion  and  tried  to  modify  the  EARAS  design  to  meet  this  requirement. 
The  Pilot  Survey  launched,  among  other  things,  would  also  address  thi s 
issue.  After  detailed  examination  of  the  existing  staff  resources  under 
EARAS in DES, the workload and estimated time required for complet ing the 
field  work  and  for  collection  of  quality  data,  Committee  noted  that  the  staff 
resources are required to be increased. It emphasized the need for providing 
qualified  and  trained  statistical  personnel  at  each  and  every  local  body  for 
collection  of  data  and  monitoring  of  field  to  provide  data  at   local  level.    This 
can  be  achieved  by  creating  a  minimum  of  103  additional  statistica l  posts 
and  deploying  field  resources  suitably  in  District,  Taluk,  Block  and  
Panchayat  level.  Therefore,  the  Committee  strongly  reiterates  its  earlier 
recommendation for creation of additional 103 statistical investigato r posts. 
TOR 9:- Reduction of workload of Investigators   
 In  order  to  reduce  the  work  load  of  the  primary  workers  and  suggest 
modification  in  the  existing  methodology  of  EARAS,  a  pilot  st udy  was 
conducted  in  5  Panchayats  in  five  districts  in  the  state.  On  the  ba sis  of 
observations  of  the  pilot  study,  a  new  sampling  design  has  been  suggested

6 
 
by IASRI New Delhi under the supervision of Dr.U C SUD.  According 
to the 
new  sampling  methodology,  80  clusters  have  to  be  selected  instead  of  100  
clusters  as  in  the  present  methodology.  From  these  80  clusters,  select  65 
clusters  for  crop  area  enumeration.  The  80  clusters  with  key  numbers  will 
be selected without consideration of wet and dry classification. As f ar as wet 
and  dry  classification  is  concerned,  post  stratification  procedure  woul d  be 
followed  wherein  the  geographical  area  of  wet  and  dry  lands  as  observed  in 
the field by the field functionary in respect of the 80 clusters wo uld be used 
to  estimate  the  population  values.  For  estimation  of  area  under  crops,   65 
clusters  out  of  the  above  80  clusters  would  be  surveyed  for  detailed 
collection  of  area  under  different  land  use/crops.  The  Committee  observed 
that  the  new  sampling  method  will  reduce  the  workload  of  the  prima ry 
workers  without  affecting  the  efficiency  of  the  estimates.  It  is  recommended  
that  DES  may  carry  out  the  field  data  collection  of  data  as  per  the  new   
methodology  in  a  few  more  samples  in  the  three  regions  of  the  state  in  the  
ensuing season and observe   field problems if any, for further refinement o f 
the  procedure.  The  modified  sampling  design  and  methodology  may 
thereafter  be  adopted  for  implementation  from  Agriculture  Year  2018-19 
after obtaining clearance from State High Level Coordination Commit tee and 
other concerned authorities. 
TOR 10: Use of Remote Sensing in data collection:  
The  Committee  is  of  the  view  that  in  agriculture  data  collection 
specifically  for  crop  area  and  yield  estimation,  there  is  immense  scope  for  
remote sensing technology. The methodology developed by Space Application 
Centre  for  crop  forecasting  and  area  and  yield  estimation  through  satell ite 
imageries  with  limited  ground  truth  exercise,  the  operational  difficult ies  of 
large  scale  manual  field  data  collection  can  be  reduced  appreciably  and  
statistically  sound  estimate  can  be  obtained.  The  methodology  is  being  
successfully  tried  and  used  for  major  crops  in  Mahalonobis  National  Cro p 
Forecasting  Centre  of  Government  India.  The  Committee  further  discussed  
the  issue  with  officers  from  SAC  and  MNCFC  and  suggested  to  check  the 
possibility  of  using  remote  sensing  technique  in  the  yield  estimation  i n 
Kerala.  Accordingly,  two  pilot  studies  were  conducted  in  Palakkad  a nd 
Alappuzha  districts  by  using  remote  sensing  Technique.  Since  these  two 
districts have large extended cultivation, the remote sensing experiment has 
been  a  great  success  and  the  Committee  impressed  upon  Ministry  of 
Agriculture  Government  of  India  to  include  Kerala  State  under  its  FA SAL 
project for regular crop forecast on important crops.

7 
 
  Though  the  multiplicity/mixed  crops  make  the  area  enumeration  
more difficult in Kerala, the advanced remote sensing technology is proposed 
to  be  used  on  a  sample  basis  to  know  the  success  of  the  methodology  in
 
Kerala.  Two  pilot  studies  conducted  in  Palakkad  and  Alappuzha   districts 
were  a  great  success.  Though  there  were  some  variations  in  the  paddy 
estimated figures of  DES and MNCFC pilot study, the Committee decided  to 
accept the remote sensing methodology and check its application further. I n 
order  to  check  the  difference  in  both  figures,  a  senior  officer  from  MNCFC 
visited  again  in  Palakkad  and  Alappuzha  districts  to  analyze  th e  situation. 
DES  should  examine  the  results  from  their  analysis  and  take  appropriat e 
decisions  in  consultation  with  all  stake  holders  regarding  future  course  of 
action.  
TOR 11: Crop statistics at disaggregated level for crop insurance:  
  The  present  method  of  conducting  large  number  of  crop  cutting 
experiments  for  Panchayat  level  yield  estimation  results  in  incurring  huge 
non  sampling  errors.  The  GOI  is  examining  the  use  of  econometric  based 
models  and  remote  sensing  based  yield  estimation  with  moderate  crop 
cutting  experiments  to  overcome  the  problem.  While  appreciating  the  need 
for  local  level  data  for  decentralized  planning  and  other  purposes,  th e 
Committee  recommended  that  it  is  not  technically  feasible  to  estimate  dat a 
at lower level without sufficient man power. 
TOR 12: Other issues:  
(1)The  Committee  noted  that  there  is  a  wide  gap  between  production  
and  consumption  of  rice  during  last  five  years.  This  gap  is  even  wider  
between  the  districts.  So  the  Committee  strongly  recommends  taking  all 
steps  for  augmenting  production  of  rice,  including  bringing  addition al  area 
under  rice  cultivation,  simultaneously  focusing  on  steps  to  increase  the 
productivity as well.  
(2)The  Committee  discussed  the  overall  performance  of  the  State 
Statistical System and suggested to DES to review the data gaps and qu ality 
and  timeliness  of  statistics  in  respect  of  various  sectors  with  reference  to 
Rangarajan Commission Recommendations and submit its cogent proposals 
with the government for effecting overall improvement in the State Statisti cal 
System.

8 
 
(3)  In  the  context  of  effecting  improvements  in  the  system,  the 
Committee  also  recommended  to  DG  DES  to  take  major  steps  for  further  
streamlining  the  system  of  monitoring  and  coordination  of  work  wit hin  the 
DES  and  also  with  other  line  departments,  based  on  discussions  Cha irman 
had  on  27-6-2016  with  the  then  Chief  Secretary  Shri  S.M.Vijayan and  while 
presenting  the  Interim  Report  of  the  Committee.  Briefly  stated,  suggestions 
of  CS  included:  steps  for  streamlining  of  activities  of  DES  includi ng 
conducting  periodic  review  of  various  programmes,  ensure  optimum 
utilization of staff resources and make DES a vibrant body provi ding reliable 
and  timely  statistics  and  other  indicators  to  Government  for  decision 
making.  Chairman  therefore  suggested  to  DG  for  drawing  of  appropriate 
action  plans  on  various  activities  covering  EARAS  and  other  schemes  and 
programmes  and  setting  up  of  Core  Groups  of  senior  and  middle  level 
officers  within  DES,  among  others,  to  discuss  important  issues  and  tak e 
suitable  decisions  for  effective  and  successful  completion  of  the  tasks 
assigned  to  it.  Special  attention  should  be  given  to  optimum  ut ilization  of 
staff  resources,  ensuring  data  quality,  strengthening  of  the  system  of 
monitoring  of  programmes  and  surveys  through  regular  field  inspections 
and  periodic  feedback  sessions  with  district/  taluk  level  officers  and  o ther 
measures  and  also  strengthening  the  technical  capability  of  field  staff .  The 
Committee  appreciated  the  steps  taken  by  DG  in  this  regard,  in  its  meeting  
held  on  7-1-2017;  it  was  however  recommended  that  this  matter  should 
receive  utmost  priority  for  DG  and  senior  officers  of  DES  in  future  for 
bringing out overall improvement in the State Statistical System.

9 
  CHAPTER-1 
GENESIS OF NATIONAL AGRICULTURE STATISTICAL SYSTEM   
The  Agricultural  Statistical  System  has  been  subjected  to  review 
several times since independence so as to make it adaptive to contemporary  
changes in agricultural practices. Some of the important expert groups were:  
(a)  the  Technical  Committee  on  Coordination  of  Agricultural  Stat istics 
(1949), (b) the National Commission on Agriculture (1976), (c)  the High Level 
Evaluation  Committee  (1983)  (d)  the  Workshop  on  Modernization  of  the 
Statistical  System  (1998)  (e)  National  Statistical  Commission  (2 001)  and  (f) 
more  recently  the  Experts  Group  on  Agricultural  Statistics  under  the  
Chairmanship of Prof A Vaidyanathan (2009).   
1.2  The  efforts  for  improvement  of  Statistical  system  in  India  have   
continued  since  long  and  realizing  the  growing  statistical  needs  of  th e 
Society  and  to  make  sure  that  these  get  appropriately  addressed,  the 
Government  of  India  set  up  the  National  Statistical  Commission,  t he  first  of 
its  kind,  through  Resolution  No.  M/13011/3/99-Admn.  IV  dat ed  19th 
January  2000  of  the  Ministry  of  Statistics  and  Programme  Implementati on.  
Dr.  C.  Rangarajan,  The  then  Honourable  Governor  of  Andhra  Pradesh   was 
appointed  as  the  part-time  Chairman  of  the  Commission  along  with  eleven 
eminent  statisticians  and  economists  as  its  part-time  members.  The 
National  Statistical  Commission  gave  wide  ranging  recommendations  on  al l 
the  aspects  of  entire  statistical  system  in  the  country.  Recommendations  of 
NSC  are  summarized  in  Annexure  2.  In  the  year  2010,the  National 
Statistical  Commission  constituted  “  Committee  on  Agriculture  and  All ied 
Sectors”,  under  the  chairmanship  of  Prof  Y  K  Alagh  to  review  the  issues  
relating  to  Agriculture  Statistics.  The  Alagh  Committee  endorsed  the 
recommendations  of  Vaidyanathan  committee  (2009)  on  Agriculture  
statistics.   
1.3          Among  the  various  recommendations  for  the  improvement  of  the  
agricultural  statistics  system  by  various  groups,the  most  important 
recommendation  put  forward  was  by  the  Expert  Group  constituted  in  20 09 
under Dr.A.Vaidyanathan, eminent economist.   
1.4  Existing System 
1.Current  agricultural  statistics  system  in  India    relies  on  village  Patwa ries 
to  compile  plot  wise  data  on  land  wise  and  crop  wise  area  and  est imates  of 
crop  yields  based  on  crop  cutting  experiments  in  statistically  selected  
villages  and  plots.  The  present  system  is  not  providing  comprehensive, 
reliable and timely data on crop area and production.

10 
 
  
Vaidyanathan Committee	
 
1.5   Ministry of Agriculture in Government of India therefore constitut ed the 
committee  under  Dr.  A.  Vaidyanathan,  eminent  economist  with  followi ng 
objectives.  ( 1 )Review the current methodology used in TRS/EARAS/ICS/ and GCES f or 
estimating land use ,crop area , yield and production  estimates and su ggest 
institutional frame work  for improvement of  agricultural statistics;  and 
( 2 )Review  experience  of  RS  Technology  for  estimating  area  and  yield  of 
various  crops,  assess  its  potential  for  generating  reliable  and  timely  data  
and suggest measures to effectively exploit this potential.  
1.6.  The  Committee  studied  the  deficiencies  in  the  existing  system  through  
the reports of ICS scheme operated by NSSO and also did pilot stud y in field 
to observe problems of data collection.  
1.7.  The  Committee  suggested  restructuring  of  the  system  by  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.    This  objective  can  be  achieved  by  properly 
designed  and  carefully  monitored  collection  of  data  on  land  use  and   crop 
area  based  on  complete  enumeration  and  crop  yields  based  on  crop  cutting 
experiments  on  a  smaller  scale.  But  it  is  essential  that  all  the  operati ons 
involved  be  planned,  managed  and  supervised  by  a  unified,  autonomous  
and  professionally  managed  organization.  For  this  purpose  the  Committee  
recommended  setting  up  of  a  National  Crop  Statistics  Centre  (NCSC)  as  an 
autonomous,  professional  organization  in  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  of  the 
Government  of  India.  NCSC  will  be  responsible  for  ensuring  the  deficien cies 
in the working of field agencies are corrected.  
1.8  The  Committee  also  said  that  reliable  village  level  data  on  lan d  use 
and crop area are necessary for micro level planning and policy by state an d 
local  governments.    The  present  system  of  recording  these  data  must  
continue  but  steps  must  be  taken  to  bring  the  responsibility  for  collect ion 
and  supervision  under  State  Statistical  agencies  empowered  to  function 
autonomous,  professionally  managed  organizations  independent  of 
administrative  departments.    The  central  government  should  support  and 
encourage states to undertake these reforms.  
1.9  Vaidyanathan  Committee  has  also  advocated  use  of  Remote  sensing  
technology  in  crop  statistics  for  providing  independent  estimates  and  also  
helps  the  existing  system  to  run  more  efficiently  at  all  levels.    It  sai d  that

11 
 
technical  feasibility  has  been  explored  and  demonstrated  by  studies  of 
the 
National  Remote  Sensing  agency.    Its  capability  is  increasing  with  
technological advances in satellite design and sensors.  RS also could great ly 
reduce  dependence  on  human  agency  and  attendant  errors  in  collecting 
data.  However,  the  Committee  observed  that  RS  must  be  viewed  as  a 
compliment,  and  not  as  a  substitute,  for  conventional  methods  of  co llecting 
data  for  some  time  to  come.  It  also  noted  that  even  with  better  techn ology 
RS  may  not  be  able  to  provide  area  estimates  for  all  crops  and  all  regi ons. 
Therefore, adoption of RS methodology should be a gradual process sta rting 
with measures to make more effective use of existing methodology.  
Recognizing  this,  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture  has  been  working  with  IS RO 
since  1987  leading  to  the  launch  of  the  project,  in  2002,  for  F orecasting 
Agricultural  Output  Using  Space,  Agro-meteorology  and  Land  based  
observations  (FASAL).  Therefore  the  Committee  also  recommended  that  the 
present  RS  programme  should  be  expanded  and  reorganized  to  provide 
reliable  and  validated  in-season  forecasts  and  end-season  estimates  of  area  
for  a  wider  range  of crops  at  the  state  and  national  levels. It  empha sized  on 
need  for  careful  planning  of  the  configurations  of  hardware  facili ties  taking 
advantage  of  technological  advances  in  imaging  technology  as  well  as 
sensors  that  local  officials  can  use  for  recording  plot  level  land  use, 
irrigation  and  crops.  Hand  held  sensors  (GPS)  are  now  available  with  the 
capability  to  identify  lat-long  coordinate,  and  the  nature  of,   and  the  area 
under,  land  use,  irrigation  status  and  crops  grown  on  each  plot  i n  the 
cadastral  map.    They  can  greatly  reduce  the  effort  required  to  collect  the 
basic data at the village level, improve its accuracy and get them transmitted  
to  a  central  data  network.    We  recommend  that  such  sensors  should  be 
used for village level data collection.  
1.10. Present status of implementation of Recommendations.  
Vaidyanathan  Committee  submitted  its  report  in  the  year  2012.  The  
Planning Commission and Ministry of Agriculture Government  of India a fter 
long  technical  discussions  on  the  findings  and  recommendations  of  the 
committee  have  decided  to  carry  out  pilot  studies  in  5  states,  Assam, 
Gujarat,  Karnataka,  Orissa  and  UP,  under  the  supervision  of  IASRI ,  ICAR. 
Main objectives of the Pilot survey are:  
i)  To  develop  the  sampling  methodology  for  estimation  of  State-wi se  crop 
area and crop yields for major food grain crops, 
ii) To test the adequacy of sample size at different stages of sample select ion,

12 
 
iii)  To  explore  the  feasibility  of  using  personal  digital  assistan
t  (PDA)  and 
global  positioning  system  (GPS)  device  in  data  collection  work  in  sel ected 
Tehsils,  
and  iv)  to  carry  out  statistical  comparison  of  data  collected  thro ugh  paper  
and  computer  assisted  personnel  interview  (PAPI  and  CAPI)in  selected  
Tehsils. 
The  field  work  of  the  survey  in  the  pilot  study  is  assigned  to  mostly 
non-revenue  staff  as  suggested  by  the  Committee.  At  present  the  field  work 
of  crop  area  enumeration  according  to  the  existing  methodology  of  TRS  a nd 
crop  cutting  experiments  using  the  methodology  of  GCES  is  in  progress  in 
the  assigned  states  through  different  agencies  other  than  revenue  staff.  The 
sample size for the pilot study is in accordance with the recommendations o f 
the  committee.  The  data  for  two  crop  seasons  are  being  collected  which  wi ll 
be  processed  to  obtain  area  and  yield  of  important  crops  with  reduced 
sample size and control of non-sampling errors. The report is expected to be  
available by 31-8-2017.

13 
  CHAPTER-2  
INDIA STATISTICAL STRENGTHENING PROJECT 
 	
India  Statistical  Strengthening  Project  (ISSP)  is  a  comprehensive 	
project  designed  to  strengthen  State  statistical  systems  by  way  of  providing 
adequate  technical  and  financial  support  to  improve  their  statistica l 
capacity  and  infrastructure  for  collecting,  compiling  and  disseminating 
reliable  official  statistics  for  policy  planning  purposes  particularly at  the 
State  and  Sub-State  levels.  ISSP  was  formulated  as  a  sequel  to  th e 
recommendations  made  by  the  National  Statistical  Commission    (NSC) 
headed  by  Dr.  C.  Rangarajan  and  constituted  for  effecting  necessary 
improvements  in  the  Indian  Statistical  System.  The  said  Commission  had 
inter-alia  comprehensively  considered  various  important  issues  and 
requirements  for  the  strengthening  of  the  State  Statistical  System  in  the 
Country.   
  2.2 The participating States/UTs in the Project are required to prepare 
State  Strategic  Statistical  Plans  (SSSPs)  outlining  the  vision, development 
plan  and  implementation  strategies  for  the  respective  State/UT.  The  Stat e’s 
Specific Strategic Plan was prepared on the line of NSSP. The Stat e Strategic 
Statistical  Plan(SSSP)  is  expected  to  provide  a  state  with  a  stra tegy  for 
strengthening   statistical capacity across the entire State Statistical S ystem. 
  2.3. The Government of Kerala has signed the letter of participati on on 
7 th
  May  2008  and  as  per  the  guide  line  for  the  preparation  of  SSSP  an d 
Implementation  of  the  plan.  The  state  government  has  also  constitut ed  a 
High  Level  Steering  Committee  under  the  chairman  ship  of  Chief  Secretary  
to  government,  and  a  Project  Management  Team,  Core  team,  Special  Teams 
and  appointed  two  consultants  for  the  successful  preparation  of  th e  SSSP. 
The SSSP was finalized through wider consultation with all t he stakeholders 
including  service  organizations.  The  SSSP  thus  finalized  was  approved  b y 
the  PMT  in  the  meeting  held  on  28-02-2011  and  finally  approved   by  the 
HLSC in the meeting held on 31-03-2011.  
 
  2.4.The project is primarily aimed at supporting the implementation of  
the vision of the Indian Statistical System to provide within it s decentralized 
structure;  reliable,    timely  and  credible  economic  and  social  statistics    t o 
assist  decision  making  within  and  outside  the  government,  stimulate 
research  and  promote  informed  data  base    relating  to  condition  affecting

14 
 
coordination of statistical activities within the state  as also
 to assist the line 
department  and    data  providing  agencies  to  improve  the  quality  and  
coverage    of  data  being  collected  and  promote  their  use  at  the  state  ,dist rict 
and  local  level  administration.  Thus  in  Kerala  twenty  Key  statisti cal 
activities  have  also  been  identified  and  national  minimum  standards  have 
been  defined.  Crop  statistics  is  an  important  activity  covered  in  ISSP . 
Besides  the  twenty  key  areas,  state  government  has  identified  seven  key 
emerging area Statistical Activities.  
2.5 The list of key activities is as under:  1. State Domestic Product Estimates 
2. Estimates of Capital Formation and Savings 
3. Estimates of District Domestic Product 
4. Estimates on contributions of Local Bodies 
5. Data on Major Fiscal Variables 
6. Annual Survey on Industries  
7. Index on Industrial Production  
8. Crop Area and Production Statistics  
9. Wholesale PRICE Index  
10. Consumer PRICE index  
11. Health Morbidity. And Family Welfare Statistics  
12. Education and Literary Statistics  
12A. Statistics on Education Statistics  
12. B. School Enrollment Area  
13. Labour and Employment Statistics  13. A. Labour Statistics 
13. B. Employment Statistics  
14. Housing Statistics  
15. Birth and Death Registration Statistics 
16. Electricity production and Distribution Statistics 
17. Environment and Forestry Statistics. 
17A. Forestry Statistics 
17. B. Water Supply and Sanitation Statistics 
18. Participation in survey of the National Sample Survey  
      Organization 
19. Transport Statistics. 
19A. Motor vehicle Registration Statistics 
19B. Road Statistics. 
19C.Traffic Accident Statistics 
19D.Passenger transport statistics 
20. Statistics for Local Area Planning.

15 
 
  
Besides  these  twenty  key  areas,  state  government  has  identified  the    
following key emerging area Statistical Activities also.  
1. Gender Statistics. 
2. Human Development Statistics 
3. Banking Statistics 
4. Unorganized sector Statistics. 
5. Poverty Statistics. 
6. Service Sector Statistics. 
7. Non Residents Keralites (NRK) Statistics   2.6  By  realizing  the  strategies  and  goals,  a  well-structured  and 
effective  implementation  plan  has  been  designed  for  their  meticulous 
execution. Important among them are:   	
1.	 	State 	Statistical Commission	 	
2.	 	Technical Advisory Committees and Expert Committees. This includes:	 	
 	(a)	 	Expert Committee on Agricultural Statistics	 	
 	(b)	 	Expert Committee on Prices and Price Indices	 	
 	(c)	 	Expert Committee on Compilation of State Accounts.	 	
3.	 	User Consultations	 	
4.	 	Strengthening of Statistical Co	-ordination	 	
5.	 	Integration of Man power planning with Designing and planning o f    	 	
Surveys. 	
6.	 	Creating Physical Infrastructure	 	
7.	 	Computer and Communication Technology integration	 	
8.	 	Creating 	positive image in Official Statistics	 	
9.	 	Engendering official Statistics	 	
10.	 	Cadre Structure and personal Management	 	
11.	 	Intensive training and training Institute	 	
12.	 	Restructuring and Empowering of DES	 	
 
2.7.  Each  department  is  responsible  for  statistics  relating  to  their 
specific  subject  areas  while  co-ordination  role  rests  with  the  Directorate  o f 
Economics  and  Statistics.  It  is  also  required  to  provide  technical  ad vice  on 
statistical  activities  to  other  departments  of  the  state.  The  state  Off icial 
statistical system is an integral part of the National statistical  system and is 
largely guided by the latter. In April 2009, the Department of Eco nomics and 
Statistics  was  declared  as  the  Nodal  Agency  for  all  statistical  matt ers  in  the 
state  including  inter-alia  co-ordination  of  statistical  activities  of  various  line 
departments.

16 
  CHAPTER-3 
EARAS AN OVERVIEW  
One  of  the  major  activities  of  the  Department  is  the  collection  of 
Agricultural  Statistics.  The  Agriculture  Statistics  System  is  very  
comprehensive  and  provides  data  on  a  wide  range  of  topics  such  as  crop 
area  and  production,  land  use,  irrigation,  land  holdings,  agricu lture  prices 
and market intelligence, livestock, fisheries, forestry etc. Areas being covered 
by the department in the collection of Agriculture Statistics are:  
1. Crops statistics (EARAS scheme & ICS Scheme) 
2. Advance/Forecast estimate of crops  
3. Cost of cultivation  
4. Price statistics 
5. Agriculture census  
6. Wages of Agricultural laborers 
3.2.  Agricultural  Statistics  is  being  collected  by  the  department 
through the scheme of EARAS. The sampling frame used for the selection  of 
samples  for  EARAS  is  the  Basic  Tax  Register  (BTR.)  This  is  defective  due  to 
large  conversion  of  wet  land  to  dry  land  and  which  is  not  reflected  in  the 
BTR.  There  are  serious  problems  in  identification  of  survey  numbers  and  in  
particular 10acres of land in each cluster.    
  3.3.  The  Major  weakness  of  the  statistical  system  of  Kerala  has  been  
the  absence  of  a  clear  vision      and  the  related  mission.  The  vision  of  the 
state  is  to  equip  the  statistical  system  for  timely  dissemination  of  ad equate, 
reliable and credible statistics on economics social and environment aspects 
at  all  required  levels  of  disaggregation  within  its  decentralized  structu re  so 
as  to  enable  objective  decision  making  within  and  outside  the  go vernment, 
stimulate research and promote informed debate on all aspects affecting t he 
life of people.  	
 
  3.4.  The  strategy  for  achieving  the  above  vision  the  department  has  
the following strategic goals.  
1.  Sustained  improvement  of  adequacy,  relevance,  reliability  and  timelin ess 
of official statistics.

17 
 
2. Up scaling of data dissemination system.  
3. Computer and communication technology integration system. 
4. Creating Positive Public Image of official statistics.  
5. Engendering statistical system.  
6. Statistical capacity building at all levels. 
7. Statistical product enhancement.  
Present System	
 
  3.5.  Agricultural  Statistics  is  being  collected  by  the  department  
through the scheme of EARAS. The sampling frame used for the selection  of 
samples for EARAS is BTR and the limitation of sampling frame has a lready 
been discussed in para 3.2.   
  3.6. At present 100 clusters having an area of 10 acre each is selected  
in  an  Investigator  zone  for  data  collection.  But  the  area  covered  in  the 
sample  for  area  enumeration  is  much  below  the  optimum  sample  size  of 
20percentage  required  for  keeping  sampling  error  within  reasonable  limit. 
So  the  appeal  of  the  field  workers  to  limit  the  cluster  area  to  5  a cre  in  a 
cluster is not advisable and therefore not recommended.  
  3.7.  Identification  of  these  100  Key  plots  and  forming  clusters  by  
adding  at  least  five  survey  sub-division  numbers  each  in  each  cluster  with  
an  area  of  10  acre  and  yield  estimation  of  different  crops  from  these  100 
clusters  are  the  duty  assigned  to  the  Investigators.  Regarding  the  yield  
estimation  of  different  crops,  50  crop  cutting  experiments  have  to  be  
conducted  by  an  investigator.  Crop  wise  details  of  CC  experiments  plann ed 
are  -paddy  4x3  seasons  =12,  (2)  coconut  3,(3)  Areca  nut  2,  (4)  Cashew  2  (5) 
pepper  2  (6)Mango  2,  (7)  Tapioca  2,  (8)  Banana  3,  (9)  Pla ntain  2,  (10)Ginger 
2,(11)  Turmeric  2,(12)Tamarind  2,  (13)Cocoa  2,  (14)  Nutmug  
2,(15)Drumstick  2  (16)  Sugarcane  2,  (17)Betel  Leave  2,  (18)  Jack  2,(19) 
Sesamum 2.  For conducting these 50 crops cutting experiments, at least 5 0 
days  are  absolutely  necessary.  More  over  for  conducting  crop  cutting  
experiment,  frequent  visit  in  the  crop  cutting  plot  is  also  required.   Besides 
this  crop  cutting  experiments,  an  investigator  is  also  liable  to  do  crop  
cutting  experiment  for  crop  insurance  purpose.  The  crops  coming  under  
crop  insurance  are  Banana  Plantain,  Tapioca  and  Paddy.  Minimum  si xteen 
crop cutting should be conducted at block level for insurance purpose.

18 
 
         3.8  For  conducting  a  crop  cutting  experiment  on  coconut, 
an 
investigator has to visit five or six times with the selected cultivator b ecause 
a  cultivator  plucks  coconuts  five  or  six  times  in  a  year.  Normally  an  
investigator  has  to  select  three  coconut  cultivators  having  at  least  five 
bearing  coconut  trees  per  cultivator  for  crop  cutting  experiment.  For  paddy  
crop  cutting  experiment  minimum  three  visits  are  absolutely  necessary  ie.  
One visit at plot selection, second at pre-harvest details collection an d finally 
at  harvest  stage.  An  investigator  has  to  conduct  total  four  paddy  crop  
cutting  experiments  from  the  different  part  of  the  investigator  zone  in  o ne 
season  from  randomly  selected  four  cultivators.  Thus  for  three  seasons  an  
investigator  has  to  conduct  12  crop  cutting  experiments  (3x4=12).  If  the 
Investigator  zone  consists  of  two  or  more  panchayats  four  crop  cuttings  
should  be  conducted  from  each  panchayat.  Thus  the  work  load  of  t he 
Investigator  will  increase  in  accordance  with  the  number  of  panchayats  
come under the investigator zone.  
  3.9.  Conversion  of  wet  land  for  commercial  and  other  purpose  was  a  
frequent phenomenon in the recent past. All land even though it is rep orted 
as  wet  within  the  BTR,  which  are  not  used  as  wet  land  or  could   not  be 
converted  to  wet  land  should  be  treated  as  dry  land  for  the  purpose  o f 
agricultural data collection.   
  3.10.  Under  the  scheme  EARAS,  collection  of  data  for  estimating  area 
and  yield  statistics  for  every  agriculture  year  was  by  way  of  complete  
enumeration of villages of the state in a phased manner covering 20% of  the 
selected  village  in  each  year.  During  1993-94  the  Investigator  Zones  were  
organized  by  replacing  the  village  to  Panchayats.  From  2000-2001  onwa rds 
the part Panchayat was discontinued and each investigator zone was f ormed 
with  full  panchayat/panchayats.  Cluster  sampling  method  is  being  f ollowed 
in  EARAS  scheme  in  order  to  obtain  representation  from  the  entire  area  o f 
the  investigator  zone.  By  using  this  cluster  sampling  method,  block  level  
data is generated.  
  3.11.  With  the  introduction  of  Crop Insurance  Scheme  in  the  stat e  by 
the  Government  of  India,  block  level  data  on  area  and  production  have 
become inevitable.

19 
 
System design of EARAS	
 
  3.12.  Under  the  present  system,  the  state  is  divided  into  811  
investigator  zones  and  a  multistage  stratified  random  sampling  method  is 
followed  within  the  survey.  The  CD  Block/city  Corporation  and 
Municipalities  are  treated  as  stratum.  Municipalities  with  an  area  of  less 
than  10sq.kms  are  merged  with  the  adjoining  Blocks  and  treated  as 
investigator zone. The blocks are divided into a number of investigator zo nes 
depending  on  the  area  and  nature  of  land.  City/Corporation  is  d ivided  in  to 
three investigator zones. Municipalities with an area of more than 10sq. kms 
are treated as a single investigator zone.   
  3.13. In each investigator zone, 100 survey/ sub division numbers are  
selected  randomly  from  Basic  Tax  Register  (BTR)  in  each  agriculture  year 
and  these  are  the  Key  survey  numbers  for  cluster  formation  in  the 
investigator zone. Two identical plots of same category may be selected from 
left  and  right  sides  of  the  key  plot  and  form  a  cluster  consists  of  mi nimum 
five plots. The area of these 5 plots is expected to have of 10acres.If  there is 
a short fall of 10 acres even after taking of 5 plots, the short f all will be filled 
by  taking  the  adjoining  plots  of  the  left  and  right  plots  in  an  anti-clock 
direction.    A  cluster  should  have  minimum  of  10  acres  of  land  and  a  zone 
have 100 clusters. Thus a zone have minimum of 1000 acres of land for a rea 
enumeration and for yield estimation.     
  3.14.  The  work  of  an  investigator  in  the  zone  is  quite  high.  T he  BRT 
kept  in  the  village  office  is  used  as  the  frame  of  EARAS  is  not  updated  and 
the conversion of quite large wet land into non agriculture use. The  wet land 
area  therefore  is  not  correctly  reflected  in  the  multiplier  and  makes  
estimation  erroneous.  All  these  necessitated  the  revamping  of  the  current  
system.

20 
  CHAPTER-4 
CONSTITUTION AND TERMS OF REFERENCE OF EXPERT  COMMITTEE 
The  High  Level  Committee  held  on  10-5-2012  under  then  Chairman 
ship  of  Hon’ble  Vice  Chairman,  State  Planning  Board  opined  th at  the 
method  followed  in  sample  surveys  are  out  dated  and  completely  changed  
due  to  the  outdated  Basic  Tax  Register.  The  Committee  also  opined  th at 
there  are  implementation  problems  in  the  department  of  economics  and 
statistics  due  to  the  heavy  workload  of  the  investigators.  Hence  the 
Committee  decided  to  constitute  an  Expert  Committee  to  study  the 
shortcomings of the present system and recommend measures to correct the 
deficiencies.  More  over  for  the  implementation  of  the  state  strategic 
statistical  plan,  the  government  have  instructed  to  constitute  Technical  
Advisory  Committees  and  Expert  Committees  (para  5.2,  5.2.1  of  KLSSP  
document)  
  4.2.  Accordingly,  as  per  the  GO  (RT).No.210/12/plg  dated  
08/06/2012  (Annexure  I),  an  Expert  Committee      has  been  constitut ed 
under  the  Chairmanship  of  Sri.M.  Neelakantan,  ADG(Rtd)  NSSO  
Government of India, MOSPI with the following members to critically  analyze 
the  methodology  being  followed  in  the  EARAS  scheme  and  suggest  suita ble 
changes  in  the  sampling  design  and  methodology  and  other  matters  of  
Agriculture Statistics.  
4.3.Expert Committee:	
 
1.  Sri.  M.  Neelakantan,  Additional  Director  General,  
NSSO (Retired).  Chairman 	
2. 
Additional  Director  (Price),  Department  of  Economics  
and Statistics, Kerala.  Member 
Secretary 
3.  Sri. V.J.Iyer, Deputy Director General, NSSO (Rtd).  Member 
4.  Deputy Director General, NSSO (FOD), Kerala.  ,, 
5.  Deputy  Director  General  (AS),  FOD,  NSSO,  
Faridabad, New Delhi. 
,, 
6. Director, Department of Agriculture,  
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. 
,,

21 
 
7.  Chief of Agriculture, State Planning Board, Kerala.  ,, 	
8. 
The Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation,  
Government of India. 
,, 
9.  The Director, Space Application Centre, Ahamadabad.	 	,, 	
10. The  Director,  IASRI,  Ministry  of  Agriculture,  New  
Delhi. 
,, 
11. The  Director,  Department  of  Economics  and  
Statistics, Kerala.  ,, 
12. 
The  Joint  Director  (EARAS),  Department  of  
Economics and Statistics, Kerala.  ,, 
  
4.4.  Following are the terms of reference of the Expert Committee: 
1. To examine critically the methodology of EARAS scheme being follo
wed by 
the  Department  in  terms  of  timeliness,  reliability,  credibility  and  adeq uacy. 
Also  to  recommend  measures  to  correct  the  deficiencies  and  revamp  the  
EARAS  Scheme  to  generate  timely  agricultural  statistics  for  the  purpose  of  
policy decision and planning in agriculture sector.  
2. Recommend suitable changes in the sampling design and methodology for  
EARAS including:-  
(i)Unit of sampling frame from survey numbers to households 
(ii)Ways  and  means  of  updating  of  existing  Basic  tax  Register  (BTR )  in  the 
context of wet and dry lands. 
(iii).Possibility  of  considering  each  Panchayats  an  investigator  zone  
depending upon their proportionate area.  
3.  To  examine  the  methodology  for  the  collection  of  data  on  horti cultural 
and floricultural crops. 
4.To  examine  the  existing  data  base  on  Agriculture  Productivity,  Cost   of 
Cultivation  and  Farm  Price  and  suggest  suitable  framework  for  data  
collection under the scheme EARAS.  
5. To suggest suitable methodology for bringing uniformity in the data  being 
collected by different agencies.

22 
 
6. To examine the possibility of introducing Information and C
ommunication 
Technology in the data collection process from field.  
7.  To  provide  a  suitable  methodology  for  estimating  the  production  o f  minor 
crops, fruits and vegetables. 
8.  To  examine  a  suitable  methodology  for  small  area  and  production  
estimation.  
9.  To  examine  the  possibility  of  maintaining  the  quality  of  da ta  by  reducing 
the  workload  of  the  primary  workers  as  per  the  recommendations  of  
National Statistical Commission.  
10.  Find  the  possibility  of  Remote  Sensing  Application  in  the  col lection  of 
data on agriculture sector. 
11.  To  examine  the  possibility  of  generating  agriculture  statistics  at  
disaggregated  level  i.e.,  Panchayat  or  ward  level  based  on  the  data  need  f or 
the effective implementation of National Crop Insurance Scheme.  
12.Any other relevant item under EARAS. 
           4.5.  During  the  period  under  report,  unfortunately,  th e  Committee 
member  Shri.V  J.  IYAR,  Deputy  Director  General  NSSO  (Rtd)  has  passed  
away. Further, Committee member and Joint Director of EARAS Sri.V.Bal an, 
Additional  Director  (Prices)  and  Member  Secretary  of  the  Expert  Committee   
Sri.T.Gorkey  Jose,  have  retired  from  service  on  November  2013  &  April 
2015, respectively.  
  4.6. In the first meeting of the Expert Committee held on 21-11-2 012, 
it  was  decided  to  invite  Sri.A.Meera  Sahib  the  former  Director  of  DES  a s  a 
Special invitee in place of late Sri.V.J.Iyyar. Committee also decided  to invite 
Sri  T.K.Dutta,  Adviser  (CS)  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  co-operatio n, 
Government  of  India  as  a  special  Invitee  to  the  2 nd
  Sub  Committee  in  the 
2 nd
meeting. Sri.A.K.Srivastava, one of the prominent members of  the Expert 
Committee  retired  during  this  period  and  the  Expert  Committee  decided  to  
include him as a full-fledged member in the EC and utilize his experti se.  
  4.7.  In  the  Expert  Committee  meeting  held  on  13-7-15  it  was  decided  
to  invite  Smt.E.  Baby  Director  (SDP)  and  Dr.V.Sureshkumar,  Director  
(SDRT)  the  two  newly  appointed  directors  under  KLSSSP  project  to   the 
Committee meetings in future. Sri.K.Damodaran Joint Director, EARAS n ow 
working as the Joint Director of Technical Co-ordination has tak en charge of  
the  member  secretary  of  the  Committee  on  20-7-2015  and 
Sri.N.Ramakrishnan  has  taken  charge  of  the    Joint  Director  EARA S  & 
member of the Expert Committee on 29-02-2016.

23 
 
  
Sub Committees 
4.8.   In order to give concentrated attention on the tasks given  to the 
Committee  with  large  number  of  terms  of  references  and  complete  its 
recommendations  on  time  bound  manner,  two  Sub  Committees  were 
constituted based on the directions of the Chairman as follows. 
1st Sub Committee:	
 
Chairman:  Dr. U.C. Sud, Director, IASRI, Govt.of India   
Members  a. Sri. A.K  Srivastava, DDG,(Rtd) NSSO,FOD,Faridabad      
b.Sri. K.R. Manjunath,Head, Crop Inventory & Agro Eco-System    
c.Dr. P. Rajasekharan, Agriculture Chief ,State Planning Board    
d.Sri.SubrataDhar, DDG,NSSO,Kerala         
e.Director of Agriculture    
f.Sri. A. Meera Sahib, Former Director DES,Kerala        
g.Sri. T. GorkeyJose,Additional Director,DES,Kerala  
   	
 	
Specific aspects to be studied and recommendations to be made by  the 
first sub Committees  	
 
4.9 All matters relating to sampling design and methodology includi ng 
sampling  frame  and  procedures  of  selection  and  other  technical  issues, 
adoption  of  small  area  techniques,  effective  use  of  BTR,  ways  and  means  of 
use  of  remote  sensing  technique  etc.  (Terms  of  References  of  the  Committee 
at Sl. Nos. 1-3, 7,8,10 and 11.)    2 nd
 Sub Committee:  
 	
Chairman: 
Sri. M. Neelakantan  
Members  a.   Sri A.K.Srivastava,DDG,NSSO(FOD )Faridabad    
b.  Sri. S. Dhar DDG NSSO Thiruvanathapuram     
  c.  Sri.A. MeeraSahib,Former Director DES    d.  Adviser, Minsitry of Agriculture, New Delhi. 
e.  Sri. V. Ramachandran,Director General DES     
f.  Sri. T. Gorkey Jose, Additional Director DES(prices)     
g.  Dr.P. Rajasekharan, Chief (Agriculture), State Planning Board.   
Kerala 
h.  Sri. R. Balan, Joint Director, Dept. of Economics & Statist ics

24 
 
Specific Areas to be covered by the second sub Committee
 
4.10  To  examine  the  work  load  of  investigators,  staff  position, 
information and communication technology, agriculture productivity, cost  of 
cultivation  studies,  uniformity  in  data  collection  etc.  and  other  areas  of 
improvement. (Rest of the Terms of References of the Committee)     
Expert Committee meetings  
4.11  Expert  Committee  both  main  and  Sub  Committees  together 
conducted  15  sittings  in  all.  The  details  of  Committee  sittings  are  appended 
in the annexure-III.

25 
  CHAPTER -5 
DELIBERATIONS AND MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS OF EXPERT 
COMMITTEE 
 
DES  and  for  other  aspects  in  respect  of  agriculture  statistics 
mentioned in TOR, the Committee critically examined the following issu es in 
detail  and  decided  upon  taking  up  activities  on  each  by  way  of  
understanding  the  field  problems,  initiating  pilot  studies,  discussio n  on 
methodologies  of  data  collection,  analysis  of  past  data  and  ap plication  of 
latest technologies. 
  1.  Requirement  of  additional  staff  to  meet  the  increase  in  the  wo rkload  of 
primary  workers  and  supervisory  staffs  for  EARAS  and  to  generate  
Agriculture statistics at local level 
  2.  Modification  in  statistical  design  of  EARAS  for  area  and  yi eld  estimation 
in  the  light  of  the  field  problems  as  reported  and  observed  through  IC S 
scheme  of  Government  of  India.  The  committee  suggested  conduct  of  pilot  
study  for  arriving  at  appropriate  recommendations  for  improvement  of  
EARAS.  
3.  Application  of  Remote  Sensing  Methodology  for  crop  area  estimation  
based  on  study  by  Space  Application  Centre  Officers  in  Palakkad  a nd 
Alappuzha districts.  
4. Analysis of data on productivity of paddy in Kerala.  
5.  Cost  of  cultivation  survey-comparison  of  methodology  followed  by  the 
DES and Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.  
6.  Discussion  on  the  methodology  of  data  collection  for  other  agricul ture 
commodities  by  different  organizations  and  the  role  of  DES  to  reorient  the 
present methodology to make it statistically sound and ensure that th e data 
collection is without any bias.   
7.   Strengthening the capacity of field staff through initiatives  in the area of 
ICT, Networking, Software development etc.  
5.2. Work load of the Investigators- (TOR-1) 
  5.2.1  The  Expert  Committee’s  first  terms  of  reference  was  to  examine  
critically  the  methodology  of  EARAS  Scheme  being  followed  by  the 
Department  in  terms  of  timeliness,  reliability,  credibility  and  adequacy  a nd 
to  recommend  measures  to  correct  the  deficiencies  and  revamp  the  EARAS

26 
 
Scheme  to  generate  timely  agricultural  statistics  for  the  purpose  of  policy  
decision and planning in agriculture sector.  
  5.2.2.  The  Committee  went  through  this  subject  and  noted  that  
agricultural  statistics  of  Kerala  was  collected  through  the  land  util
ization 
surveys  conducted  every  year  by  the  department  till  1975-76.  The  area, 
Production,  Yield  and  Yield  rate  of  various  agricultural  crops  and   land 
utilization  etc  were  estimated  on  the  basis  of  the  data  collected  th rough  the 
land  utilization  surveys.  But  the  estimates  prepared  at  Taluk/District   level 
were  not  considered  satisfactory  on  account  of  small  sample  size  and 
coverage  and  quality  aspects.  At  this  juncture,  the  Government  of  India  
sponsored  the  scheme  of  EARAS  in  three  permanently  settled  states  of 
Kerala,  Orissa  and  West  Bengal  as  a  variant  to  the  TRS  Implemented  in  
other  states.  There  are  811  Investigators  representing  811  Zones  to  collect 
agricultural  statistics  from  1046  local  bodies(earlier  it  was  1053)  G rama 
Panchayats  including  municipalities  and  corporations(3  investigators  in  one 
corporation).The  basic  frame  for  EAEAS  data  collection  is  the  Basic  tax 
Register maintained by the Revenue Department.  
  5.2.3.  The  Committee  deliberated  in  detail  about  the  ESRAS  syst em 
and  observed  that  there  is  no  such  serious  problem  in  the  present  
methodology but there are problems related to non-updating of the basi c tax 
register  by  the  Revenue  Department.  The  problem  is  with  the  frame  used 
and  estimation  procedure  followed  in  the  EARAS  scheme.  Now  Basic  Ta x 
Register  kept  in  the  village  office  is  being  used  as  a  frame  for  selecting  10 0 
clusters  in  each  investigator  zone.    Out  of  these  100  clusters,  the  numbers 
of  wet  and  dry  clusters  are  re-allocated  in  a  Panchayat  in  proportio n  to  wet 
and  dry  land  area  of  the  Panchayat.    As  BTRs  are  not  updated  regul arly  as 
and when changes take place in the area of wet land due to conversio n, this 
is  getting  reflected  in  the  multiplier  .The  multiplier  used  for  area  
enumeration is: 
Total area of the panchayath (D+W)  
--------------------------------------------  
Enumerated area of the panchayath (D+W) 
  5.2.4.  Here,  the  Dry/Wet  area  of  the  Panchayat  is  taken  from  the  
corresponding BTR  and the actual enumerated area of the  Dry /Wet land i s 
collected  by  the  investigator  from  the  field.    But  actual  dry/wet  area  o f  the 
Panchayat  taken  from  the  BTR  is  not  correct  and  hence  the  estimates  of  
area are affected which is the limitation of the existing sampling desi gn.

27 
 
 
  5.2.5.  An  investigator  zone  under  EARAS  Scheme  covers  one  or  more  
Panchayats in some districts. An investigator get 200 working days in  a year 
after  deducting  holidays,  leave  days  etc  and  considering  the  days  he  has  to  
be  in  the  office  for  office  duties  and  other  assignments  like  preparatio n  of 
progress  report  and  other  related  tasks.    In  these  200  working  days,  on e 
investigator  has  to  visit  100  clusters  of  wet  and  dry  plots  (wet-3  visi ts,  dry-
two  visits).    All  seasonal  crops  have  to  be  enumerated  by  the  investigator  in 
the  first  and  second  visit  in  the  wet  land  and  first  visit  of  the  dry  land,  and 
all  seasonal,  annual  and  perennial  crops  have  to  be  enumerated  and 
counted  by  the  investigator  during  the  second  visit.  It  is  very  difficult  to 
complete  one  cluster  per  day  in  hill  terrain  like  Idukki  and  Wayanad 
districts  and  districts  where  resurvey  records  are  not  available  for 
enumeration purpose. Another important work of the investigator at th e field 
is yield estimation.  One investigator has to conduct total of 50  crop cutting 
experiments.(The  number  of  crop  cutting  experiment  on  each  crop  are  :-1) 
paddy  4x3  seasons  =12,  (2)  coconut  3,(3)  Arecanut  2,  (4)  Cashew   2  (5) 
pepper  2  (6)Mango  2,  (7)  Tapioca  2,  (8)  Banana  3,  (9)  Pla ntain  2,  (10)Ginger 
2,(11)  Turmeric  2,(12)Tamarind  2,  (13)Cocoa  2,  (14)  Nutmug 
2,(15)Drumstick  2  (16)  Sugarcane  2,  (17)Betel  Leave  2,  (18)  Jack  2,(19) 
Sesamum 2.  For conducting these 50 crops cutting experiments, at least 5 0 
days  are  absolutely  necessary.  More  over  for  conducting  crop  cutting 
experiment,  frequent  visit  in  the  crop  cutting  plot  is  also  required.   Besides 
this  crop  cutting  experiments,  an  investigator  is  also  liable  to  do  crop  
cutting  experiment  for  crop  insurance  purpose.  The  crops  coming  under 
crop  insurance  are  Banana  Plantain,  Tapioca  and  Paddy.  Minimum  si xteen 
crop  cutting  should be  conducted  at  block  level  for  insurance  purpose.  This 
is  in  addition  to  the  above  stated  normal  crop  cuttings.  Therefore  t he   
workload of the investigator is due to:-  
1. Conducting three visits in the wet land  
2. Enumerating all seasonal crops in all three seasons  
3. Conducting more crop cutting experiments.   
  5.2.6.  In  addition  to  the  above  situation,  with  the  73 rd
  and  74 th
 
amendment  of  the  constitution  by  the  enactment  of  the  Panchayat  Raj  
Nagarapalika  Bills,  the  need  for  local  level  statistics  has  aroused.   The 
collection  of  local  level  statistics  is  not  possible  in  the  present  set   up  by 
utilizing  the  service  of  the  existing  field  staff.  If  one  investigator  is  posted  in 
one  local  body,  local  level  statistics  of  the  concerned  local  body  ca n  be 
collected by utilizing their service.

28 
 
  5.2.7.Besides  the  811  posts  sanctioned  under  EARAS  scheme    for   
doing  the  field  work  of  the  sample  survey,  additional  242  number  of
 
investigator  posts  are  required    for  the  collecting  data  from  all  local 
bodies.(978  Grama  Panchayats+60Municipalities+5corportions(3postsin 
each  corporation))That  is  1053-811(existing  strength)=242.(now  to tal  GP 
comes  1046)  Apart  from  that  if  an  investigator  is  attached  to  a  l ocal  body, 
the investigator can do the work of the Data Manager in the  respective l ocal 
body.  Moreover  the  investigator  can  collect  local  level  data  pertaining  t o 
other sectors of the local body.  
  5.2.8.  Local  level  statistics  is  most  essential  for  the  successive  
implementation of the decentralized planning. Action has been tak en to post 
one  statistical  investigator  in  each  local  body  as  a  data  manager  by  using 
the service of the existing staff of the department.    
  5.2.9.  As  per  the  report  of  the  Vaidyanathan  Committee,there  are  3  
permanently  settled  states  in  which  the  department  of  economics  and 
statistics collects the data on agricultural statistics   through the f ield staffs 
qualified  in  statistics  and  sample  surveys    and  in  the  remaining  state    the 
department  of  revenue  is  responsible  for    conducting  survey    through  their 
staffs.  The  data  quality  of  these  three  states      is  much  better in  compa rison 
with  other  states.  He  has  therefore  recommended      other  states  to  follow 
EARAS  Model.  In  his  opinion,  there  are  serious        operational  prob lems  in 
the conduct of the TRS as reported by NSSO through its ICS Scheme.  
  5.2.10. Observing the above facts, the Committee find that the entri es 
in  the  BTR  are  not  getting  updated  regularly  which  affects  the  sampli ng 
frame  and  subsequent  procedures,  formation  and  selection  of  cluster  and  
key  plots.  The  Committee  assessed  the  EARAS  system  in  Kerala  and  found 
that  the  survey  design  in  EARAS  in  Kerala  is  unique  and  entirely  d ifferent 
from other EARAS states. The Committee noted that the system prevaili ng in 
Kerala is definitely better one compared to other states. The Committee al so 
observed  that  the  DES  staff  has  been  under  taking  the  work  as  best  as  
possible in the given circumstances with the documents available.  
  5.2.11.  The  Committee  however  felt  that  the  EARAS  scheme  needs  
closer  scrutiny  with  regard  to  the  limitations  of  sampling  design  due  to   use 
of  un-updated  sampling  frame  and  also  operational  problems  faced  b y  the 
field staff in the conduct of the survey.   
  5.2.12.  The  Committee  critically  analyzed  the  above  scenario  and  
came  to  the  conclusion  that  considering  the  heavy  work  load  in  the 
investigator  zones  having  wet  land  area  of  3000acres  and  above,  additi onal

29 
 
103  statistical  investigator  posts  are  absolutely  necessary  for  this  
department  for  realistic  data  collection  and  balanced  field  operatio
ns.  
Creation  of  103  additional  posts  will  be  more  effective  to  the  d ecentralized 
planning  process  of  the  local  self-government  as  well  as  the  State 
Government. These posts should be 51 Statistical Investigator grade 1 post s 
and 52 Statistical Investigator grade 2 posts.   
  5.2.13.  The  distribution  of  the  proposed  103  additional  st atistical 
investigator  posts  to  the  districts  was  suggested  by  the  Committee  in  the 
following  manner  keeping  in  view  the  estimated  workload  and  all  o ther 
relevant factors: 	
Name of District 	Total no.of 	
Zone 	
No.of zones 	
having 
morethan 
3000Acre of 
wet land 	
No.of 	
additional 	
Zones 
required 	
No. of additional 
posts required 	
Trivandrum  61	 	0 	0 	0 	
Kollam  52	 	0 	0 	0 	
Pathanamthitta  38	 	2 	2 	2 	
Alappuzha  44	 	19	 	19	 	19	 	
Kottayam  58	 	10	 	10	 	10	 	
Idukky  38	 	0 	0 	0 	
Ernakulam  66	 	13	 	13	 	13	 	
Trissur  73	 	14	 	14	 	14	 	
Palakkad  87	 	28	 	28	 	28	 	
Malappuram  81	 	5 	5 	5 	
Kozhikkode  56	 	1 	1 	1 	
Wayanad  3	 	3 	3 	3 	
Kannur  71	 	4 	4 	4 	
Kasaragode  50	 	4 	4 	4 	
TOTAL  811	 	103	 	103	 	103	 	
  
  5.2.14.  According  to  DG  DES,  the  additional  expenditure  expect ed  by 
creating  these  additional  103  posts  is  Rs  3.66  crores  per  annum.    T he 
Committee  recommended  that  Government  of  Kerala  may  take  up  with  the  
Union  Government,  Ministry  of  Agriculture  the  proposal  to  create  the 
additional  posts  of  103  Investigators  under  the  EARAS  Scheme  if  t he 
additional  expenditure  in  this  regard  cannot  be  met  by  the  Stat e 
Government  in  view  of  shortage  of  resources.  As  has  already  been  stated 
earlier,  the  EARAS  Scheme  was  originally  sanctioned  by  Government  of 
India, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation.

30 
 
Recommendation	
 
  5.2.15.  Considering  the  work  load  of  the  investigators  and  the  
essentiality of the additional hands to carry out the current field  situation in 
a  balanced  manner,  this  Committee  strongly  recommended  creating 
additional  103  posts  of  statistical  investigators.  Committee  was  co nvinced 
that  these  103  posts  of  statistical  investigators  are  very  essential  to  t his 
department  for  effective  field  operations  and  for  decentralized  planni ng 
process  of  the  local  self-government  as  well  as  the  State  Government.  A 
detailed  proposal  for  the  creation  of  103  posts  was  submitted  to  the 
government  on  23/09/2014&13/04/2015  as  per  Letter  No.EARAS 
/KSSSP/29514/DES,  and  after  intimating  the  refusal  of  the  said   proposal 
from  the  government  due  to  financial  stringency,  again  a  detailed  proposa l 
was submitted as per the direction of the Expert Committee on 25/03 /2017. 
As stated in para 5.2.14 Government of Kerala may be requested to tak e up 
with the Union Ministry of Agriculture the proposal for creation of  these 103 
additional posts of investigators to meet the increased workload.  
  5.2.16.  After  due  thoughts  and  consideration  by  Experts,  the  
Committee  came  to  the  conclusion  that  in  India  in  the  National  Sample 
Surveys  covering  Agriculture  Statistics  sector  (TRS  and  ICS),  area  and 
production estimates are arrived at based on revenue records and not based 
on  household  approach  taking  into  account  the  clear  advantages  of   such  a 
system  and  the  merits  of  this  system  have  been  well  recognised.  As  for 
EARAS,  the  best  sampling  frame  is  use  of  an  updated  BTR  and  what   is 
required  is  periodic  updating  of  the  same  by  revenue  authorities  and  in 
Committee’s  view  there  is  no  need  to  experiment  with  farmers  approach. 
This  would  also  ensure  quality  of  agriculture  statistics.  So  all  eff orts  should 
be  made  to  use  updated  BTR  for  the  survey.  Updated  BTR  may  be  made  
available to the field staff of the DES. Action to speed u p the digitalization of 
BTR by the revenue department may be taken in a war foot manner.  
  5.2.17.  The  Committee  therefore  recommends  continuation  of  the  
existing  practice  in  case  of  unit  of  sampling.    Chairman  suggested  DES   to 
write  to  the  government  to  advice  Revenue  Department  suitably  for 
providing  updated  BTR  and  resurvey  records  for  the  smooth  conduct  of  the  
EARAS  survey.  Accordingly  two  letters  -No  EARAS/KSSSP/29514/DES  
dated.18/2/17  and  24/3/17were  forwarded  to  the  government  for  quick  
favourable action.

31 
 
  
5.3. Modification in sampling design. (TOR-2)
 
5.3.1. The Second Terms of Reference of the Expert Committee was to 
recommend  suitable  changes  in  the  sampling  design  and  methodology  for  
EARAS 
5.3.2.  Field  issues  and  related  problems  of  EARAS  as  already 
explained in the previous paras, speak of field reality and probl ems faced by 
the  investigators.  In  order  to  reduce  the  work  load  and  resolve  the  issue  of  
un-updated  frame,  the  Committee  suggested  for  conducting  a  pilot  stud y  in 
five  panchayats  in  five  districts  in  the  state  in  which  a  modified   sampling 
procedure may be used.   
  5.3.3.  It  was  suggested  that  instead  of  taking  100  clusters    in  
proportion to wet and dry Area, take 80  clusters  randomly without  wet and 
dry  classification.  After  enumeration,  wet  and  dry  area  can  be  disseminated  
by post stratification based on the field observations and this wi ll reflect the 
real  situation.  Pilot  study  aims  at  testing  the  feasibility  of  th e  proposed 
changes in sampling design.  
  5.3.4.  The  selected  districts  in  this  regard  are  Kasaragode,Wayanad,  
Ernakulam,  Alappuzha,  and  Idukki.  The  criteria  for  selection  of  district  are 
different.  It  will  be  one  zone  consisting  of  two  Panchayats,  or  pa rt  of  the 
Panchayat  or  one  municipality,  or  one  corporation  or  a  zone  of  a  hilly 
district.   The coverage of pilot study is restricted to one season only  as pilot 
study  is  related  to  area  part  only  and  not  for  getting  yield  estimates.  It   was 
decided to start the pilot study in July 2015 and complete the wo rk within 3 
months.  
  5.3.5. There was shortage of adequate funds in the KLSSSP  proj ect to 
conduct the pilot study during 2014-15, and hence the pilot stu dy could not 
be started at the prescribed time schedule. Subsequently after the placing of  
sufficient  funds  in  the  year  2015-16,  the  pilot  study  was  taken  up  in  5 
districts on 17/08/2015.   
  5.3.6  There  was  unexpected  delay  in  the  field  work  at  Idukki, 
Alppuzha  and  Ernakulam  districts  due  to  non-availability  of  retired  hands 
who  were  given  the  field  work.  As  apprehended,  the  field  functionari es  were 
not  available  in  these  districts.  One  field  functionary  left  the  f ield  work  in 
between  in  Alappuzha  district.  For  Idukki  district  double  the  h onorarium 
had to be paid for the field work since no field worker could b e found to take

32 
 
up  the  venture  in  this  hilly  district  with  the  recommendation  of  th
e 
Committee. All these created problems in completing the field work in time.    
  5.3.7.  The  Chairman  of  Expert  Committee  Sri.  M.  Neelakantan,  an d 
members  Sri.A.Meera  Sahib,  Former  Director  DES  and  Sri.  
M.Madhusudanan, DDG, NSSO, undertook field inspection in three  different 
districts and provided on the spot guidance and instructions to fiel d staff to 
resolve  filed  problems.  Besides,  Shri.V.Ramachandran,  DG  and  Sri.  K. 
Damodaran,  Joint  Director,  DES  also  conducted  field  inspection  o f  the  pilot 
study.  Field  inspection  was  also  done  by  Deputy  Directors,  Additio nal 
District Officers, Taluk Statistical Officers and Statistical Insp ectors thereby 
covering  all  districts.  This  helped  in  successful  completion  of  field  wo rk. 
During the field inspection paddy crop was generally not found culti vated in 
the  sample  Panchayats  selected  for  pilot  survey.  This  was  a  limitation  i n 
data analysis.  
  5.3.8 The Pilot study was planned in one Panchayat each of  5 selected 
districts.  Among  the  5  Panchayats  selected,  4  Panchayats  used  the  BTR  
kept  in  the  village  as  the  frame  for  the  survey  and  details  of  crop  in   the 
survey subdivision wise were collected for area and yield estimation whereas 
in  one  Panchayat  of  Idukki  District  due  to  operational  issues,  household 
survey  data  was  collected.  As  such  the  data  of  4  Panchayat  only  could   be 
processed  for  wet  and  dry  area  estimates  using  equal  probability  without  
replacement  sampling  design  as  well  as  the  theory  of  domain  estimation. 
The data collected in the pilot study in 4 Panchayat were analyzed  at Indian 
Agricultural  Statistics  Research  Institute  (IASRI)  under  the  supervision   of 
Expert Group member Dr.U.C.Sud Director, IASRI, New Delhi.  
  5.3.9.  While  scrutinizing  the  data  collected  in  pilot  study  it  was 
noticed  that  in  a  few  sub  survey  numbers  wet  and  dry  area  both  was 
reported.  In  such  cases,  the  minor  proportion  of  the  wet  /dry  land  wa s 
neglected and the sample was considered for the major type of land.   
  5.3.10    The  estimates  obtained  by  domain  estimation  approach  u sing 
a  sample  of  80  clusters  using  overall  multipliers  give  encouraging  results  in 
terms  of  the  Percentage  standard  errors  (SE)  of  estimates  except  for  one 
Panchayat  where  percentage  SE  obtained  is  as  high  as  19.22  for  wet  area 
cluster.  In  all  other  cases  percentage  SE  is  less  than  10.  The  result  of  th e 
pilot  study  in  terms  of  multiplier,  estimated  total  wet  and  dry  area   and 
percentage  standard  error  for  wet  and  dry  area  in  each  Panchayat  is 
presented in the following tables.

33 
 
 
 
Table 1 Gram Panchayat wise estimates of wet and dry land areas  along with their Percentage Standard Errors 	
 
Domain 	
Est_total 	Est_%SE 	
Kasaragod 	
Wet 	873248.60 	6.37 	
Dry 	576675.90 	7.48 	
Wayanad 	
Wet 	263197.80 	8.22 	
Dry 	620038.10 	4.62 	
Ernakulam 	
Wet 	18387.92 	19.21 	
Dry 	624586.30 	2.88 	
Alapuzha 	
Wet 	67742.90 	12.72 	
Dry 	459166.5 	2.80 	
 
  
5.3.11. In the second phase of analysis of data of pilot stud y, the crop 
wise  area  collected  in  a  sample  of  65  clusters  out  of  the  80  was  used  t o 
estimate the crop area of important crops. The results are presented below. 	
 
Table 2 Gram Panchayat wise estimates and percentage standard errors  
of area under major crops for wet and dry land areas  	
Crop 
Name 	
Alappuzha 	Kasargode 	
Estimates	 	Estimated % SE 	Estimates	 	Estimated % SE	 	
Wet 		ˆiY	  Dry 			ˆiX	  Wet  Dry 
Wet 		ˆiY	  Dry 			ˆiX	 Wet  Dry 	
Coconut 
24815.78	 	104597.52	 	4.069	 	1.508	 	260008.20	 	124389.74	 	2.417	 	3.352	 	
Arecanut	 	16210.21	 	5795.54	 	0.558	 	1.78	 	5471.02	 	3758.32	 	4.648	 	5.950	 	
Cashew  358.43	 	2981.95	 	18.223	 	3.093	 	812.19	 	2347.52	 	16.186	 	9.275	 	
Pepper 713.71	 	3460.44	 	7.928	 	2.382	 	352.54	 	1332.325	 	13.865	 	9.319	 	
Jack 4312.02	 	16669.97	 	4.637	 	1.635	 	6728.15	 	6264.49	 	3.953	 	5.074	 	
Mango 5640.07	 	28416.71	 	4.553	 	1.567	 	16210.21	 	8190.87	 	3.541	 	4.819

34 
 
   	
Crop 
Name 	
Wayanad 	Ernakulum  	
Estimates	 	Estimated % 	
SE 	
Estimates	 	Estimated % 	
SE	 	
Wet 		ˆiY	  Dry 			ˆiX	 
Wet  Dry 
Wet 		ˆiY	  Dry 			ˆiX	 Wet  Dry 	
Coconut 
8847.55  74350.87	 	9.039	 	1.611	 	 	145471.60	 	 	0.2669	 	
Arecanut	 	37656.83  61120.16	 	5.510	 	1.540	 	 	7733.62	 	 	0.3604	 	
Cashew 214.74  2934.61	 	66.068	 	5.083	 	 	483.95	 	 	3.1941	 	
Pepper 2782.19  52431.2416	 	15.092	 	1.760	 	 	2172.33	 	 	0.5315	 	
Jack 2748.56  120133.65	 	15.355	 	1.493	 	 	14599.61	 	 	0.3594	 	
Mango 2117.14  62816.69	 	12.552	 	1.487	 	 	28753.97	 	 	0.3036	 	
Rubber   NIL  42281.64  NIL  4.703  NIL  NIL  NIL  NIL 
 
5.3.12.  Based  on  the  pilot  study,  estimates  with  acceptable  level  of  
standard  errors  of  crop  area  estimates,  IASRI  has  suggested  the  new  
sampling methodology under EARAS using double sampling approach.  
The new Sampling Methodology 
  5.3.13.  The  new  sampling  methodology  proposed  to  adopt  post  
stratification  technique  for  estimation  of  area  under  wet  and  dry  clu sters  in 
the  investigator  zone  by  selecting  a  larger  sample  in  the  procedure  of  
selection  of  cluster  while  a  smaller  sample  is  used  for  estimation  of  area 
under  major  crops  and  its  standard  error.  The  sample  size  too  has  been 
proposed  to  be  suitably  reduced  in  both  the  phases  to  ensure  quality  d ata 
collection.   
  5.3.14.  The  cluster  sampling  adopted  in  EARAS  required  formation   of 
clusters  such  that  around  10  acre  area  is  covered  in  each  cluster.  In  doing

35 
 
so,  quite  often  the  constituent  plots  of  the  cluster  are  made  of  a  gro
up  of 
many  sub  divisions  /  sub  survey  numbers.  The  area  under  the  different  
crops  in  each  5  constituent  plot  is  used  for  estimation  instead  of  su b 
division wise crop area. In order to reduce the work load without  any loss of 
precision,  double  sampling  approach  has  been  used.  While  multiplier  for  
crop  estimation  is  obtained  using  cultivated  area  of  80  clusters,  for  cro p 
wise area estimation, a reduced sample of around 65 clusters are considered  
and crop area recorded in the constituent plots have been used.  
Estimation procedure  
  
  5.3.15.  It  is  proposed  to  select  the  sample  within  an  investigat or 
zone/Gram  Panchayat  in  two-phases  for  the  estimation  of  crop  area  at  the 
level  of  investigator  zone.  In  the  first  phase  (larger  sample,  say,  80  clust ers) 
is  to  be  selected  by  Simple  Random  Sampling  Without  Replacement  
(SRSWOR)  design.  In  the  first  phase,  data  are  to  be  collected  on  t he  wet 
area/dry  area.  The  second  phase  sample  (smaller  sample,  say,  65/60 
clusters)  is  to  be  selected  from  the  already  selected  first  phase  sample  also 
by  SRSWOR  design  for  enumeration  of  crop  area  in  each  of  the  constitu ent 
plot.  
Special Aspects of Idukki District.	
 
5.3.16. The new sampling methodology is based on the analysis of th e 
pilot  study  results  of  four  districts.  Data  from  the  Idukki  district   is  not 
amenable to the procedures used in the analysis as a different approach  has 
been  followed  for  sample  selection  of  survey/subdivision  /plots  in  the  ca se 
of  Idukki  district  which  is  based  on  the  cultivators  list  and  it   is  therefore 
different  from  the  standard  procedure  of  sample  selection  in  EARAS.  In  
order  to  analyze  the  actual  field  situation  of  Idukki  district  the  Expert 
Committee  members  conducted  field  study  in  Idukki.    For  comparing  the  
field situation of Idukki with other districts, Committee members visi ted two 
adjacent  villages  namely  Kothamangalam  and  Neriamangalam  village  offices  
of Ernakulam district.

36 
   
   Expert Committee meeting at Munnar,  Idukki held on 23/2/2017 
Specific features of Idukki District   5.3.17.  There  are  52  Grama  Panchayats  and  2  Municipalities.    Out   of 
these  three  panchayats  -  Munnar,  Devikulam  &  Edamalakudy  are  excluded  
from  EARAS  survey,  because  these  three  Panchayats,  are  mainly  of 
plantations. The remaining 49 Grama Panchayaths and 2 municipa lities are 
divided  into  38  investigator  zones.  There  are  65  villages  and  out  of  these  35 
villages  are  re-surveyed  and  the  Block  Maps  and  FMBs  are  available  in  the 
concerned  village  offices  for  EARAS  work.  But  in  the  remaining  30  vi llages 
re-survey  work  has  not  yet  completed  where  litho  maps  or  FMBs  are  not 
available.    
Present practice:  
5.3.18.  In  Idukki  district,  mainly  two  types  of  methodologies  are 
followed for EARAS survey.  First one is for the fully re-surveyed investi gator 
zones,  and  the  second  for  the  not  resurveyed  and  the  partially  re-surveyed 
zones.  
1.Fully Re-surveyed 18  investigator zones: 
In  these  18  investigator  zones,  as  the  usual  method  is  being  followed , 
Basic Tax Registers are used as frame for Key plot selection. The investigator  
serially  lists  the  survey  sub  divisions  in  ascending  order.  Then  by  using 
circular  systematic  random  sampling  method,  they  select  100  key  plots  for 
cluster  formation.  In  these  100  key  plots,  the  number  of  wet  and  dry  k ey

37 
 
plots  would  be  pre  decided  according  to  the  area  proportion.  Then  wi
th  the 
help of Block Maps and FMBs the investigator forms clusters as usual.  
2. Not fully Re-surveyed  20 investigator zones: 
 In this category, generally 2 situations are seen. 
(a) Partially resurveyed Zones-- 12 nos. 
  (b) Not yet resurveyed Zones-- 8 nos.  
    In  these  investigator  zones,  new  or  old  BTRs  are  used  according  to  availability. In these villages some survey nos. are minor circuits (Area mo re 
than 20 acres).  These minor circuits are divided into cultivator wise p arcels 
with  the  help  of    Thandaper  Register     and  accordingly  sample  selection  is 
done.  New  BTR’s  are  used  in  case  of  resurveyed  villages  whereas  modified 
old BTR’s are used in non resurveyed villages. 
    Committee also found area under minor circuit varies from 20 acres to  even more than thirty thousand acres. Therefore the field staff faces serious 
field  problems  particularly  in  travel  for  data  collection.  Further  in   some 
cases,  a      single  subdivision  in  a  survey  no.  with  a  minor  circuit  has  huge 
area  extending  to  even  38000  acres,  which  is  spread  into  6  Panchayats.   So 
one can imagine the very heavy unmanageable workload in such cases. 
    Therefore,  the  field  staff  has  to  list  sometimes  even  more  than  10  thousand  cultivators  initially,  using  Thandaper  Register  and  updat e  them 
annually. All these call for special treatment in Idukki district , both in terms 
of procedures and additional manpower to cope with the workload.  
             During  discussions,  the  District  officials  also  appri sed  the  Committee 
that  there  is  no  chance  of  Government  Purampoke  land  being  included  in  
the  sampling  frame  for  selection  of  Key  plots  and  therefore  it  is  not  pa rt  of 
the  universe.  So  the  Committee  viewed  that  this  practice  is  technically 
sound  and  could  continue  until  such  land  attains  legal  ownersh ip  with 
assignment  of  Pattas  by  Government  which  is  learnt  to  be  an  ongoing  
process.     
Recommendations. 
 5.3.19. As discussed above, it was observed that there is no chance of  
Govt. Purampokku being included in the frame of selecting the key plot s and 
hence  not  the  part  of  the  universe.  In  such  a  situation,  the  Commit tee 
recommends  that  if  following  thumb  rule  viz  considering  only  the  land  
coming  under  the  village  records  except  Government  purampokku  in  BTR, 
there  may  not  be  any  confusion.  If  so,  only  land  except  Govt.purampo kku 
will  form  the  frame  under  EARAS.  As  and  when  part  of  Govt.  pura mpokku 
land  attains  legal  ownership  and  patta  assigned  by  the  Govt,  they  will

38 
 
automatically  come  under  BTR  as  well  as  EARAS  frame.  When  the  
investigators  revise  the  BTR  annually  he/she  can  include  it  in  the  list 
of 
plots  and  the  change  in  the  total  area  as  well.  So  the  Commi ttee  observed 
that  the  EARAS  Survey  is  limited  to  area  coming  under  BTR  land  excep t 
Govt.purampokku. The Investigators should take utmost care in forming t he 
cluster  limited  to  the  BTR  area.  So,  the  question  of  inclusion  of   Govt. 
purampokku  does  not  arise  at  present.  During  the  deliberations  with   the 
district  functionaries,  the  Committee  also  learnt  that  area  under  culti vation 
of different crops in such Govt.purampokku is rather negligible compared t o 
the total area of the district. If a key plot happened to be  coming in the side 
of  the  minor  circuit  (example  south  west  corner)there  is  chance  to  consider 
the  Govt.purampokku  for  the  formation  of  cluster  as  side  plots.  That 
eventuality  should  be  carefully  handled  by  rejecting  such  side  plots  from 
Govt.purampokku  and  consider  the  other  side    and  up  or  down  plot s 
adjacent  to  key  plot.(Usually  this  is  practiced  when  the  side  plot  is  coming 
on river side, road side ,side of the plantations, side of the forest  etc .  
   5.3.20.  The  Committee  observed  that  the  exclusion  of 
Govt.purampokku  from  the  frame  of  EARAS  survey  will  not  affect  the 
estimation  procedure.  The  Committee  further  observed  that  the  inclusion  of  
Govt.purampokku  will  create  identification  problems  in  the  field  a nd  it  is 
better to include this type of land on completion of resurvey work. 	
5.3.21. 	The  Committee  also  recommends  that  there  is  adequate 	
justification  for  providing  additional  resources  of  field  investigators  taking 
into  account  the  difficult  topography,  extra  travel  time  and  survey  ti me 
required  for  them  to  complete  the  work  in  time  and  with  the  desired  quality 
of  data.  Committee  also  noted  in  this  context  that  the  problem found  in 
Idukki  district  is  not  an  isolated  one.  It  is  found  in  difficult  terrain  of  the 
hilly  tracks  and  Western  Ghat  areas.  Even  special  consideration  is  given  in  
Central  NSS  programmes  in  view  of  difficult  field  conditions.  Further,  the 
present  composition  of  IV  Zones  may  also  be  reviewed  considering  the  huge 
area  of  Panchayats  justifying  formation  of  additional  IV  Zones in  the  State 
as  a  whole  to  keep  the  workload  in  an  IV  Zone  under  control.  DG  may 
therefore  take  suitable  action  urgently  on  these  two  recommendations  as 
well. 	  
   5.3.22.  The  Committee  further  observed  that  an  area  of  20  metre  
width  land  around  the  forest  lying  in  between  the  forest  land  and   revenue 
land  is  being  cultivated  by  the  farmers.  This  land  has  no  legal  ow nership 
and  this  is  considered  as  “non  man  land”.  The  details  of  this  la nd,  its  area, 
and  cultivation  are  not  recorded  in  the  village  record  or  anywhere.  Thi s  can

39 
 
be  seen  throughout  the  forest  boarders  of  Kerala  in  Western  Ghats.  At  
present  this  is  not  coming  under  the  BTR  regime.  The  Committee  observed 
that  this  has  also  to  be  treated  as  Govt.purampokku  land  and 
when  it 
attains  legal  title  and  include  in  the  revenue  records  with  maps  or 
identifiable  drawings  these  area  can  also  brought  under  the  command  o f 
EARAS. If Govt. decides to have the data on the land described ab ove as non 
man  land  DES  propose  a  separated  study  after  formulating  a  suitabl e 
methodology  ,separate  from  EARAS.  This  will  help  to  report  the  area  a nd 
crops,  and    can  arrive  at  the  total  area  and  production  of  the  district 
concerned.  This  can  be  done  for  all  Govt.purampokku  land  including  ‘No 
man land’ 
5.3.24.  With  regard  to  the  area  coming  under  Aerodrome,  Army  camp 
Canal,  Back  waters  etc  from  the  frame  and  further  estimation  process, 
Committee  observed  that  the  post  stratification  method  in  the  new  design  
shall take care of it.  
5.3.25.  Since  the  modified  sampling  design  and  procedure  are 
superior  to  the  existing  one  in  use,  on  the  findings  of  the  pilot  study,  the 
Committee recommended drawing appropriate action plan with timelines on 
the  implementation  schedule  with  suitable  mile  stones  for  ensuring  timel y 
start.  
  5.3.26.  To  test  the  feasibility  of  the  newly  designed  sampling  
methodology,  DES  is  advised  to  conduct  field  testing  in  one  zone  ea ch  in 
Coastal, Middle and High land districts as proposed by the Chairman . 
  5.3.27. Committee also recommended getting the approval of the State  
High  Level  Co-Ordination  Committee  on  agricultural  statistics  to  the  n ew 
methodology before its implementation.  5.3.28.  Committee  also  recommended  using  the  updated  BTR  as 
frame for the EARAS  
5.4.  Methodology  for  collection  of  data  on  area  and  produc tion  on 
Horticulture  and  Floriculture,  and  Minor  Crops  and  Fruits  and  
Vegetables (TOR 3&7)  
  5.4.1.  The  Committee  was  informed  that  at  present  DES  do  not  h ave 
any  data  on  area  and  production  of  fruits  and  vegetables  based  on  
scientifically  conducted  sample  surveys.  In  fact,  it  was  also  noted  that   even 
at  national  level,  there  is  no  standard  methodology  as  yet  developed  by 
Ministry of Agriculture and work in this regard is still in progress. The Ch ief

40 
 
of Agriculture Division, State Planning Board explained their thi
nking on the 
subject in meetings of the Committee. He also brought out their demand  for 
such  data  at  local  level  for  decentralized  planning.  Status  of  avai lability  of 
data is the same in case of horticulture sector also. It was however observed  
that  households/  cultivators  have  been  pursuing  production  of  frui ts  and 
vegetables in large quantities in the state for marketing purposes.  
  5.4.2.  During  discussions  regarding  the  methodology  suggested  by  
Planning  Board  for  a  full-fledged  survey  on  fruits  and  vegetables,  fo r  the 
estimation  of  area  and  production  of  fruits  and  vegetables  at  Pancha yat 
level,  the  Committee  generally  observed  that  the  methodology  proposed  by  
them  needs  further  critical  review  with  regard  to  sampling  design  in 
particular  as  it  was  not  a  commonly  accepted  methodology.  DES  was 
advised to discuss the matter further. The Committee however endorsed the 
need for getting data related to area and production of vegetables an d fruits 
in  Kerala  not  only  at  state  level  but  also  at  panchayat  level  for  the  purpose 
of  formulation  of  various  government  policies.  But  the  estimates  of  fruit s 
and  vegetables  at  panchayat  level  are  not  in  any  case  available  in  the  DES 
either as part of EARAS or otherwise. 
   
5.4.3.  During  discussions,  it  was  brought  out  that  VFPCK  is  an  
organization  of  Kerala  Horticulture  Development  Programme  and  is  making 
efforts  for  developing  a  data  base  in  this  sector.  The  market  informatio n 
centre  of  VFPCK  collects  price  data  of  vegetables  and  fruits  from  16 
vegetable  markets  in  Kerala  and  4  out  of  state  markets.  The  data  collect ed 
provides details regarding the wholesale price and retail price of major fru its 
and  vegetables  which  are  produced  inside  and  outside  the  state  over  ph one 
on  daily  basis.  The  detail  regarding  arrival  of  fruits  and  vegetables  f rom 
outside  the  state  is  also  reported.  The  Committee  stressed  the  need  for  a 
reliable data on fruits and vegetables and also a suitable method ology for its 
calculation.

41 
 
  5.4.4.  The  Committee  subsequently  discussed  in  detail  the  proposed  
methodology  with  the  Planning  Board.  The  Committee  observed  that 
methodology  proposed  was  to  use  the  details  of  2011  census  as  frame.
 
Around  300  to  400  households  from  each  panchayat  (30  to  40  clu sters    of 
10  households)  may  be  selected    for  the    conduct  of  the  survey.  From  each  
cluster,  one  farmer  house  hold  may  be  selected  for  detailed  enquiry.  At  the  
listing stage, crop wise area of major crop including fruits and vegetabl es are 
to  be  collected.  In  the  detailed  enquiry,  the  yield  rate  of  crops,  pro duction, 
method of harvesting, frequency of harvest etc may be collected in detail.  In 
addition  to  the  above,  a  list  of  agricultural  holdings  with  large  extent  and 
institutional  holdings  may  be  prepared  for  group  discussion  with  l ocal 
representatives  and  key  informants  of  the  Panchayat.  The  entire  data  may  
be collected by direct oral enquiry with the farmers. The Panchayat level co -
ordination  may  be  made  by  combining  the  data  collected  from  farmer  
households,  along  with  the  data  collected  from  institutional  ho useholds. 
After  detailed  deliberations  on  all  pros  and  cons  of  the  relevant  issu es,  the 
Committee  concluded  that  the  present  sampling  design  of  EARAS  in  any 
case  is  not  suitable  to  provide  production  estimates  at  Panchayat  level  as 
part  of  EARAS.  More  time  and  resource  are  required  to  develop  suitable 
methodology  to  estimate  the  production  of  fruits  and  vegetables  as  also 
horticulture  even at state level.   
  5.4.5.  The  Committee  also  suggested  that  the  VFPCK  should  try  to  
reorient  its  infrastructure  for  improving  the  methodology  in  data  collectio n 
with  a  view  to  meet  emerging  requirement  of  knowing  the  production  and 
other  related  indicators  in  respect  of  Fruits  and  Vegetables  sector  in  th e 
state with technical collaboration of DES.  
  5.4.6. The Committee also was briefed by the Officers from Ministry of  
Agriculture,  Horticulture  Division  about  the  Pilot  Survey  launched  in   five 
states  as  per  sampling  design  provided  by  IASRI  under  CHAMAN  Project  
involving  field  collection  of  data  and  analysis  of  remote  sensing  imageri es.

42 
 
The  field  work  is  currently  in  progress  and  the  Committee  felt  that  it  n
eeds 
to  discuss  the  matter  further  before  arriving  at  a  draft  methodology  for  th e 
conduct  of  Fruits  and  Vegetables  Survey  in  the  State  as  MOA  itself  is  re- 
examining the methodology. It was therefore noted that it is prudent f or DES 
to  await  the  recommendation  from  the  pilot  study  which  is  in  progress  
before taking further action in the matter.  5.4.7.  Chairman  has  requested  the  Horticulture  Division  to  include 
Kerala  also  as  a  participating  state  under  CHAMAN  Project  which  has  b een 
agreed  to  be  considered  after  the  existing  field  survey  is  completed  and  
report finalized for consideration by all concerned. IASRI, MNCFC,  and MOA 
(Horticulture  Division)  are  fully  involved  in  the  matter  of  evolving  a  suitable 
methodology for this survey.  
Recommendations  
  5.4.8.   Since  the  outcome  of  the  newly  designed  methodology  for  the 
calculation  of  fruits  and  vegetables  estimates  under  CHAMAN  Project  of  
Govt. of India will be completed shortly and report would be avai lable by end 
of  this  year,  the  Committee  recommended  to  wait  for  completion  of  this  
study  and  examine  the  outcome  of  the  results  to  accept  an  approved  
methodology in this respect.  
  5.4.9.   As  there  is  no  established  methodology  for  the  estimation  of 
production of floriculture, the Expert Committee recommended that the DES  
may  explore  the  possibility  of  conducting  a  pilot  study  on  flori culture  using 
available resources and examine the feasibility of collection of data.  
  
5.5. Analysis of data on Productivity of Major Crops (TOR-4 (i )) 
  5.5.1.    This  is  based  on  the  Fourth  Terms  of  Reference    ie  to  exami ne 
the  existing  data  base    on  agricultural  productivity,  cost  of  cultiva tion  and 
farm  price    and  suggest  suitable  frame  work  for  data  collection    under  the 
scheme  EARAS.  
Productivity of Major crops 
  5.5.2  As  stated  in  the  terms  of  references  with  regard  to  the 
productivity of crops, the Committee examined the trend in productivity o ver 
the 5-10 years in respect of various crops.Annexure-1V

43 
 
Rice
 
  5.5.3.  The  Committee  analyzed  the  productivity  of  rice  for  the  period  
from  2008  to  2012-13.  The  state  average  productivity  of  rice  showed  a n 
increasing trend from 2520kg/Ha in 2008-09 to 2577 kg/Ha in 20 12-13.The 
productivity  of  Rice  has  increased  to  2.26  percentages  during  the  above  
period.  Comparing  the  productivity  of  rice  in  the  districts,  the  product ivity 
was  very  high  in  Pathanamthitta  (3208kg/Ha)  and  Alappuzha(3 089kg/Ha) 
and    was  very  low  in  Kozhikkode(1270kg/Ha)  and  kannur  (1783kg/ Ha). 
Generally  there  is  a  declining  trend  in  the  district  wise  productivity  of  rice. 
Aannexure-V.  
Coconut  
  5.5.4.  During  2006-07  the  productivity  of  coconut  at  state  level   was 
6935  number  of  nuts  per  hectar.  It  rose  to  7365  numbers  in  2008-09. It 
declined  to7278  numbers  in  2009-10  and  again  declined  6862  numb ers  in 
2010-11  and  showed  a  slight  increase  to  7237  in  2011-12.Prod uctivity  of 
coconut  is  highest  in  Malappuram(8670nos/Ha)  and  lowest  in 
Wayanad(4565nos/ha) and Kasaragode(3515nos/Ha) districts 
Arecanut  
  5.5.5.The  productivity  of  Arecanut  showed  an  increasing  trend  from  
2006-07  to  2011-12.  It  was  1077kg/Ha  in  2006-07  and  i n  2011-12  it 
increased  to  1163kg/Ha.  As  in  the  case  of  coconut  the  productivity  o f 
Arecanut  showed  a  decreasing  trend(1001kg/Ha)  in  2010-11.The 
productivity  is  highest  in  Kasaragode2887kg/ha)  and  lowest  in 
wayanad(379kg/Ha) 
Tapioca  
  5.5.6.  There  was  an  increase  in  the  productivity  of  Tapioca  during 
2006-07  to  2011-12  except  in  the  year  2010-11.It  was  28911  kg/ha  and 
34419kg/Ha in 2006-07 &2011-12 respectively. Comparing the district s the 
highest  productivity  is  in  Wayanad(52505)  and  lowest  in  Kozhikko de 
(21732kg/Ha)

44 
 
Raw Cashew  
  5.5.7.  The  productivity  of  cashew  showed  a  decreasing  trend  during 
the  above  six  years  except  2007-08.  It  was  875  kg/ha  in  2006-07 
and  it 
increased  to  898  kg/Ha  in  2007-08.  There  after  there  was  continuous  
decrease in productivity and it went to 680kg/ha in 2011-12. Wit h regard to 
productivity,  Kannur  district  stand  first  (1044kg/Ha)  and  Alppu zha  stands 
the least (214kg/Ha).    
Black Pepper  
  5.5.8  From  2006-07  to  2010-11  the  productivity  of  pepper  show ed  a 
drastic  declining  trend  and  a  high  increase  in  2011-12.It  was  29 7kg/Ha  in 
2006-07  and  it  decreased  to  239,221,248  and  263kg/ha  consecu tively  in 
the  years  of  2007,  2008,2009,&2010.  Idukky  District  stand  in   the  first 
place(528kg/ha)  in  the  case  of  productivity  and  Kozhikkode  distri ct  is  the 
least(180kg/ha). 
Banana 
  5.5.9.In  the  case  of  Banana  we  can  see  that  there  is  no  cont inuous 
increase  or  decrease  in  Productivity.  During  2006-07  the  productivity  was 
7841kg  and  it  decreased  to  7411kg  in  2007-08,again  it  increased  t o  7965 
kg/ha  in  2008-09,again  it  decreased  to  7923kg  in  2009-10.Duri ng  2010-11 
&  2011-12  it  increases  to  8244kg  and  8703kg  respectively.  Productivity  of 
banana  is  high  in  Ernakulam(9602kg/ha),  and  Kasaragod(11406 kg/ha) 
districts and lowest in Thiruvananthapuram district(5618kg/ha). 
Plantain  
  5.5.10.  There  is  a  fluctuating  trend  in  the  productivity  of  Pla ntain. 
During  2006-07  it  was  8205kg/ha.In2007-08  to  2011-12it  was  7629kg, 
7923kg7082kg,  7201kg  and6783kgrespectively.  During  the  above  period  
Productivity  was  very  high  in  Thiruvananthapuram  (10568kg)  
Pathanamthitta (10274kg) and Palakkad (12359kg) districts,  whereas it was 
low in Kannur(3636kg) and Kozhikkode (3735kg) districts .

45 
 	
 
Jack  
  5.5.11.There  was  a  continuous  decrease  in  the  productivity  of  jack 
fruits  for  the  period  from  2006-07  to  2011-12  except  the  year  201 0-
11.During  the  last  five  years  the  productivity  is  highest  in 
Thiruvananthapuram(5085nos/ha  in  2006-07)  district  and  lowest   is  in 
Wayanad(2005nos/ha in 2008-09).    
Cocoa.  
  5.5.12.  A  mixed  trend  in  the  productivity  of  cocoa  can  be  seen  duri ng 
the year 2006-07 to 2011-12.During 2006-07 its productivity wa s 540kg/ha 
and  it  increased  to  1122kg/ha  in  2011-12.  In-between  these  years  th e 
productivity  was  fluctuating.  From  the  year  2006  it  increased  to  656 kg  in 
2007,  it  decreased  to  575kg  in  2008,  again  it  decreased  to  512kg  i n  2009 
and  then  increased  to  695kg  in  2010.Pathanamthitta,  Alappuzh a,Kottayam 
and  Idukki  districts  shows  highest  in  productivity.  Productivity  of  cocoa  is 
least in Idukki district. 
Sesamum 
  5.5.13.  Sesamum  is  not  cultivated  in  all  districts.  There  was  no 
cultivation  of  sesamum  in  Thiruvananthapuram,Pathanamthitta,Kot tayam 
and  Kozhikkode  districts  during  the  above  period.  Cultivation  of  sesamum 
was  rare  in  Wayanad,  Kannur  and  Kasaragode  districts.  Its  productivity 
showed  a  decreasing  trend  except  the  year  2008-09.During  2006-07  it  w as 
402kh/ha  and  in  2011-12  it  was  386kg/ha  and  in  2008-0 9  it  was 
536kg/ha.  Highest  productivity  was  in  Kollam(675kg  in  2010)  an d  least  in 
Palakkad district(111kg in 2010).  
5.6. Production and consumption of Rice in Kerala From 2007  to 2012. 
  5.6.1.  During  the  year  2007  the  production  and  consumption  of  ri ce 
in  Kerala  was  528488&  3196341  tonnes  respectively.  Considering  the  
population of the same period, the production gap of rice is 2667 853  which 
come 83percentage .This shows that we are producing only 17 percentage of

46 
 
our  rice  requirement.  Due  to  the  decline  of  production  of  rice  in  2012,
  the 
gap in the production of rice increased to 84 percentages.  
  5.6.2.  Observing  the  production  and  consumption  tables  the  
Committee  opined  that  Kerala  totally  depend  upon  other  states  for  rice.  
Considering the district wise details of production and consumption,  the gap 
between  these  two  are  much  less  in  Palakkad  district.  The  detailed  dist rict 
wise production and consumption table is appended in the Annexure- V1. 
5.7.  Cost  of  Cultivation  survey  -  Comparison  of  methodology  fol lowed 
by DES and Ministry of Agriculture Government of India. (TOR -4(ii)) 
5.7.1.  The  Committee  discussed  in  detail  the  cost  of  cultivation  a nd 
farm price one of the items included as the fourth item of terms of  reference. 
Cost  of  Cultivation  Survey  is  being  conducted  by  the  Department  of 
Economics, on important crops like paddy (in3seasons), Coconut, Areca  nut, 
Tapioca,  Banana,  Pepper,  Ginger  and  Turmeric.  Ministry  of  Agriculture  an d 
Co-operation,  New  Delhi,  is  also  conducting  cost  of  cultivation   studies  in 
different  states.  Three  crops  of  Kerala  namely  paddy,  coconut  and  black  
pepper have been included in the cost of cultivation study conducted b y the 
government of India.  
  5.7.2. The Economic Adviser Government of India Sri  T.K.Dutta ma de 
a  presentation  regarding  cost  of  cultivation  survey  being  conducted  by  th e 
Ministry  of  Agriculture.  He  informed  that  this  scheme  is  being  implemented 
in  19  states  with  the  objective  of  collecting  and  compiling  the  dat a 
pertaining  to  the  cost  of  cultivation  and  cost  of  production  of   various  crops 
in  different  states.  He  further  informed  that  in  Kerala  only  three  crop s 
namely  coconut  paddy  and  black  pepper  are  covered  under  the  survey.  He 
presented  the  cost  of  cultivation  data  of  different  states  and  stated   that 
comparing  to  neighboring  states  the  cost  of  cultivation  is  very  high  in 
Kerala.  He  suggested  that  a  new  methodology  has  to  be  developed  to

47 
 
overcome  this  problem  connected  with  the  procedure  of  estimating  interest  
on land value being followed in the state.  
  5.7.3  The  Committee  observed  that  the  cost  of  cultivation  of  dif
ferent 
crops is high in Kerala compared with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.  This may 
be  due  to  the  high  interest  rate  of  land  value  in  Kerala.  The  view  of  State 
Planning  Board  also  is  that  the  land  value  in  Kerala  is  higher  th an  that  in 
other  states;  it  was  also  brought  out  that  leasing  of  land  is  n ot  legally 
permissible in the state. Therefore, Planning Board suggested that a suita ble 
methodology  to  be  decided  by  the  Committee  to  overcome  this  problem  of  
finding  a  sound  methodology  for  estimating  the  cost  of  cultivation   in  Kerala 
in consultation with MOA.  	
 	5.7.4.	 On  the  request  of  the  Committee  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture,   
Government  of  India  made  a  comparative  study  of  cost  of  cultivation  o f 
coconut and paddy crops and submitted the report to that effect.  
  5.7.5.The Expert Committee  observed further  that  the GOI and DES , 
Kerala  are  following  the  same  methodology  regarding  cost  of  cultivation  
survey,  it  is  necessary  to  critically  examine  and  check  why  there  is  huge 
variation  in  cost  estimates  between  Central  and  State  results  in  respect  o f 
certain cost parameters. The Committee also decided to check whether there 
are any errors in the data collected or while tabulating the work in  the DES. 
5.7.6  Representatives  from  MOA  have  given  notes  on  the  conceptual 
frame work suggested by them to all states and which are being  followed b y 
in  other  states.  As  per  Central  guidelines,  the  only  difference  in  the  
procedure being followed in Kerala is with regard to estimation of la nd value. 
According to MOA, it would be advisable to take rental value of  land instead 
of  interest  on  land  value  in  Kerala  also,  as  in  other  states  for  un iformity  in 
following  the  procedures  for  cost  of  cultivation  survey.  The  rental  value  is 
estimated  on  the  basis  of  prevailing  rents  in  the  village  for  identical  type  of 
land or as reported by farmers subject to the ceiling of fair rents given i n the 
land  legislation  of  the  concerned  state,  which  is  20%  of  the  value  of  output 
in the state of Kerala.   5.7.7 It  may  be  seen  that  in  the  State  of Kerala,  while  estimating  cost 
of cultivation of a crop, for assessing the land value, “Interest  on land value” 
is taken into account instead of rent.  The interest on land valu e is very high 
and  it  pushes  the  cost  upwards.  Under  the  methodology  for  cost  of 
cultivation surveys of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India,  only 
“rental value of land” is considered, which is reported by the sample fa rmers 
subject  to  the  ceiling  of  fair  rents  given  in  the  land  legislation  of  the 
concerned State, which is 20% of value of output in the State of  Kerala.  It is

48 
 
therefore requested to follow uniform procedure in cost of cultivation
 survey 
and  to  consider  “rental  value  of  land”  instead  of  “interest  of  la nd”. 
Statements  giving  item-wise  comparative  study  of  cost  of  cultivation  and  
production  of  paddy  and  coconut  generated  by  CS  Scheme,  Ministry  of 
Agriculture  and  DES,  Kerala,  for  the  latest    3years  i.e.  2011-12  to   2013-14 
are stated bellow. 
YEAR: - 2011-12 	
Cost Items 
(R/Ha) 	
Paddy 	Coconut 	
CS Scheme 	State 
Scheme 	CS Scheme 	State Scheme 	
Human Labour  20774.58	 	2355.33	 	38565.73	 	25131.00	 	
Animal Labour  363.00	 	115.00	 	5.39	 	0.00	 	
Machine Labour  7837.60	 	4459.67	 	202.94	 	0.00	 	
Seed  1882.46	 	1698.00	 	0.00	 	408.00	 	
Fertilizer & Manure  4882.62	 	4076.00	 	11399.39	 	6840.00	 	
Insecticide  1066.10	 	435.00	 	1.84	 	45.00	 	
Irrigation  278.33	 	0.00	 	1095.65	 	0.00	 	
Miscellaneous  0.00	 	2356.33	 	0.00	 	2497.00	 	
Intt. On working capital  1070.54	 	1647.00	 	2581.34	 	3110.00	 	
Rental Value  14022.35	 	0.00	 	20945.60	 	0.00	 	
Land Revenue  82.02	 	227.00	 	0.00	 	180.00	 	
Depreciation of implements &  
farm building  319.94	 	0.00	 	724.98	 	0.00	 	
Intt. On fixed capital  393.57	 	1318.33	 	1726.19	 	3493.00	 	
Establishment Cost  0.00	 	0.00	 	12627.97	 	0.00	 	
Repair & Maintenance  0.00	 	1218.33	 	0.00	 	2976.00	 	
Intt. On land value  0.00	 	61973.33	 	0.00	 	354841.00	 	
Cost of Cultivation  52973.11	 	102879.33	 	77249.05	 	399521.00	 	
Cost of Production  1120.82	 	2912.67	 	7.01	 	NR	 	
Yield   43.36	 	NR	 	12458.00	 	NR	 	
Value of Main Product  64413.08	 	43927.67	 	101370.30	 	54240.00	 	
Value of By-Product  5698.66	 	6548.00	 	3357.68	 	4207.00	 	
Value of Gross Product  70111.74	 	50475.67	 	104727.98	 	58447.00	 	
 	
Unit  of  Cost  of  Production  in  Rs/Quintal  for  paddy  &Rs/nut
  for 
coconut  
Unit  of  Yield  is  Quintal/hectare  for  Paddy  &  Nuts/hectare  for  
coconut 
Establishment cost is calculated for coconut only.

49 
  YEAR : - 2012-13 	
Cost Items 
(Rs/Ha) 	
Paddy 	Coconut 	
CS Scheme 	State Scheme 	CS Scheme 	State Scheme 	
Human Labour  22424.38	 	2325.67	 	44649.48	 	32180.00	 	
Animal Labour  296.85	 	137.00	 	65.35	 	0.00	 	
Machine Labour  9288.31	 	5928.00	 	112.25	 	183.00	 	
Seed  2326.53	 	2100.67	 	0.00	 	221.00	 	
Fertilizer & Manure  6745.09	 	5380.00	 	11765.86	 	6879.00	 	
Insecticide  1409.09	 	256.67	 	0.00	 	178.00	 	
Irrigation  315.69	 	0.00	 	1738.71	 	0.00	 	
Miscellaneous  0.37	 	3494.33	 	0.00	 	2165.00	 	
Intt. On working capital  1268.68	 	1861.00	 	2960.70	 	3719.00	 	
Rental Value  16722.48	 	0.00	 	14859.08	 	0.00	 	
Land Revenue  112.21	 	135.33	 	0.00	 	131.00	 	
Depreciation of  
implements & farm 
building 
221.55	 	0.00	 	477.46	 	0.00	 	
Intt. On fixed capital  273.13	 	1168.67	 	1155.56	 	1929.00	 	
Establishment Cost  0.00	 	0.00	 	15799.54	 	0.00	 	
Repair & Maintenance  0.00	 	1377.33	 	0.00	 	1353.00	 	
Intt. On land value  0.00	 	66459.67	 	0.0	 	552222.00	 	
Cost of Cultivation  61404.39	 	111554.33	 	77784.45	 	601160.00	 	
Cost of Production  1290.70	 	3455.00	 	7.13	 	NR	 	
Yield   43.63	 	NR	 	12628.00	 	NR	 	
Value of Main Product  76769.20	 	46645.67	 	74295.41	 	55535.00	 	
Value of By-Product  6851.70	 	5779.33	 	3307.71	 	2507.00	 	
Value of Gross Product  83620.90	 	52425.00	 	77603.12	 	58042.00	 	
  
Unit  of  Cost  of  Production  in  Rs/Quintal  for  paddy  &Rs/nut
  for 
coconut  
Unit  of  Yield  is  Quintal/hectare  for  Paddy  &  Nuts/hectare  for 
coconut .Establishment cost is calculated for coconut only.

50 
 
 
 
YEAR : - 2013-14 
 	
Cost Items 
(Rs/Ha) 	
Paddy 	Coconut 	
CS 	
Scheme 	
State Scheme 	CS Scheme 	State 
Scheme 	
Human Labour  25403.67	 	33493.00	 	49544.24	 	36505.00	 	
Animal Labour  82.81	 	87.00	 	0.00	 	0.00	 	
Machine Labour  9772.10	 	6065.33	 	95.25	 	288.00	 	
Seed  2790.72	 	2402.00	 	0.00	 	437.00	 	
Fertilizer & Manure  7989.73	 	6381.33	 	12247.29	 	11183.00	 	
Insecticide  1518.63	 	449.67	 	0.50	 	85.00	 	
Irrigation  145.22	 	0.00	 	1406.55	 	0.00	 	
Miscellaneous  0.00	 	4590.67	 	0.00	 	2242.00	 	
Intt. On working capital  1390.88	 	2415.33	 	3158.80	 	4414.00	 	
Rental Value  18798.49	 	0.00	 	21961.15	 	0.00	 	
Land Revenue  132.57	 	189.00	 	0.00	 	188.00	 	
Depreciation of implements  
& farm building  205.32	 	0.00	 	216.26	 	0.00	 	
Intt. On fixed capital  320.71	 	893.67	 	714.82	 	2348.00	 	
Establishment Cost  0.00	 	0.00	 	17090.27	 	0.00	 	
Repair & Maintenance  0.00	 	422.00	 	0.00	 	540.00	 	
Intt. On land value  0.00	 	77292.00	 	0.00	 	620809.00	 	
Cost of Cultivation  68550.85	 	134681.00	 	89344.86	 	679039.00	 	
Cost of Production  1346.36	 	3876.00	 	8.48	 	NR	 	
Yield   46.56	 	NR	 	12231.00	 	NR	 	
Value of Main Product  85952.31	 	62643.33	 	106503.70	 	87877.00	 	
Value of By-Product  7879.41	 	6160.33	 	3302.06	 	4427.00	 	
Value of Gross Product  93831.72	 	68803.67	 	109805.76	 	92304.00	 	
 
Unit of Cost of Production in Rs/Quintal for paddy &Rs/nut
 for coconut 
Unit of Yield is Quintal/hectare for Paddy & Nuts/hectare for coconu t 
Establishment cost is calculated for coconut only  
  5.7.8.  Statistics  for  Farm  prices  TOR-(4(iii)).  Regarding  farm  p rice 
statistics  the  Committee  observed  that  farm  price  collection  does  not  come 
under  the  purview  of  EARAS.  It  may  not  be  an  item  for  terms  of  ref erence. 
Director  General  informed  the  Committee  that  there  is  another  Expert

51 
 
Committee  on  Price and  Price Indices  to analyze  the  current price  collection  
mechanism and suggest any suitable changes required for its improvement.  
Recommendation	
 
5.7.9.  Committee  remarked  that  district  wise  report  on  crop  wise 
productivity,  production  and  consumption  will  be  much  helpful  to   the 
government for policy decisions.  The Committee suggested forwarding of the  
reports  to  the  government  of  for  consideration.  Accordingly  the  report  
submitted to the government for favorable consideration. 
5.7.10.  The  Committee  recommended  that  DES  may  follow  the 
methodology  as  suggested  by  Ministry  of  Agriculture  for  estimating  the  cost 
of  cultivation  of  different  crops.  DES  should  therefore  take  the  rent al  value 
of  land  instead  of  interest  of  land  while  calculating  the  cost  o f  cultivation 
estimates  and  this  would  result  in  making  realistic  estimates  of  cost  of  
cultivation of crops in Kerala.  
5.7.11.  Regarding  farm  price  collection,  the  Committee  observed  that 
farm price collection is not within the purview of EARAS. 
5.8.  Discussion  with  other  Departments  with  regard  to  area  and  
production of crops. For uniform methodology (TOR-5)  
  5.8.1  The  Expert  Committee  discussed  the  Fifth  Terms  of  Reference 
regarding suitable methodology for bringing uniformity in the Data col lection 
by different agencies  
  5.8.2  Agricultural  Statistics  includes  all  data  collected  by  the  D ES  on 
area  and  production  and  also  data  collected  by  other  agencies  like  Rub ber 
Board, Coffee Board, and Spices Board etc. In order to get an idea  about the 
methodology  being  followed  by  other  agencies  in  the  area  and  production  
estimation, the committee carried out discussion with various agencies.  
Methodology of Rubber Board  
  5.8.3  Committee  examined      the  sample  design,  survey  procedure,  
estimation  of  average  yield,  etc  followed  by  the  rubber  board.  Currently, 
small  holding  is  defined  as  those  of  size  less  than  10  hactares,  however,

52 
 
average  size  of  holding  is  of  half  hactare.    The  sample  units  are  chosen 
at 
the  beginning  of  each  year.  They  are  identified  in  such  a  way  that  th e 
chosen  group  would  be  reasonably  a  good  representative  of  the  country’s  
entire  small  holding  sector.  The  selection  procedure    is  built  up  on  releva nt 
principles of sampling technique by giving due consideration to agro clima tic 
zones  ,age  profile  of  trees,  size  class  of  holdings  and  socio  economic  profi le 
of  farmers    which  are  the  significant  parameters    determining    the  yield 
performance. 
  5.8.4  The  Extension  Officer  of  Rubber  Board  stationed  at  the 
respective villages is collecting the data every month by visiting the holdings  
and  physically  verifying  the  information.  At  the  beginning  of  the  ea ch 
financial  year,  Rubber  Board  updates  the  total  area  under  cultivat ion  of 
rubber  and  the  area  tapping  after  taken  in  to  account  the  exten t  of  trees 
uprooted  and  the  area  newly  planted  crop  in  the  previous  year.  Total 
production of natural rubber is estimated on a monthly basis by mult iplying 
the  estimated  area  under  tapping  with  the  average  yield  obtained  through  
the sample survey. Board also compares the production figures given by the 
traders based on sample survey estimates. 
  5.8.5.  Quick  estimates  of  area,  production  and  average  yield  are 
available  within  10days  after  the  reference  month  and  final  figures  area 
published  within  two  to  three  months.  District  level  data  is  bein g  prepared 
monthly and annually. The Committee felt the need for panchayat w ise area 
and  production  estimates  of  rubber  and  suggested  the  Director  DES  to  give  
statistical  support  for  estimating  the  area  and  production  of  rubber   at 
panchayat/block  level.  In  principle,  it  was  agreed  that  statistical  support 
will be given by DES to Rubber Board for improving methodology for gett ing 
information at panchayat level. 
Tea Board 
  5.8.6.  Committee  analyzed  the  methodology  being  used  by  the  Tea  
Board in the data collection of Tea.  The  Tea Board used to col lect data from 
registered growers only  for estimating area and production of tea through a

53 
 
set  of  mandatory  forms  and  schedules    up  to  2009-10.From  2010-11-
 
onwards  ,the  farmers  enter  their  data  in  the  web  site  in  every  5 th
  of  each 
month.  Production  statistics  of  tea      is  received  from  bottling  fact ories.  The 
green  leaf  statistics  is  received  from  the  tea  plant  growers.  Committee  felt  
that due to conversion of tea growing area to other crops, there is decli ne in 
production, but due to various development efforts, productivity has been  on 
the rise.   
  5.8.7  Committee  is  convinced  that  only  25  percentage  of  coffee 
growing area is the relative contribution of small growers. 
5.5.18.  The  Committee  desired  that  the  Tea  Board  may  look  in  to 
whether  there  is  production  in  the  unregistered  sector  and  if  so,  how  to   get 
it reflected in the tea statistics being brought by the Board. 
Spice Board 
  5.8.8  Then  Committee  examined  the  methodology  being  followed  by 
the  Spice  Board  for  their  data  collection.    The  total  yielding  area   of 
cardamom  is  only  an  estimate  based  on  the  previous  year’s  area,  since 
updated information is not available in the village offices als o the problem of 
leased  land,  land  possessed  etc.  In  Kerala,  first,  a  purposive  sample  of   two 
districts,  viz.  Idukki  and  Wayanad  are  selected  since  more  than  95%  of 
production  is  from  these  two  districts.  After  selecting  the  district,  stra tified 
sampling  of  villages  is  done  in  order  to  get  sufficient  data  having  ad equate 
number  of  plantation  in  each  category.  These  villages  will  be  the  sampli ng 
strata for estimation of the production. 
  5.8.9.  From  each  of  these  strata  and  based  on  the  holding  size,  1 0  to 
20  cardamom  plantations  are  selected  from  each  of  the  categories0-2Ha,  4- 
6ha,  6-8  ha  and  above  8ha.  From  each  of  these  plantations,  5  respective 
samples  /plants  are  selected.  The  observation  like  number  of  productive  
panicles  per  plant,  average  number  of  capsules  per  panicle,  etc  is  collected.  
Based  on  this  observation,  the  green  yield/plant,  green  weight  of  the  
capsules,  dry  weight  of  the  capsules,  total  production  and  productivi ty  are 
estimated.

54 
 
       5.8.10.  Committee  observed  that  the  methodology  adopted  by  t
he 
Spices  Board  could  perhaps  be  considered  for  collecting  the  data  of  
vegetables  and  fruits  as  well,  at  lower  levels,  but  after  further  detai led 
examination  of  all  relevant  factors.  It  is  come  to  known  by  the  C ommittee 
that  Panchayat  level  data  is  not  available  with  the  Spice  Boa rd.  The  officer 
from  Spices  Board  informed  the  Committee  that  they  are  in  need  of  villa ge 
wise area and production estimate of cardamom every year.  
  5.8.11.  The  Committee  suggested  the  DES  to  extend  the  technical 
support of DES to Spices Board for strengthening the methodological  aspect 
including  review  of  sampling  frame  with  the  financial  support  of  t he  Spice 
Board. 
Coffee Board 
  5.8.12.  On  analyzing  the  activities  of  the  Coffee  Board  the  Commi ttee 
felt  that      there  will  not  be  much  production  of  coffee  from  pla ne  area  of 
Kerala along with other crops. The methodology adopted by the Coff ee Board 
is  satisfactory  since  they  have  been  able  to  meet  the  demand  from  supply. 
Data  on  area  and  production  of  coffee  in  Kerala  is  available  at   panchayat 
level. 
  5.8.13  The  Committee  suggested  the  Coffee  Board  to  forward  a 
detailed  report  on  the  methodology  adopted  for  estimation  of  area  an d 
production  of  Coffee  in  Kerala  to  DES  to  enable  the  Committee  t o  suggest 
improvement, if any called for in the methodology.  
Recommendation 	
 	5.8.14. As DES is the Nodal Agency for data collection in the sta te, the 
Committee recommended that all other  data collecting agencies should take  
the  technical  guidance  and  other  support  from  the  DES.  Without  th e 
concurrence  of  the  DES,  no  agency  should  carry  out  any  data  collection  
work.  The  data  collected  by  other  departments  with  the  concurrence  of  t he 
department  should  be  made  available  to  the  Nodal  Agency  as  soon  as  the 
data collection work is over.

55 
 
5.9. Strengthening the capability of field staff through ini
tiatives in the 
area of ICT, Networking, Software development etc. (TOR-6)  
  5.9.1.  Sixth  item  in  the  Term  of  Reference  is  the  use  of  ICT  in  d ata 
collection.  Information  and  communication  technology  is  an  umbrella  term 
that  includes  any  communication  devises  or  application  encompassing  :  
radio,  Television,  CellularPhones,Computer  and  network  hardware  and 
software,  satellite  systems  and  so  on  as  well  as  the  various  services  and  
applications    associated  with  them,  such  as  videoconferencing  and  dist ance 
learning. Measuring the impact of ICT is critical to better understandin g the 
role  of  ICT  for  economic  and  social  development.  With  the  rapid  growth   ICT 
sector in India, there is an important demand from the research community  
and  policy  makers  for  better  data  to  ensure  that  research  findings  are 
representatives  for  the  entire  country  or  the  state  in  order  to  inform  policy  
makers  about  ICT  development  and  its  impact  and  meaningful  
interpretation  of  policies.  The  application  of  Information  Techn ology  tools  in 
statistical  data  collection,  compilation  and  dissemination  would   be  a  big 
leap  forward.  It  would  be  a  paradigm  shift  and  help  to  accompli sh  new 
methodological heights.   
  5.9.2  Kerala  has  achieved  considerable  progress  in  computerizing  the  
activities  in  a  number  of  departments.  The  KSSSP  envisages  the  ICT  
technology  for  strengthening  the  statistical  system  in  Kerala  .This  include  
update  the  computing  facilities  consisting  of  both  hardware  and  sof tware  at 
headquarters,  District  Offices  and  Taluk  Statistical  offices,  provid e 
computers  to  all  the  staffs  of  DES,  establish  web  enabled  on-line  data 
sharing  between  the  DES  and  each  of  the  line  departments,  and  Up- 
gradation  of  computer  skill  by  imparting  training  to  the  existing  empl oyees 
for efficient computer use.      
  5.9.3  The  Expert  Committee  discussed  in  detail  the  Terms  of  
Reference relating to the enhancement of the use of ICT by DES. The Ex pert 
Committee  observed  and  noted  that  the  following  activities  have  been 
undertaken by the department as a part of ICT. 
(1).By  using  ICT  tools  to  simplify  data  collection  and  then  pro cessing,  140 
Laptops were distributed to Taluk Statistical Offices and District  Offices.

56 
 
(2). Distributed two computers each to Taluk Offices and Districts.  
(3).Work  Stations  were  established  in  Alappuzha  and  Kollam  Dist
rict  offices 
and Ottappalam Taluk Statistical Office with good facilities.  
(4).Broad  band  connection  to  all  Taluk  and  District  Statisti cal  Offices  were 
established. 
(5).For  online  tabulation  and  transmission  of  data,  a  soft ware  has  been 
developed and it is under trail run. 
(6).As  per  the  decision  of  the  Expert Committee  the  DES  has  decided  to   use 
mobile  software  application  in  the  field  of  data  collection.  T he  Director 
IASRI,  Dr.  U  C  .Sud  informed  that  the  IARSI  officials  are  ready  to  impart 
training to the DES officials in the use of mobile software  appl ication as per 
request.  
7.  Purchased  two  Android  Software  Smart  Phones  and  two  weighting 
machines  to  carry  out  the  online  vegetable  survey  conducted  in  two 
panchayats of Palakkad and Trivandrum.  
Recommendation  
  5.9.4.  Committee  recommended  for  taking  immediate  action  to 
procure  4  PDA  for  the  field  staff  on  an  experimental  basis  and  tak ing  in  to 
account the feedback of its use, recommended procurement of 80 number of 
devices  -  61  numbers  for  Taluks,  14  numbers  for  District  Offices  and  5 
numbers for Directorate.  Around 50% staff of DES (Except line depa rtment) 
is  working  under  EARAS  scheme  so  the  Expert  Committee  strongly  stresses 
the need and importance of strengthening the ICT infrastructure in EAR AS. 
    
5.10. Methodology for small area and production estimation and  
possibility of Remote sensing Application: - (TOR-8&10)  
  5.10.1  The  main  work  under  EARAS  system  is  area  enumeration  and  
yield  estimation  of  different  crops.  Practical  problems  faced  by  the  
department  in  area  enumeration  have  explained  in  the  previous  sections. 
For  the  yield  estimation  of  paddy  the  department  conduct  crop  cutti ng 
experiments  of  paddy  from  5x5sq.m  of  paddy  area.  This  selected  5x5  sq.m 
may  very  often  be  in  the  middle  or  inner  part  of  the  selected  kandam.  So  
there  are  resistances  from  the  farmers  to  cut  and  take  the  weight  of  padd y 
from this separately selected 5x5 sq.m.  
  5.10.2  Committee  deliberated  on  the  use  of  remote  sensing  
methodology  in  order  to  reduce  the  work  load  of  the  investigators.  Th e 
advent  of  satellites  has  opened  the  possibility  of  using  remote  sensing  f or 
estimating  land  use,  crop  area  and  yield.  It  is  used  to  enumerate  th e

57 
 
plantation  crops  like      coffee  tea,  rubber,  coconut  etc.  Its  capacity 
is 
increasing  with  technological  advances  in  satellite  design  and  sensors.  It  
could  greatly  reduce  dependence  on  human  agency  and  attendant  errors  in  
collecting  data.    Remote  sensing  tools  can  only  be  successfully  applied  in 
plantation  and  orchard  and  if  there  are  only  few  crops  in  the  area   under 
investigation. Committee also suggested to collect the available inputs i n the 
form  of  maps,  reports  etc  from  the  state  remote  sensing  offices  and  to 
examine them whether they are useful for the present system of estimation.  
  5.10.3. Committee understood that there are practical problems in t he 
application  of  Remote  Sensing  in  Kerala  because  of  the  mixed  cropping  
pattern  of  Kerala.  There  are  small  crops  grown  within  the  Orchard  and  
under  the  shadow  of  the  big  trees.    This  cultivation  practice  is  entirel y 
different from that prevailing in the rest of the country.  
  5.10.4. Sri.C.Patnaik, Scientist, Space Application Centre A hmadabad 
explained the Remote Sensing methodology being followed for estimating  the 
area  and  production  of    paddy  in  Alappuzha  and  Palakkad  d istricts.  This  is 
the  first  time  that  in  Kerala,  SAC  conducted  such  a  pilot  study(  during 
2013-14)  using  the  remote  sensing  methodology.  The  paddy  area  estimated  
by using remote sensing methodology was found to be 9982Ha.in Alap puzha 
district  and  35503Ha  in  Palakkad  district.  But  corresponding  esti mates  of 
area  by  DES  were:11438  Ha  and  42693Ha  respectively  in  these  Districts. 
The  Committee  examined  the  results  and  appreciated  the  efforts  of  Sri.    C. 
Patnaik      and  Dr.Manjunath  for  conducting  sample  survey  by  using  remo te 
sensing.  
  5.10.5.   The Committee would also suggest exploring the possibil ity of 
conducting  the  pilot  Study  in  some  more  districts  by  using  the  remote  
sensing  Technique.      Accordingly,  a  proposal  was  submitted  to  the  Minist ry 
of Agriculture, Government of India to include the Department of E conomics 
and  Statistics,  Kerala  in  the  project  of  Mahalanobis  National  F orecasting 
Centre,  New  Delhi.    As  a  result  Kerala  has  been  included  in  the  project   of 
using  remote  sensing  methodology  in  crop  forecasting  (FASAL  PROJECT)  of  
Ministry  of  Agriculture  Government  of  India.  In  this  regard  two  senior 
officers  from  MNCFC  viz  Smt.  Neethu,  Scientist  and  Sri.  SundeepYadav, 
Analyst  imparted  two  days  training  to  the  field  functionaries  as  wel l  as 
senior  officers  of  Alappuzha,  Palakkad  district  and  of    headqua rters.  The 
training  was  online  using  smart  phone  having  GPRS  and  Camera  facil ities.

58 
 
The  department  staff  doesn’t  have  the  smart  phone  having  the  GPRS  
application  software.  But  for  the  time  being  they  have  collected  th
e  phone 
from  other  sources.  First  day’s  field  training  was  at  Ernakulam      (fiel d 
convenience)  and  the  second  day  training  was  at  Cherthala  Taluk  o f 
Alappuzha District. Two days training was a great success.  
  5.10.6 As per the direction from the MNCFC, the field staff of  DES has 
successfully  collected  and  forwarded  through  online  the  ground  truth  da ta 
of area enumeration of 30 centers each of Palakkad and Alappuzha  districts 
using  the  personal  smart  phone  of  the  investigators.  Crop  cutting  
experiment  details  of  Paddy  (Rabi  I)  collected  by  using  Remote  Sensing  
Technique  from  30  centers  each  from  Palakkad  and  Alappuzha  districts  
have been uploaded on  MNCFC portal successfully. 
  5.10.7.On  analyzing  the  data  on  area  estimated  by  the  DES  and 
MNCFC  with  respect  to  the  winter  paddy  2015,it  was  noticed  that   there 
existed  a  wide  variation  between  these  two  estimates.  Director  General 
pointed  out  that  the  data  prepared  by  the  DES  is  on  the  strict  scrutiny  by 
the Taluk level officers and District level officers and finally appro ved by the 
district  level  core-committee  consisting  of  principal  Agricultural  Officer  and  
other district level officers.  
  5.10.8.  In  order  to  check  the  wide  variation  in  the  two  figures  o ne 
senior  officer  from  MNCFC  visited  Palakkad  and  Alappuzha  districts  f or  the 
second time. Now the report is under their consideration.  
Recommendation  
  5.10.9.  The  Committee  discussed  in  detail  the  possibility  of  usin g 
Remote  Sensing  Application  in  collection  of  data  on  agricultural  sect or  and 
thereby  to  reduce  the  work  load  of  the  primary  workers.  Department  has  
conducted  two  sample  studies  in  Palakkad  and  Alappuzha  district s  under 
the guidance of MNCFC by using remote sensing application.  
 Though  there  are  some  variations  in  the  paddy  estimated  figures  of  DES  
and  MNCFC,  it  was  decided  to  accept  the  remote  sensing  methodology  and 
check  once  again  its  possibility  in  area  and  estimation  of  product ion  of 
paddy.

59 
 
5.11.  Possibility  of  generating  agricultural  statistics  at  disaggreg
ated 
level (TOR 11).  
  5.11.1  The  Committee  discussed  in  detail  about  generating  
agricultural statistics at disaggregated level. After discussion, the Committee  
opined  that  it  is  not  technically  sound  to  estimate  data  at  wa rd  level.    The 
present method of conducting large number of crop cutting experiments and 
area  enumeration    of  100  clusters  for  panchayat  level  estimation  results  in 
introducing  huge  number  of  non  sampling  errors.  But  the  need  for 
Panchayat  level  estimates  is  appreciated.  Director  General  pointed  out  tha t 
at  present  DES  is  providing  Panchayat  wise  mean  yield  of  paddy  to 
Agriculture Department and National Insurance Company.   
Recommendation 
5.11.2. The Chairman suggested Director General, DES to request the 
Government for providing additional staff for collecting data at di saggregated 
level as per recommendations already made by the Committee.  
5.12. Other relevant items as per the terms of reference.(TOR-12)  
  5.12.1. Chairman asked for specific views of Dr.U.C.Sud in the ma tter 
of  use  of  adoption  of  remote  sensing  and  small  area  estimation  to  
agriculture  statistics  and  surveys  based  on  studies  so  far.  Dr.U.C.Sud 
apprised  the  Members  that  this  issue  is  still  wide  open  and  no  conclu sions 
have  so  far  been  made  at  national  or  international  level.  It  is  sti ll  at 
experimental  stage.  Chairman  therefore  felt  that  it  is  premature  for  the  
Committee  to  take  a  firm  stand  on  the  matter  at  this  stage.  The  Govt .  may 
have  to  wait  for  further  developments  in  the  matter  before  taking  a  d ecision 
for  providing  valid  estimates  of  crops  at  panchayat/  village/  ward  l evel  to 
National Insurance Corporation for crop insurance.  
  5.12.2.  Chairman  stressed  that  if  additional  data  requirements  a re 
sought from DES by the Government, the Committee’s view is that DES aft er 
due  consideration  of  the  proposal,  should  project  the  staff  requi rement  if 
any  for  the  project  and  place  the  demand  before  the  Government  for  
appropriate decision.  
  5.12.3.  DES  should  identify  data  gaps  with  reference  to  Rangaraj an 
Commission  Recommendations  and  place  its  proposals  with  the  Govt.for  
effecting improvements in the state statistical system.

60 
 
  5.12.4.  Operational  manual  and  instructions  on  modified  sampl
ing 
design  and  methodology  and  procedures  thereof  should  be  prepared  for  use  
of the field and HQ staffs  
  5.12.5. Collection of New Statistical Act (2008). 
5.12.6.On  discussion  regarding  the  New  Statistical  Act,  2008  and 
Rules and its use in various surveys in the state, Chairman pointed out  that 
applying the Statistical Act in all cases of data collection is n ot intended and 
it has to be used with due care taking into account the various pro visions in 
the Act and Rules. Director General informed that at present the 74th  Socio 
Economic  Survey,  Annual  Survey  of  Industries  and  Economic  Census  are  
conducted under the provision of the Act.  
  5.12.7.  Chairman  reiterated  his  views  and  suggestions  to  take  
concrete  steps  required  for  streamlining and  revitalizing  the work  in  DES  t o 
make  its  working  more  visible,  improve  the  image  of  DES,  evolve  a  system  
for  timely  monitoring  and  review  of  its  activities  and  taking  remedial  
measures  for  bringing  out  improvement  in  output  delivery  as  desired  by  
state  higher  officers  in  his  meeting.  While  noting  the  action  taken  by  D G  in 
the  matter,  he  suggested  that  utmost  importance  should  be  given  to  this  
vital task. Various improvement measures and steps should include forming  
of  the  Core  Group  of  Officers  in  the  department  (which  has  since  been  
formed)  and  periodical  review  of  the  functioning  of  the  department  as  per  a 
well  laid  down  Action  Plan.  He  emphasized  that  DES  should  be  a  service 
oriented  department  and  should  meet  data  needs  and  other  statistical 
requirements  of  various  Govt.  departments  and  agencies  regularly  and  with  
minimum  time  lag  in  data  to  help  the  Govt.  in  informed  decision  mak ing 
based  on  correct  and  updated  information  system.  For  achieving  this,  h e 
suggested  to  assign  duties  and  responsibilities  to  the  senior  officers  and  a 
monitoring system to be developed. The Core Group should have focus in it s 
actions and comprehensive agenda items should be listed for discussion an d 
problem  solving  approach  be  adopted;  such  meetings  should  be  held  
fortnightly  or  monthly.  DG  along  with  Senior  Officers  should  also  brief 
Secretary and Chief Secretary periodically on various matters and brief them  
about  the  outcome  of  the  steps  taken  by  DES  as  per  review  of  action  p lans 
on current status of all important activities initiated by the depa rtment from 
time  to  time  and  based  on  Core  Group  Meetings  and  follow  up  action s 
taken.  Implementation  of  decisions  and  actions  needing  approval  from  
higher  authorities  should  also  be  taken  up  in  such  meetings  with  Ch ief 
Secretary for obtaining appropriate decisions in such matters.

61 
     
     
ANNEXURES

62 
             
Annexure -Final 
                           
Annexure II 
Improvement of agriculture statistics-	
 
Genesis

63 
 
Government of India set up the 
National Statistical Commission , the 
first  of  its  kind,  through  Resolution  No.  M/13011/3/99-Admn.   IV  dated 
19th  January  2000  of  the  Ministry  of  Statistics  and  Programme  
Implementation.    Dr.  C.  Rangarajan,  the  then  Honorable  Governor  of  
Andhra  Pradesh  was  appointed  as  the  part-time  Chairman  of  the 
Commission  along  with  eleven  eminent  statisticians  and  economists  as  its  
part-time  members.  While  the  commission  touched  upon  all  the  sectors  for 
statistical  data  collection  in  the  country,  specific  attention  was  laid  on 
improvement  of  agriculture  statistics  system  in  the  country.  After  long  and  
extensive consultations, the National Statistical Commission made fo llowing 
recommendations  for  the  improvement  of  all  aspects  of  Agriculture  
Statistics.  
Crop Area Statistics (Para 4.2.23) 
1.As  the  data  from  a  20  percent  sample  is  large  enough  to  estimate  crop  
area  with  a  sufficient  degree  of  precision  at  the  all-India,  State  and  district 
levels, crop area forecasts and final area estimates issued by the Ministry of 
Agriculture  should  be  based  on  the  results  of  the  20  percent  Timely  
Reporting  Scheme  (TRS)  villages  in  the  temporarily  settled  States  and 
Establishment  of  an  Agency  for  Reporting  Agricultural  Statistics  (EAR AS) 
scheme  villages  in  the  permanently  settled  states.  In  the  case  of  the  North-
Eastern  States,  Remote  Sensing  methodology  should  be  used  for  this 
purpose after testing its viability.  
2.The Patwari and the supervisors above him should be mandated to acco rd 
the highest priority to the work of the girdawari and the patwari  be spared, if 
necessary, from other duties during the period of girdawari. 
3.The patwari and the primary staff employed in Establishment of a n Agency 
for  Reporting  Agricultural  Statistics  (EARAS)  should  be  imparted  syst ematic 
and  periodic  training  and  the  fieldwork  should  be  subjected  to  intensive 
supervision  by  the  higher-level  revenue  officials  as  well  as  by  the  technical  
staff.  
4.For proper and timely conduct of the girdawari, the concerned supervisory  
staff should be made accountable.  
5.Timely  Reporting  Scheme  (TRS)  and  Establishment  of  an  Agency  for  
Reporting  Agricultural  Statistics  (EARAS)  scheme  should  be  regarded  as  
programmes  of  national  importance  and  the  Government  of  India  at  the 
highest level should prevail upon the State Governments to give due priori ty 
to  them,  deploy  adequate  resources  for  the  purpose  and  ensure  proper 
conduct of field operations in time.

64 
  Crop Production (Para 4.3.12) 
6.In  view  of  the  importance  of  reliable  estimates  of  crop  production ,  the 
States  should  take  all  necessary  measures  to  ensure  that  the  crop  cutting  
surveys  under  the  General  Crop  Estimation  Survey  (GCES)  are  carried  out  
strictly according to the prescribed programme.  
7. Efforts should be made to reduce the diversity of agencies involved in  the 
fieldwork of crop cutting experiments and use as far as possible agricultu ral 
and statistical personnel for better control of field operations. 
8.A  statistical  study  should  be  carried  out  to  explore  the  feasibili ty  of  using 
the Improvement of Crop Statistics (ICS) data for working out a  correction or 
adjustment  factor  to  be  applied  to  official  statistics  of  crop  area  to  generate 
alternative  estimates  of  the  same.  Given  the  past  experience  of  the  Land  
Utilization  Surveys  of  the  NSS  and  the  controversies  they  created,  the  
Commission  is  of  the  view  that  the  objective  of  redesigning  of  the  ICS ,  at 
present, should be restricted to working out a correction factor.  
9.The  two  series  of  experiments  conducted  under  the  National  Agricultural  
Insurance  Scheme  (NAIS)  and  the  General  Crop  Estimation  Survey  (GCE S) 
should  not  be  combined  for  deriving  estimates  of  production  as  the  
objectives  of  the  two  series  are  different  and  their  merger  will  affect  the  
quality of general crop estimates.  
10.Crop  estimates  below  the  level  of  district  are  required  to  meet  several  
needs including those of the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme ( NAIS). 
Special  studies  should  be  taken  up  by  the  National  Statistical  Office  to 
develop appropriate "small area estimation" techniques for this purpose.   
Crop Forecasts (Para 4.4.8) 
11.The  Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  the  National  Crop  Forecasting  Cen tre 
(NCFC)  should  soon  put  in  place  an  objective  method  of  forecastin g  the 
production of crops.  
12.The  National  Crop  Forecasting  Centre  (NCFC)  should  be  adequa tely 
strengthened  with  professional  statisticians  and  experts  in  other  related  
fields.  
13.The  programme  of  Forecasting  Agricultural  output  using  Space,  Agro- 
meteorology  and  Land  based  observations  (FASAL),  which  is  experimentin g 
the  approach  of  Remote  Sensing  to  estimate  the  area  under  principal  crops  
should be actively pursued.

65 
 
14.The  States  should  be  assisted  by  the  Centre  in  adopting  the  obj
ective 
techniques to be developed by the National Crop Forecasting Centre (NC FC). 
Production of Horticultural Crops (Para 4.5.7) 
15.The methodology adopted in the pilot scheme of "Crop Estimatio n Survey 
on  Fruits  and  Vegetables"  should  be  reviewed  and  an  alternative 
methodology  for  estimating  the  production  of  horticultural  crops  shou ld  be 
developed taking into account information flowing from all sources in cluding 
market  arrivals,  exports  and  growers  associations.  Special  studies  required 
to  establish  the  feasibility  of  such  a  methodology  should  be  taken  up  by  a 
team  comprising  representatives  from  Indian  Agricultural  Statistics 
Research Institute (IASRI), Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Mi nistry 
of  Agriculture  (DESMOA),  Field  Operations  Division  of  National  S ample 
Survey  Organisation  (NSSO  (FOD))  and  from  one  or  two  major  States 
growing horticultural crops. The alternative methodology should be tried  out 
on a pilot basis before actually implementing it on a large scale.  
16.A  suitable  methodology  for  estimating  the  production  of  crops  such  as 
mushroom, herbs and floriculture needs to be developed and this should b e 
entrusted  to  the  expert  team  comprising  representatives  from  Indian  
Agricultural  Statistics  Research  Institute  (IASRI),  Directorate  of  Econ omics 
and  Statistics,  Ministry  of  Agriculture  (DESMOA),  Field  Operations  Division 
of  National  Sample  Survey  Organisation  (NSSO  (FOD))  and  from  o ne  or  two 
major States growing these crops. 
Land Use (Para 4.7.7) 
17.The  nine-fold  classification  of  land  use  should  be  slightl y  enlarged  to 
cover two or three more categories such as social forestry, marshy and water  
logged  land,  and  land  under  still  waters,  which  are  of  common  i nterest  to 
the  centre  and  States,  and  which  can  easily  be  identified  by  the  pat wari 
through visual observation.  
18.State Governments should ensure that computerization of land records i s 
completed expeditiously. 
Irrigation Statistics (Para 4.8.15) 
19.In  view  of  wide  variation  between  the  irrigated  area  generated  by  th e 
Ministry  of  Agriculture  and  the  Ministry  of  Water  Resources,  the  State  
Governments should make an attempt to explain and reduce the divergence,  
to  the  extent  possible,  through  mutual  consultation  between  the  t wo 
agencies engaged in the data collection at the local level.  
20.The  State  Directorates  of  Economics  and  Statistics  (DESs)  should  be 
made  the  nodal  agencies  in  respect  of  irrigation  statistics  and  they  shoul d

66 
 
establish  direct  links  with  the  State  and  Central  agencies  concerned  to 
secure speedy data flow.  
21.Statistical  monitoring  and  evaluation  cells  with  trained  stat
istical 
personnel  should  be  created  in  the  field  offices  of  the  Central  Water  
Commission  (CWC)  in  order  to  generate  a  variety  of  statistics  relating  to 
water use.  
22.The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) should designate a  senior level 
officer to interact with the Central and State irrigation authori ties in order to 
promote  an  efficient  system  of  water  resources  statistics  and  oversee  its  
activities. 
Land Holdings and Agricultural Census (Para 4.9.13) 
23.The Agricultural Census should henceforth be on a sample basis and  the 
same should be conducted in a 20 per cent sample of villages.  
24.There  should  be  an  element  of  household  enquiry  (besides  re-tabulati on) 
in the Agricultural Census in the temporarily settled States.  
25.Computerization  of  land  records  should  be  expedited  to  facilita te  the 
Agricultural Census operations. 
26.There  should  be  adequate  provision  for  effective  administrative  
supervision  over  the  fieldwork  of  Agricultural  Census  and  also  a  technica l 
check on the quality of data with the help of the State stati stical agency. 
27.The post of the Agricultural Census Commissioner of India  at the  Centre 
should  be  restored  and  should  be  of  the  level  of  Additional  Secreta ry  to  be 
able  to  interact  effectively  with  the  State  Governments.  Further,  thi s  post 
should be earmarked for a senior statistician.  
28.The  Census  Monitoring  Board  should  be  revived  to  oversee  the  
Agricultural Census operations. 
Agricultural Prices (Para 4.10.10) 
29.The Ministry of Agriculture should prepare a well-documented manual o f 
instructions on collection of wholesale prices of agricultural commodities.  
30.The agricultural price collectors should be given thorough training in  the 
concepts,  definitions  and  the  methods  of  data  collection,  and  th e  training 
courses should be repeated periodically.  
31.Workshops  and  training  courses  should  be  made  an  integral  part  of 
quality improvement. The quality of data should be determined on th e basis 
of  systematic  analysis  of  the  price  data  of  agricultural  commodities  b oth  by 
the Centre and the States.

67 
 
32.Latest tools of communication technology like e-mail should be ava
iled of 
to ensure timely data flow of agricultural prices.  
33.A  system  should  be  developed  to  secure  a  simultaneous  data  flow  of  
agricultural prices from lower levels to the State as well as the Centre.  
34.The  State  agencies  at  the  district  level  and  below  should  follow   up  cases 
of chronic non-response relating to collection of data on agricultu ral prices. 
35.The  number  of  essential  commodities  for  which  agricultural  prices  are  
collected  should  be  reduced  to  an  absolute  minimum,  especially  the  non- 
food  crops,  in  consultation  with  Ministry  of  Consumer  Affairs  and  Cabinet 
Committee on Prices.  
36.The  centres  of  agricultural  price  collection  should,  as  far  as  po ssible,  be 
the same for the essential commodities as those for wholesale prices. 
Agricultural Market Intelligence (Para 4.11.4) 
37.The  functions,  activities  and  the  staff  requirements  of  the  Agricul tural 
Market  Intelligence  Units  should  be  re-evaluated  and  appropriate  measures  
taken to streamline the units.  Cost of Cultivation of Principal Crops (Para 4.12.6) 
38.In  view  of  the  importance  of  the  Cost  of  Cultivation  Stud ies  in  the  price 
administration  of  agricultural  commodities  and  several  studies  relating  to  
farm economy, the present programme should continue.  
39.Focused  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  proper  organization  a nd 
management of the Cost of Cultivation Studies.  
40.A review of the number of centres, methodology, sample size, the existing  
schedule and questionnaire, etc. of the Cost of Cultivation Stud ies should be 
undertaken.  
41.The  Directorate  of  Economics  and  Statistics,  Ministry  of  Agriculture  
(DESMOA) should minimize the delay in bringing out the results of t he Cost 
of Cultivation Studies. 
Livestock Numbers (Para 4.13.7) 
42.The  quinquennial  Livestock  Census  should  henceforth  be  taken  in  a  20 
per cent sample of villages instead of cent per cent coverage.  
43.The  Livestock  Census  should  include  some  minimum  information  abou t 
the household (size, occupation, etc.) in addition to the head  count for more 
meaningful analysis of the census data. 
44.  There  should  be  a  concerted  effort  towards  better  organization  and  
management  of  the  Livestock  Census  operation  through  comprehensive

68 
 
training  of  the  field  staff  and  regular  supervision  over  their  work  by 
both 
administrative and technical personnel.  
45.  Information  Technology  tools  should  be  used  at  various  stages  of  the 
Livestock Census for rapid processing and preparation of the final report s as 
well as improving the quality of the data. 
Integration of Livestock and Agricultural Censuses (Para 4.14. 3) 
46.The Livestock and Agricultural Censuses should be integrated and t aken 
together in a 20 per cent sample of villages.  
47.Before  effecting  the  integration  of  Livestock  and  Agricultural  Censu ses  a 
limited  pilot  investigation  be  undertaken  to  firm  up  the  procedures  o f 
integration.  
48.The periodical National Sample Survey Organisation’s survey on lan d and 
livestock  holdings  be  synchronized  with  Agricultural  and  Livestock  
Censuses  in  order  to  supplement  as  well  as  help  in  the  crosscheck  of 
information from the two sources. 
Livestock Products (Para 4.15.6) 
49.The  Integrated  Sample  Surveys  should  be  continued  and  efforts  should  
be made to fill up the existing data gaps.  
50.The  Indian  Agricultural  Statistics  Research  Institute  (IASRI)  sh ould  be 
entrusted  with  the  task  of  developing  appropriate  methodologies  for  fi lling 
up  the  remaining  data  gaps  relating  to  estimates  of  mutton,  pork,  po ultry 
meat, and meat by-products. 
Fisheries Statistics (Para 4.16.10) 
51.The  survey  design  for  estimating  production  of  marine  fisheries  should  
be modified taking into account the current distribution of lan ding sites and 
the  volume  of  catch  at  different  sites.  The  field  staff  engaged  in  coll ection  of 
data  should  be  imparted  regular  training  and  their  work  should  be 
adequately supervised.  
52.The  survey  methodology  for  estimating  production  of  inland  fisheries  
especially  with  regard  to  running  water  sources  (rivers  and  canals)  should  
receive  urgent  attention  and  the  Indian  Agricultural  Statistics  Research  
Institute  (IASRI)  along  with  the  Central  Inland  Fisheries  Research   Institute 
(CIFRI)  should  be  provided  with  adequate  support  to  develop  th is 
programme on a priority basis.

69 
 
53.The  States  should  improve  the  recording  of  area  under  still  water  by
 
appropriate modification of land use statistics.  
54.The  discrepancies  between  the  two  sources  of  data  namely,  Livestock  
Census and State reports with regard to data on fishermen, fishing craf t and 
gear  should  be  reconciled  by  adoption  of  uniform  concepts  and  defini tions 
and review of these statistics at the district and State levels. 
Forestry Statistics (Para 4.17.10) 
55.Remote  Sensing  techniques  should  be  extensively  used  to  improve  and  
develop forestry statistics.  
56.The  State  Forest  Departments  should  be  adequately  supported  by  the  
establishment  of  appropriate  statistical  units  to  oversee  the  collection   and 
compilation  of  forestry  statistics  from  diverse  sources  on  forest  products 
including timber and non-timber forest products.  
57.Arrangements  should  be  made  for  storage  and  speedy  transmission  of  
forestry data through Information Technology devices.  
58.In  view  of  the  unavoidable  nature  of  the  divergence  between  statisti cs 
from  the  two  sources  –  land  records  and  State  Forest  Departments  –  
because  of  different  coverage  and  concepts,  the  two  series  should  continue  
to  exist;  but  the  reasons  for  divergence  should  be  clearly  indicated  to  h elp 
data users in interpreting the forestry statistics.  
59.A  Statistics  Division  in  the  Ministry  of  Environment  and  Forests  w ith 
adequate  statistical  manpower  should  be  created  for  rationalization   and 
development of proper database on forestry statistics. 
Marketable Surplus and Post-Harvest Losses (Para 4.18.4) 
60.The  existing  methodology  in  conducting  the  surveys  on  marketable  
surplus  and  post-harvest  losses  of  food  grains  should  continue  in  fut ure 
surveys of this type.  
61.The  agencies  designated  for  the  collection  of  information  on  mark etable 
surplus and post-harvest losses of food grains should be provided addit ional 
manpower, wherever necessary, for the conduct of these surveys. 
Market Research Surveys (Para 4.19.4) 
62.The  Directorate  of  Marketing  and  Inspection  (DMI)  should  establish   a 
Statistical Cell either independently or within Market Research and  Planning 
Cell  (MRPC)  with  sufficiently  trained  statistical  personnel  to  und ertake 
comprehensive analysis of survey data and aid the decision-making process.

70 
 
63.The  Statistical  Cell  of  Directorate  of  Marketing  and  Inspection 
(DMI) 
should  identify  the  problems  and  deficiencies  in  the  market  research  
surveys  carried  out  by  different  institutions  and  develop  a  standard  
methodology for uniform adoption. 
Index Numbers in Agriculture (Para 4.20.8) 
64.A  review  of  the  item  basket  for  the  construction  of  Index  Numbers  of  
Area, Production and Yield should be undertaken immediately.  
65.The  item  basket  for  the  construction  of  Index  Numbers  of  Area,  
Production and Yield should be different for different States.  
66.The  present  arrangements  for  the  construction  and  release  of  Index  of  
Terms of Trade should continue. 
Recording of Area under Mixed Crops (Para 4.21.5) 
67.The  rates  used  to  apportion  the  areas  of  constituent  crops  of  majo r  crop 
mixtures  should  be  fixed  for  the  recognized  mixtures  at  sub-district  and  
district levels and updated periodically.  
68.Data  available  from  surveys  conducted  under  schemes  like  Improvement  
of  Crop  Statistics  (ICS)  over  the  years  should  be  used  for  deciding  th e  crop 
mixtures and their ratios.  Input Statistics (Para 4.22.8) 
69.The  Directorate  of  Economics  and  Statistics,  Ministry  of  Agriculture  
(DESMOA)  should  collect,  compile  and  maintain  a  complete  database  on 
State-wise  production,  sale  of  tractors,  power  tillers,  harvesters  and  o ther 
agricultural  implements,  density  of  such  implements  per  hectare, 
investment  made,  level  of  mechanization,  adoption  of  water  saving  devices,  
etc.  
70.A  Farm  Management  Survey  on  an  all-India  basis  should  be  condu cted 
on a regular basis preferably at an interval of five years.  
71.The  Directorate  of  Plant  Protection  Quarantine  and  Storage  (P PQ&S) 
being  the  apex  body  for  plant  protection  should  act  as  a  deposito ry  of 
information  on  plant  protection.  Efforts  should  be  made  to  design ,  develop 
and  maintain  a  comprehensive  database  on  plant  protection  for  effect ive 
long-term uses.  
72.The  Statistics  and  Computer  Unit  of  the  Directorate  of  Plant  P rotection, 
Quarantine  and  Storage  (PPQ&S)  should  be  strengthened  both  in  terms  of 
statistical and computer personnel as well as computer equipment. 
73.Information  collected  through  General  Crop  Estimation  Survey  (GC ES) 
and the scheme for Improvement of Crop Statistics (ICS) should be compil ed 
to  generate  estimates  on  various  inputs  such  as  fertilizers,  pesticides, 
multiple cropping, etc.

71 
  ANNEXURE III 
Expert Committee Meetings 
Sl. 
No .	
 	
Expert 
Committee/ 
Sub Committee	
 	
Chairman  Date  Venue 	
1  Expert  
Committee    
meeting    Sri.M.Neelakantan, Addl. 
Director General, NSSO  
(Rtd). 
21/11/2012	 	IMG, TVM 	
2 
1
st
 Sub 
Committee  
meeting  Dr.U.C. Sud, Head,  
Division of Sample Survey,  
IASRI.       
05/03/2013	 	IASRI,  
NEW DELHI 	
3 2
nd
 Sub 
Committee  
meeting  Sri.M.Neelakantan, Addl.  
Director General, NSSO  
(Rtd). 
11/03/2013	 	Mascot  
Hotel 	
4 2
nd
 Sub 
Committee   
meeting  Sri.M.Neelakantan, Addl.  
Director General, NSSO  
(Rtd). 
19/06/2013	 	Govt. Guest House,  
Thycaud. 	
5 2
nd
 sub 
Committee  
meeting  Sri.M.Neelakantan, Addl.  
Director General, NSSO  
(Rtd). 
08/10/2013	 	Govt. Guest House,  
Thycaud 	
6 2
nd
 Sub 
Committee  
meeting  Sri.M.Neelakantan, Addl.  
Director General, NSSO  
(Rtd). 
27/01/2014	 	Govt. Guest House,  
Thycaud 	
7 Ist Sub  
Committee   
meeting  Dr.U.C. Sud, Head,  
Division of Sample Survey,  
IASRI.       
21/04/2014	 	Govt. Guest House,  
Thycaud 	
8 2
nd
 Sub 
Committee   
meeting  Sri.M.Neelakantan, Addl.  
Director General, NSSO  
(Rtd) 
12/11/2014	 	Govt. Guest House,  
Thycaud 	
9 2
nd
 Sub 
Committee   
meeting  Sri.M.Neelakantan, Addl.  
Director General, NSSO  
(Rtd) 
13/07/2015	 	Govt. Guest House,  
Thycaud 	
10 
  2
nd
 Sub 
Committee  
meeting  Sri.M. Neelakantan,  Addl. 
Director 
General, NSSO (Rtd) 
07/11/2015	 	Govt.Guest House  
Thycaud 	
11 
  2
nd
 Sub 
Committee  
meeting  Sri.M. Neelakantan,  Addl.  
Director  
General, NSSO (Rtd) 
02/04/2016	 	
Govt.Guest House  
Thycaud   	
12 
  2
nd
 Sub 
Committee  
 meeting  Sri.M. Neelakantan,  Addl. 
Director 
General, NSSO (Rtd) 
27/06/2016	 	
Govt.Guest House  
Thycaud  	
13 2
nd
 Sub 
Committee  
meeting  Sri.M. Neelakantan,  Addl. 
Director 
General, NSSO (Rtd) 
07/01/2017	 	
Govt.Guest House  
Thycaud  	
14 2
nd
 Sub 
Committee    Sri.M. Neelakantan,  Addl. 
Dire 
23/02/2017	 	Hotel Old  
Plaza,Munnar,Idukky 	
15  1st  M.Neelakantan  03/04/2017	 	Goust house

72 
 
 
ANNEXURE IV 
ESTIMATED PRODUCTIVITY OF CROPS (Kg/Ha)  	
ESTIMATED P	RODUCTIVITY OF CROPS(Kg/Ha 
Coconut  (Nos/Ha) 	 	
District	 	2006-07	 	2007-08	 	2008-09	 	2009-10	 	2010-11	 	2011-12	 	
  1.  
Thiruvananthapuram	
 	7784	 	7755	 	8371	 	8280	 	7163	 	8009	 	
  2. Kollam	 	7830	 	6453	 	7586	 	7270	 	6743	 	7721	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	5785	 	5977	 	6674	 	7031	 	7167	 	8465	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	7388	 	6845	 	7077	 	6455	 	6710	 	5680	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	5579	 	5820	 	5562	 	5003	 	5209	 	5282	 	
  6. Idukki	 	4183	 	3614	 	4444	 	5236	 	4703	 	5537	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	6873	 	5909	 	5385	 	5284	 	5152	 	5197	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	7199	 	7038	 	6918	 	6941	 	6542	 	6780	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	6979	 	6988	 	7617	 	7292	 	7146	 	8145	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	7653	 	7944	 	8999	 	9808	 	8793	 	8670	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	6368	 	6923	 	7796	 	7284	 	6328	 	6672	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	3906	 	3661	 	3450	 	4510	 	5078	 	4565	 	
  13. Kannur	 	7003	 	6738	 	6435	 	6139	 	6878	 	7139	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	6783	 	7799	 	8399	 	7672	 	7441	 	3515	 	
State	 	6935	 	6889	 	7365	 	7278	 	6862	 	7237	 	
Arecanut	 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	735	 	538	 	602	 	517	 	603	 	510	 	
  2. Kollam	 	709	 	602	 	754	 	748	 	580	 	821	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	745	 	489	 	513	 	557	 	603	 	619	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	332	 	405	 	606	 	589	 	478	 	408	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	750	 	846	 	726	 	770	 	737	 	728	 	
  6. Idukki	 	1476	 	1126	 	1191	 	1143	 	710	 	925	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	1023	 	1228	 	1163	 	1091	 	1075	 	939	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	740	 	663	 	1004	 	991	 	683	 	666	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	720	 	693	 	1293	 	1133	 	964	 	1255	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	947	 	1002	 	1174	 	1277	 	881	 	1163	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	974	 	1091	 	1398	 	1264	 	908	 	1069	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	441	 	379	 	470	 	496	 	676	 	525	 	
  13. Kannur	 	1109	 	942	 	1272	 	1266	 	1030	 	1303	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	2367	 	2887	 	2509	 	1814	 	1665	 	1951	 	
State	 	
 	1077	 	1149	 	1289	 	1177	 	1001	 	1163

73 
 	
Tapioca	 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	23084	 	24984	 	25922	 	26284	 	28697	 	30616	 	
  2. Kollam	 	27289	 	30567	 	28433	 	29711	 	28128	 	31169	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	35280	 	37361	 	36479	 	46092	 	38416	 	38283	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	25071	 	28187	 	29211	 	27346	 	27615	 	24919	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	32517	 	28248	 	35395	 	38674	 	37883	 	35478	 	
  6. Idukki	 	32326	 	33213	 	33128	 	35364	 	38613	 	41320	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	36528	 	34701	 	36955	 	43370	 	40344	 	39358	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	29640	 	26988	 	31715	 	30558	 	37561	 	36284	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	26676	 	22489	 	23577	 	31807	 	27613	 	30189	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	31673	 	40507	 	38883	 	38826	 	35853	 	35148	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	23058	 	23061	 	26123	 	28070	 	26451	 	21732	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	36279	 	31141	 	41319	 	47478	 	52505	 	49429	 	
  13. Kannur	 	28635	 	28600	 	32692	 	37321	 	35625	 	38431	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	24410	 	21715	 	23151	 	22748	 	24057	 	24849	 	
State	 	28911	 	30438	 	31088	 	33733	 	33326	 	34419	 	
Raw cashew	 	
 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	486	 	419	 	433	 	403	 	365	 	309	 	
  2. Kollam	 	655	 	510	 	448	 	445	 	334	 	273	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	447	 	339	 	359	 	386	 	342	 	325	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	327	 	395	 	311	 	386	 	236	 	214	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	384	 	382	 	289	 	314	 	267	 	249	 	
  6. Idukki	 	437	 	364	 	536	 	402	 	285	 	339	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	462	 	447	 	404	 	375	 	322	 	241	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	397	 	501	 	430	 	407	 	439	 	276	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	389	 	456	 	468	 	349	 	310	 	236	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	697	 	876	 	585	 	508	 	365	 	425	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	501	 	663	 	506	 	340	 	449	 	305	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	650	 	471	 	328	 	700	 	806	 	426	 	
  13. Kannur	 	1222	 	1328	 	1071	 	1114	 	1302	 	1044	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	1026	 	961	 	1091	 	632	 	754	 	689	 	
State	 	875	 	898	 	799	 	731	 	793	 	680

74 
 	
Black pepper	 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	230	 	256	 	211	 	210	 	197	 	422	 	
  2. Kollam	 	290	 	225	 	189	 	184	 	165	 	359	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	292	 	303	 	273	 	236	 	229	 	496	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	124	 	116	 	93	 	97	 	100	 	188	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	168	 	163	 	141	 	144	 	128	 	343	 	
  6. Idukki	 	422	 	357	 	287	 	297	 	354	 	528	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	171	 	163	 	175	 	151	 	143	 	252	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	179	 	170	 	174	 	183	 	150	 	358	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	173	 	139	 	154	 	195	 	175	 	340	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	121	 	129	 	98	 	95	 	83	 	201	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	123	 	91	 	98	 	127	 	108	 	180	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	269	 	159	 	217	 	271	 	150	 	320	 	
  13. Kannur	 	208	 	149	 	200	 	260	 	182	 	389	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	294	 	238	 	256	 	230	 	372	 	804	 	
State	 	297	 	239	 	221	 	248	 	263	 	445	 	
Banana	 	
 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	6706	 	6333	 	7013	 	7344	 	5618	 	6051	 	
  2. Kollam	 	6143	 	6413	 	6886	 	6588	 	7742	 	7276	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	8252	 	8066	 	7881	 	8297	 	7919	 	7951	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	7171	 	6413	 	6732	 	8033	 	7882	 	7921	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	9094	 	9305	 	9440	 	9051	 	8864	 	8781	 	
  6. Idukki	 	7435	 	7320	 	8748	 	7677	 	8730	 	8734	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	8739	 	8101	 	9518	 	9044	 	9487	 	9602	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	8869	 	6393	 	9050	 	7896	 	7868	 	9228	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	7290	 	7199	 	8966	 	7559	 	8643	 	8864	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	7713	 	7102	 	7477	 	6997	 	7281	 	9025	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	8201	 	7554	 	7456	 	7522	 	7392	 	8139	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	7410	 	7459	 	6008	 	8611	 	8404	 	8677	 	
  13. Kannur	 	9210	 	6581	 	7774	 	7264	 	8130	 	8694	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	9621	 	11247	 	8057	 	7821	 	11406	 	6265	 	
State	 	7841	 	7411	 	7965	 	7923	 	8244	 	8703

75 
   	
Plantain	 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	10568	 	8637	 	7687	 	9019	 	7737	 	7588	 	
  2. Kollam	 	7799	 	8217	 	6812	 	6593	 	5640	 	7080	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	10274	 	9148	 	8943	 	9726	 	7976	 	9685	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	6543	 	8412	 	6241	 	6331	 	6865	 	5577	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	8563	 	8882	 	8688	 	8425	 	8255	 	7772	 	
  6. Idukki	 	9187	 	9141	 	7516	 	7297	 	9718	 	9479	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	8298	 	8216	 	6661	 	6619	 	7108	 	7472	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	6615	 	4781	 	5414	 	5467	 	6410	 	5720	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	9566	 	8928	 	12359	 	9200	 	9910	 	7461	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	7458	 	6523	 	7028	 	4960	 	6383	 	5011	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	5871	 	5162	 	4741	 	3735	 	4108	 	3979	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	6794	 	6085	 	6198	 	5711	 	5651	 	8340	 	
  13. Kannur	 	5982	 	4509	 	4360	 	3875	 	3905	 	3636	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	7792	 	5779	 	5746	 	5378	 	5388	 	5146	 	
State	 	8205	 	7629	 	7973	 	7082	 	7201	 	6783	 	
Jack(Nos/Ha)	 	
 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	5085	 	5018	 	4783	 	4615	 	4836	 	3337	 	
  2. Kollam	 	4674	 	4701	 	3797	 	3480	 	4558	 	3723	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	5082	 	4663	 	4756	 	4114	 	4329	 	3583	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	2543	 	2669	 	3410	 	3695	 	3908	 	2513	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	4454	 	4685	 	4290	 	4519	 	4759	 	3801	 	
  6. Idukki	 	3387	 	2801	 	3491	 	3435	 	4468	 	3750	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	4699	 	3575	 	5003	 	4508	 	4169	 	3430	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	3861	 	3928	 	3794	 	3972	 	3688	 	2439	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	4515	 	4996	 	4608	 	4473	 	4088	 	3012	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	3994	 	3725	 	3249	 	2812	 	3284	 	2499	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	3032	 	2319	 	3124	 	2508	 	3005	 	1913	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	2415	 	2806	 	2005	 	3074	 	3097	 	2270	 	
  13. Kannur	 	3595	 	3576	 	3562	 	3709	 	4537	 	3024	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	4423	 	3596	 	3780	 	3419	 	4063	 	3789	 	
State	 	3769	 	3622	 	3658	 	3583	 	4003	 	3011

76 
   	
Cocoa	 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	429	 	431	 	391	 	333	 	439	 	536	 	
  2. Kollam	 	444	 	105	 	357	 	200	 	125	 	143	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	452	 	400	 	566	 	569	 	877	 	1063	 	
  4. Alappuzha	 	386	 	480	 	536	 	598	 	1861	 	1272	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	517	 	499	 	579	 	613	 	834	 	935	 	
  6. Idukki	 	630	 	754	 	592	 	493	 	699	 	1327	 	
  7. Ernakulam	 	492	 	498	 	555	 	536	 	645	 	674	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	230	 	224	 	277	 	224	 	707	 	543	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	535	 	738	 	538	 	819	 	503	 	727	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	472	 	512	 	884	 	677	 	316	 	433	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	434	 	534	 	563	 	543	 	689	 	586	 	
  12. Wayanad	 	184	 	204	 	105	 	364	 	363	 	504	 	
  13. Kannur	 	249	 	346	 	443	 	484	 	641	 	827	 	
  14. Kasaragod	 	293	 	427	 	241	 	151	 	440	 	709	 	
State	 	540	 	656	 	575	 	512	 	695	 	1122	 	
Sesamum	 	
  1. Thiruvananthapuram	 	  	  	  	  	  	  	
  2. Kollam	 	596	 	400	 	570	 	647	 	675	 	582	 	
  3. Pathanamthitta	 	  	  	  	  	  	  	
  4. Alappuzha	 	375	 	197	 	839	 	210	 	140	 	357	 	
  5. Kottayam	 	  	  	  	  	  	  	
  6. Idukki	 	429	 	  	200	 	400	 	  	  	
  7. Ernakulam	 	515	 	208	 	769	 	133	 	167	 	250	 	
  8. Thrissur	 	143	 	333	 	135	 	333	 	171	 	200	 	
  9. Palakkad	 	133	 	197	 	273	 	111	 	132	 	176	 	
  10. Malappuram	 	452	 	381	 	465	 	414	 	444	 	337	 	
  11. Kozhikode	 	  	  	  	  	  	  	
  12. Wayanad	 	333	 	  	  	  	200	 	  	
  13. Kannur	 	  	333	 	  	  	  	  	
  14. Kasaragod	 	1000	 	1000	 	  	  	  	  	
State	 	402	 	321	 	536	 	339	 	439	 	386

77 
 	
Estimated Productivity of Crops	 	
Paddy	 	
2006-07	 	2007-08	 	
Autumn	 	Winter	 	Summer	 	Autumn	 	Winter	 	Summer	 	
Thiruvananthapuram	 	2567	 	2650	 	2562	 	2477	 	2535	 	2390	 	
Kollam	 	2417	 	2236	 	1333	 	2369	 	2226	 	1617	 	
Pathanamthitta	 	2391	 	2387	 	3286	 	2295	 	2381	 	2287	 	
Alappuzha	 	2935	 	2929	 	2842	 	1768	 	2125	 	1751	 	
Kottayam	 	2595	 	2361	 	2720	 	2591	 	2616	 	2583	 	
Idukky	 	2756	 	2538	 	2622	 	2502	 	2784	 	1844	 	
Eranakulam	 	1922	 	2083	 	1805	 	1870	 	2111	 	1844	 	
Thrissur	 	1827	 	2170	 	3461	 	1778	 	2219	 	3024	 	
Palakkad	 	2265	 	2588	 	2891	 	2300	 	2584	 	2808	 	
Malappuram	 	2199	 	1958	 	3458	 	1820	 	2130	 	3448	 	
Kozhikkode	 	1346	 	1384	 	1664	 	1138	 	1163	 	2032	 	
Wayanad	 	  	2495	 	2963	 	  	2494	 	2873	 	
Kannur	 	1898	 	2057	 	1224	 	1822	 	2088	 	1562	 	
Kasargod	 	2383	 	2122	 	2149	 	2166	 	2079	 	1851	 	
STATE  2281	 	2413	 	2881	 	2168	 	2370	 	2404	 	 
Paddy 	
2008-09	 	2009-10	 	
Autumn	 	Winter	 	Summer	 	Autumn	 	Winter	 	Summer	 	
Thiruvananthapuram	 	2489	 	2360	 	2638	 	2782	 	2414	 	2083	 	
Kollam	 	2263	 	2157	 	703	 	2346	 	2304	 	1867	 	
Pathanamthitta	 	2331	 	2494	 	2929	 	2520	 	2471	 	2619	 	
Alappuzha	 	2999	 	3027	 	3090	 	3167	 	3026	 	2758	 	
Kottayam	 	3022	 	2563	 	3042	 	2915	 	2433	 	2417	 	
Idukky	 	2636	 	2594	 	2368	 	2567	 	2682	 	2491	 	
Eranakulam	 	1996	 	2088	 	1733	 	1908	 	2074	 	1649	 	
Thrissur	 	1980	 	2344	 	3270	 	1774	 	2279	 	3152	 	
Palakkad	 	2443	 	2478	 	2890	 	2497	 	2783	 	2685	 	
Malappuram	 	2190	 	1898	 	3118	 	1974	 	2088	 	3306	 	
Kozhikkode	 	1338	 	1241	 	2097	 	1277	 	1143	 	2018	 	
Wayanad	 	  	2610	 	2816	 	  	2490	 	2819	 	
Kannur	 	1757	 	1813	 	1627	 	1914	 	1998	 	1450	 	
Kasargod	 	2390	 	1993	 	1918	 	2304	 	1843	 	2052	 	
STATE  2428	 	2370	 	2982	 	2486	 	2533	 	2719

78 
 
 
Paddy	 	2010-11	 	
Autumn	 	Winter	 	Summer	 	Total	 	
Thiruvananthapuram	 	2407	 	2390	 	2097	 	2372	 	
Kollam	 	2249	 	2112	 	1691	 	2141	 	
Pathanamthitta	 	2168	 	2277	 	2211	 	2220	 	
Alappuzha	 	2284	 	2386	 	2560	 	2464	 	
Kottayam	 	2940	 	2258	 	2757	 	2773	 	
Idukky	 	2591	 	2609	 	2633	 	2608	 	
Eranakulam	 	1902	 	2041	 	1944	 	1977	 	
Thrissur	 	1982	 	2471	 	3179	 	2620	 	
Palakkad	 	2485	 	2463	 	2782	 	2493	 	
Malappuram	 	2111	 	2106	 	3359	 	2354	 	
Kozhikkode	 	1264	 	1108	 	2020	 	1270	 	
Wayanad	 	  	2456	 	2870	 	2525	 	
Kannur	 	2140	 	2055	 	2241	 	2099	 	
Kasargod	 	2550	 	2082	 	2357	 	2367	 	
STATE 
2415	 	2348	 	2688	 	2452	 	
           2011-12	 	
Autumn	 	Winter	 	Summer	 	Total	 	
Thiruvananthapuram	 	2604	 	2535	 	2393	 	2563	 	
Kollam	 	2252	 	2295	 	1542	 	2274	 	
Pathanamthitta	 	2133	 	2905	 	3292	 	3208	 	
Alappuzha	 	3063	 	3105	 	3096	 	3089	 	
Kottayam	 	2854	 	2687	 	3109	 	2970	 	
Idukky	 	2408	 	2507	 	2379	 	2480	 	
Eranakulam	 	2070	 	2197	 	2181	 	2144	 	
Thrissur	 	2124	 	2659	 	3631	 	2943	 	
Palakkad	 	2439	 	2858	 	2920	 	2672	 	
Malappuram	 	2072	 	2167	 	3609	 	2468	 	
Kozhikkode	 	1569	 	1267	 	2288	 	1464	 	
Wayanad	 	  	2608	 	2657	 	2615	 	
Kannur	 	2024	 	2199	 	2073	 	2120	 	
Kasargod	 	2351	 	1953	 	2603	 	2218	 	
STATE	 	2519	 	2676	 	3155	 	2733

79 
  ANNEXURE V 
District wise declining trend of productivity of Rice 
District  2008-2009  2009-2010  2010-2011  2011-2012  2012-2013 	
Thiruvananthapuram	 	2429	 	2573	 	2372	 	2563	 	2256	 	
Kollam  2149	 	2301	 	2141	 	2274	 	2111	 	
Pathanamthitta  2760	 	2583	 	2220	 	3208	 	2650	 	
Alappuzha  3053	 	2930	 	2464	 	3089	 	2890	 	
Kottayam  2936	 	2547	 	2773	 	2970	 	2904	 	
Idukki  2598	 	2636	 	2608	 	2480	 	2707	 	
Ernakulam  1998	 	1949	 	1977	 	2144	 	2166	 	
Thrissur  2575	 	2510	 	2620	 	2943	 	2925	 	
Palakkad  2497	 	2648	 	2493	 	2672	 	2389	 	
Malappuram  2113	 	2251	 	2354	 	2468	 	2304	 	
Kozhikkode  1390	 	1313	 	1270	 	1464	 	1517	 	
Wayanad  2657	 	2552	 	2525	 	2615	 	2742	 	
Kannur  1783	 	1942	 	2099	 	2120	 	2130	 	
Kasargode  2213	 	2107	 	2367	 	2218	 	2310	 	
Kasargode  2213	 	2107	 	2367	 	2218	 	2310	 	
State  2520	 	2557	 	2452	 	2733	 	2577	 	 	 
Districts wise reports	
 
1.   Thiruvananthapuram	
 
 
Cultivation  of  paddy  is  not  as  profitable  as  compared  to  cash  crops.  
This  is  the  reason  for  the    lack  of  interest  of  farmers  in  paddy  culti vation.  
The  farmers  rarely  use  bio-fertilizers  which  play  an  important  role  in 	
2429 2573
23722563
2256
2050
2100
2150
2200
2250
2300
2350
2400
2450
2500
2550
2600
2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013	
Kg/Ha	
Trivandrum

retaining  the  fertility  of  soil  along  with  the  chemical  fertilizers.   Majority  of 
the farmers depend on rain for paddy cultivation.  	
The cult	ivated area of paddy is very small as compared to the total wet 	
land.    This  resulted  in  the  increased  rate  of  pest  attack.    The  usage  of 
chemical  fertilizer  is  not  according  to
agricultural  officers  and  agricultural  assi
farmers  could  not  depute  sufficient  number  of  labourers  for  paddy 
cultivation. This  	create bottleneck to the extensive cultivation	
 
Year  Productivity	
 	
2008-09  2429 
2009-10  2573 
2010-11  2372 
2011-12  2563 
2012-13  2256 	
 
2.Kollam	 	
2149	
2301	
2000
2050
2100
2150
2200
2250
2300
2350	
2008	-2009	2009	
80 	
retaining  the  fertility  of  soil  along  with  the  chemical  fertilizers. 
  Majority  of 
the farmers depend on rain for paddy cultivation.  	 	
ivated area of paddy is very small as compared to the total wet 	
land.    This  resulted  in  the  increased  rate  of  pest  attack.    The  usage  of 
chemical  fertilizer  is  not  according  to	 the  direction  and  guidelines  of  the 	
agricultural  officers  and  agricultural  assi	stants	.    Due  to  high 	
farmers  could  not  depute  sufficient  number  of  labourers  for  paddy 	
create bottleneck to the extensive cultivation	
Remarks 	
Lack of   	fertilizer usage ,irrigation&	
sufficient rain , attack of pest are the 
reasons for the low yield rate of paddy 
during the year 
-   
Due to heavy rain fall and 	scarcity of 	
labourers 	were resulted in low yield 	
rate. 
- 
Severe drought 	caused delay in the 	
transplan	ting of paddy. 	 	
2301	
21412274	
2111	
2009	-2010	2010	-2011	2011	-2012	2012	
Kollam	
retaining  the  fertility  of  soil  along  with  the  chemical  fertilizers. 
  Majority  of 	
ivated area of paddy is very small as compared to the total wet 	
land.    This  resulted  in  the  increased  rate  of  pest  attack.    The  usage  of 	
the  direction  and  guidelines  of  the 	
.    Due  to  high 	wage  rate  the 	
farmers  could  not  depute  sufficient  number  of  labourers  for  paddy 	
create bottleneck to the extensive cultivation	. 	
fertilizer usage ,irrigation&	 	
sufficient rain , attack of pest are the 
reasons for the low yield rate of paddy 	
scarcity of 	
were resulted in low yield 	
caused delay in the 	
 	
2111	
2012	-2013

81 
 
  1.On  examining  the  special  report  and  CC  schedules  from  the  sub  
offices,  it  is  reported  that  declining  trend  of  production  of  pa
ddy  is  mainly 
due  to  the  climate  variation.  Attack  of  birds,  disturbances  of  in sects, 
unavailability  of  labours,  irregular  raining,  un-controlled  drought,   lack  of 
irrigation facilities etc. will affect the productivity of paddy.  
  2.Reason for decreasing productivity of Summer paddy in the year 2008-09    In  2008-09  productivity  of  summer  paddy  was  703Kg/Ha  while  in 
2009-10  it  was  1867  Kg/Ha  and  in  2007-08  summer  paddy  was  16 17 
Kg/Ha.  While  examining  the  special  report  of  summer  paddy  cultivation,  it  
was  reported  that  due  to      bund  collapse  there  was  a  huge  paddy  crop   loss 
in  Karunagapally.  Continuous  rain  was  other  reason  reported  for  crop 
damage in Kunnathur Taluk. In Kollam Taluk, paddy is ruined  due to water 
tide from Ithikkara river.   
Year  Productivity  Remarks 	
2008-09  2149  Unfavorable climate is affected the  
paddy cultivation.  	
 	
2009-10 
2301  -   
2010-11  2141  Productivity decreased due to  
disturbances of insects, birds and  
lack of water in the apt time.   
2011-12 
2274 	- 	
2012-13 2111  Presence of Salt water, draught,  
disturbance of birds, insects were  
affected the paddy cultivation.

3.Pathanamthitta   	
Comparing  the  last  five  years  productivity  2011	
Agricultural 	department  have taken  several measures  for  improving  the  producti on 	
and  productivity  of  paddy  such  as  distribution  of  improved  seeds,  integrated  pest
control etc. 	during this year.	
Year  Productivity 	
2008-09  2760 	-	
2009-10  2583 	-	
2010-11  2220 	Crop loss due to bad weather
of labours etc. resulted in low 	
2010-11  2220 	Crop loss due to bad weather
of labours etc. resulted in low productivity.	
2011-12  3208 	 	
2012-13  2650 	-	
 	
2760	
2583	
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
2008-2009	
2009	
82 	
 	
Comparing  the  last  five  years  productivity  2011	-12  shows  the  highest  yield.	
department  have taken  several measures  for  improving  the  producti on 	
and  productivity  of  paddy  such  as  distribution  of  improved  seeds,  integrated  pest	
during this year.	  Subsidy for fertilizers was also given to cultivators. 	
Remarks 	
- 
- 
Crop loss due to bad weather	, attack of pest, and shortage 	
of labours etc. resulted in low 	productivity.	
Crop loss due to bad weather	, attack of pest, and shortage 	
of labours etc. resulted in low productivity.
 
- 	
2583	22203208	
2009	-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012
Pathanamthitta	
 	
12  shows  the  highest  yield.	 	
department  have taken  several measures  for  improving  the  producti
on 	
and  productivity  of  paddy  such  as  distribution  of  improved  seeds,  integrated  pest	 	
Subsidy for fertilizers was also given to cultivators. 	 	
, attack of pest, and shortage 
productivity.	 	
, attack of pest, and shortage 	
of labours etc. resulted in low productivity.	 
2650
2012-2013

4.Alappuzha
 	
The decrease in the productivity of rice in 2009	
year was mainly due to the attack of insects, flood, drought and  flow of saline water 
in  the  paddy  fields.    But  in  2008
reasons was comparatively lower and the productivity increased.	
 
Year 	
2008- 09 
2009- 10 	
2010-11 
2011-12 
2012-13 	
 	
 	
3053
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500	
2008	-2009	
Kg/Ha	
83 	
The decrease in the productivity of rice in 2009	-10, 2010-	11, 2012	
year was mainly due to the attack of insects, flood, drought and 
flow of saline water 
in  the  paddy  fields.    But  in  2008	-09,  2011-	12  year,  the  crop  loss  due  to  the  above 	
reasons was comparatively lower and the productivity increased.	 
Productivity 
Remarks	
3053  - 
2930 	
Due to flood  
and attack of 
insects 	
2464 	Crop loss due to bad weather	
3089  - 
2890  S	
pread of weeds
saline water in the paddy 
fields	, severe drought 	
adversely affected 
productivity.	 	
 	 	
2930
24643089	
2009	-2010	2010	-2011	2011	-2012	
Alappuzha	
 	
11, 2012	-13 agriculture 	
year was mainly due to the attack of insects, flood, drought and 
flow of saline water 	
12  year,  the  crop  loss  due  to  the  above 	
Remarks	 	
Due to flood  
and attack of 
insects 	. 	
Crop loss due to bad weather	. 	
pread of weeds	, the flow of 	
saline water in the paddy 	
, severe drought 	
adversely affected 	the 	
 	
2890	
2012	-2013

84 
 
 
5. Kottayam	
 
 
In Kottayam district, there was no downward trend found in the product ivity 
of  paddy  for  last  5  years.  But  in  2009-10  there  was  a  decrease  in  the  paddy  
productivity  compared  to  that  of  previous  year.  The  heavy  rain  and  f lood  during 
this  period  was  the  main  reason  for  the  decrease  in  productivity.  It   may  be  noted 
that, from 2010-11 onwards, there is a gradual increase in the productivit y of paddy. 
This  may  be  due  to  various programmes  initiated  by  the  Government  t o  benefit  the 
Paddy Cultivation and good climatic conditions. 
 
Year  Productivity  Remarks 	
2008-09  2936  - 
2009-10  2547  Heavy  rain  and  flood. 
2010-11  2773  - 
2011-12  2970  - 
2012-13  2904  - 	
   	
2936
254727732970
2904
2300
2400
2500
2600
2700
2800
2900
3000
3100
2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013	
Kg/Ha	
Kottayam

6. Idukki	
 	
There is no remarkable variation found in the productivity 	
District exce	pt for the year 2011	
Year 	Productivity	
2008-09  2598 
2009-10  2636 
2010-11  2608 
2011-12  2480 
2012-13  2707 	
        	
2598
2350
2400
2450
2500
2550
2600
2650
2700
2750
2008-2009	
Kg/Ha	
85 	
There is no remarkable variation found in the productivity 	of Paddy in Idukki 	
pt for the year 2011	-12. 	
Productivity	  Remarks 	
- 
- 
- 	
Due  to  bad  weather  conditions&  lack  of 
sufficient rain. 
Highest productivity during last five 	
2636 2608
2480
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012	
Idukki	
 	
of Paddy in Idukki 	
ue  to  bad  weather  conditions&  lack  of 
Highest productivity during last five 	year. 	
2707
2012-2013

7. ERNAKULAM	
 	
The  reasons  underlying  declining  trend  in  the  yield  rate  of  paddy  is
 	
that  on  account  of  acute  shortage  of  field  hands,  who  command  an 
unconscionable wage rate which the farmer can ill afford, the cultivat ors as 
a  whole  is 	dispensing  with  the  process  of  weed  removal.    These  labour	
intensive  processes,  which  is  to  be  performed  at  the  pre
at  frequent  intervals  during  its  growth,  ensures  healthy  nutrition  for 
standing  crop,  but  exact  a  heavy  financial  toll  fro
wage  component.    In  cases  where  the  farmer  decides  to  meet  this  financial 
burden,  the  upshot  would  be  certain  loss.    Another  cause  is  that  repeated 
use  of  chemical  fertilizers  has  depleted  soil  of  its  bio
dimi	nishing returns	
 
Year 	
Productivity	
2008-09 	1998	
2009-10 	1949	
2010-11 	1977	
2011-12 	2144	
2012-13 	2166	
 
 	
1998
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
2050
2100
2150
2200
2008-2009	
Kg/Ha	
86 	
 	
The  reasons  underlying  declining  trend  in  the  yield  rate  of  paddy  is  	
that  on  account  of  acute  shortage  of  field  hands,  who  command  an 
unconscionable wage rate which the farmer can ill afford, the cultivat ors as 	
dispensing  with  the  process  of  weed  removal.    These  labour	
intensive  processes,  which  is  to  be  performed  at  the  pre	-planting  time  and 	
at  frequent  intervals  during  its  growth,  ensures  healthy  nutrition  for 
standing  crop,  but  exact  a  heavy  financial  toll  fro	m  the  cultivator  towards 	
wage  component.    In  cases  where  the  farmer  decides  to  meet  this  financial 
burden,  the  upshot  would  be  certain  loss.    Another  cause  is  that  repeated 
use  of  chemical  fertilizers  has  depleted  soil  of  its  bio	-fertility,  leading  to 	
nishing returns	. 	
Productivity	  Remarks 	
1998	  - 	
1949	  - 	
1977	  - 	
2144	  - 	
2166	  - 	
194919772144
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012	
Ernakulam	
 	
The  reasons  underlying  declining  trend  in  the  yield  rate  of  paddy  is  	
that  on  account  of  acute  shortage  of  field  hands,  who  command  an 
unconscionable wage rate which the farmer can ill afford, the cultivat ors as 	
dispensing  with  the  process  of  weed  removal.    These  labour	-	
planting  time  and 	
at  frequent  intervals  during  its  growth,  ensures  healthy  nutrition  for 	
m  the  cultivator  towards 	
wage  component.    In  cases  where  the  farmer  decides  to  meet  this  financial 
burden,  the  upshot  would  be  certain  loss.    Another  cause  is  that  repeated 	
fertility,  leading  to 	
2166
2012-2013

8.Thrissur	
 
 	
The sudden change or shift from local variety to high yield variety  affected the 	
sample  average  yield  rate  to  some
increased yield rate from 2011
may be noted that during 2010
variety seed and promoted high yield paddy cultivatio	
Therefore  the  productivity  estimate  in  Thrissur  District    from  2008	
13 as reported by DES is reliable and realistic as the significant v ariations have  been 
rightly addressed and attributed to better agriculture practice in the
years 
Year 	
2008-09 
2009-10 
2010-11 
2011-12 
2012-13 	
 	
2575
2200
2300
2400
2500
2600
2700
2800
2900
3000
2008-2009	
Kg/Ha	
87 	
The sudden change or shift from local variety to high yield variety  affected the 	
sample  average  yield  rate  to  some	 extend  and  might  have  of  course  affected  the 	
increased yield rate from 2011	-12 onwards.  T	o  support  the  above  argument  it 	
may be noted that during 2010	-11 Agriculture Department supplied more high yield 	
variety seed and promoted high yield paddy cultivatio	n in the district.	
Therefore  the  productivity  estimate  in  Thrissur  District    from  2 008	
13 as reported by DES is reliable and realistic as the significant v ariations have  been 
rightly addressed and attributed to better agriculture practice in the	
Productivity  Remarks 	
2575   
2510   
2620 	Using high yield varieties	
2943 	Using high yield varieties	
2925   	
25102620 2943
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012	
2012	
Thrissur	
 	
The sudden change or shift from local variety to high yield variety  affected the 	
extend  and  might  have  of  course  affected  the 	
o  support  the  above  argument  it 	
11 Agriculture Department supplied more high yield 	
n in the district.	 	
Therefore  the  productivity  estimate  in  Thrissur  District    from  2008	-09  to  2012-	
13 as reported by DES is reliable and realistic as the significant v ariations have  been 
rightly addressed and attributed to better agriculture practice in the	 district in recent 	
Using high yield varieties	 	
Using high yield varieties	 	
2925	
2012	-2013

9. Palakkad	
In  this  district,  a  continuous  declining  trend  of  the  yield 	
last 5 years is not happened.  The reason for variation in the yield rate is
 mainly due 
to bad weather conditions ( i.e. Irregular rain fall, heavy rain, lack of irrigation etc.) , 
pest attack , crop loss due to wild animals ( Pig , E	
Year 	Productivity	
2008-09 	2497	
2009-10 	2648	
2010-11 	2493	
2011-12 	2672	
2012-13 	2389	
 	
2497
2200
2250
2300
2350
2400
2450
2500
2550
2600
2650
2700
2008-2009	
Kg/Ha	
88 	
In  this  district,  a  continuous  declining  trend  of  the  yield 	rate  of  paddy  for  the 	
last 5 years is not happened.  The reason for variation in the yield rate is  mainly due 
to bad weather conditions ( i.e. Irregular rain fall, heavy rain, lack of irrigation etc.) , 
pest attack , crop loss due to wild animals ( Pig , E	lephant, Peacock etc.).	
Productivity	 	Remarks 	
2497	   	
2648	   	
2493	   	
2672	   	
2389	 	Lack of irrigation & bad weather conditions.
2648
24932672
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012	
2012	
Palakkad	
 	
rate  of  paddy  for  the 	
last 5 years is not happened.  The reason for variation in the yield rate is  mainly due 
to bad weather conditions ( i.e. Irregular rain fall, heavy rain, lack of irrigation etc.) , 	
lephant, Peacock etc.).	 	
Lack of irrigation & bad weather conditions.	 	
2389	
2012	-2013

10.Malappuram	
 
 	
It  shows  that  the  productivity  of  paddy  in  this  district  i s 	
of the above four years. 
 
Year 	
Productivity	
2008 - 2009  2113 
2009-2010  2251 
2010-2011  2354 
2011-2012  2468 
2012-2013  2304 	
 
    	
2113
1900
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
2500	
2008	-2009	
Kg/Ha	
89 	
It  shows  that  the  productivity  of  paddy  in  this  district  i
s 	increasing  regularly 	
Productivity	 	Remarks 	
 
 
 
 	
Productivity decreased due to shortage of rain.
22512354
2468	
2009	-2010	2010	-2011	2011	-2012	
Malappuram	
 	
increasing  regularly 	
Productivity decreased due to shortage of rain.	 	
2304	
2012	-2013

11. Kozhikkode	
 	
During the year 2009	
wind  and  rain  some  portion  of  paddy  were  destroyed.    Hence  the  productivi ty  of 
paddy  decreased  comp	aring  to  the  last  year.	
cultivators are forced to withdraw from pad
agricultural  labourers  and  high  production  cost.  Also  due  to  natural  calamity  some 
of paddy crops were destroyed during the year 2010	
Year  Productivity	 	
2008-09	 	1390 	 	
2009-10	 	1313 	
P
heavy wind & rain	
2010-11	 	1270 	
Natural calamity at some parts of the district and non
availability of agricultural labourers resulted in low 
productivity.	
2011-12	 	1464 	 	
2012-13	 	1517 	 	
 	
1390
1100
1150
1200
1250
1300
1350
1400
1450
1500
1550	
2008	-2009	
Kg/HA	
90 	
During the year 2009	-10 	due to the sudden change of climate i.e due to heavy 	
wind  and  rain  some  portion  of  paddy  were  destroyed.    Hence  the  productivi
ty  of 	
aring  to  the  last  year.	 During  the  year  2010	
cultivators are forced to withdraw from pad	dy cultivation due to non	
agricultural  labourers  and  high  production  cost.  Also  due  to  natural  calamity  some 
of paddy crops were destroyed during the year 2010	-11. 
Remarks 	
 
Productivity  	decreased due tobad weather conditionsi.e. 	
heavy wind & rain	 	
Natural calamity at some parts of the district and non
availability of agricultural labourers resulted in low 
productivity.	 	
 
 	
1313 12701464	
2009	-2010	2010	-2011	2011	-2012	
Kozhikkode	
 	
due to the sudden change of climate i.e due to heavy 	
wind  and  rain  some  portion  of  paddy  were  destroyed.    Hence  the  productivi
ty  of 	
During  the  year  2010	-11,  most  of  the 	
dy cultivation due to non	-availability of 	
agricultural  labourers  and  high  production  cost.  Also  due  to  natural  calamity  some 	
decreased due tobad weather conditionsi.e. 	
Natural calamity at some parts of the district and non	-	
availability of agricultural labourers resulted in low 	
1517	
2012	-2013

12.Wayanad	
 
       F	
armers received more awareness in respect of new seeds, like 	
bio-	fertilizers.  Promoted group farming effectively in some areas. 	
 
Year 	
Productivity	
2008-09  2657 
2009-10  2552 
2010-11  2525 
2011-12  2615 
2012-13  2742 	
   
   
  	
2657	
2552	
2400
2450
2500
2550
2600
2650
2700
2750
2800
2008-2009	
2009	
Kg/Ha	
91 	
armers received more awareness in respect of new seeds, like 
fertilizers.  Promoted group farming effectively in some areas. 	 	
Productivity	 	Remarks 	
 
Productivity  decreased due to severe drought
Bad weather, untimely weather resulted decline in area, 
production and productivity of paddy during 2010
 Drought was severe, but 	the interference of farmers at 	
right time resulted in increase of productivity of paddy 
compared to previous year. 
 Using new methods and bio-	fertilizers.	
2552	2525 26152742	
2009	-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-	2013	
Wayanad	
 	
armers received more awareness in respect of new seeds, like 	medagascar  and use  of 
 	
roductivity  decreased due to severe drought	 	
Bad weather, untimely weather resulted decline in area, 
production and productivity of paddy during 2010	 	
the interference of farmers at 	
right time resulted in increase of productivity of paddy 	
fertilizers.	 	
2013

13.KANNUR	
In Kannur district, the productivity of paddy is showing a trend 
2012-	13  in  the  district.  The  reason  for  this  trend  is  due  to  the  better  pract
ice  of  cultivation 	
such as use of High Yielding variety of seeds, fertilizers and manures. Also the supporting 
from  the  Government  through  Agricultural
‘Padasekharasamithi  ’  were  helpful  to  the  cultivators  for  improving   their  production.  The 
hike  in  the  price  of  paddy  during  the  above  period  and  the  support   from  the  government 
in procurement of paddy is also reflected th	
 	
Year 	
2008-09 
2009-10 
2010-11 
2011-12 
2012-13 	
    	
1783
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2100
2200
2008-2009	Kg/HA	
92 	
In Kannur district, the productivity of paddy is showing a trend 	of increase from 2008	
13  in  the  district.  The  reason  for  this  trend  is  due  to  the  better  pract ice  of  cultivation 	
such as use of High Yielding variety of seeds, fertilizers and manures. Also the supporting 
from  the  Government  through  Agricultural	 Department  and  the  involvement  of 	
‘Padasekharasamithi  ’  were  helpful  to  the  cultivators  for  improving   their  production.  The 
hike  in  the  price  of  paddy  during  the  above  period  and  the  support   from  the  government 
in procurement of paddy is also reflected th	e production rate. 
Productivity  Remarks	
 	
1783  - 
1942  - 
2099  - 
2120  - 
2130  - 
1942 2099
2120
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012	
Kannur	
 	
of increase from 2008	-09 to 	
13  in  the  district.  The  reason  for  this  trend  is  due  to  the  better  pract ice  of  cultivation 	
such as use of High Yielding variety of seeds, fertilizers and manures. Also the supporting 	
Department  and  the  involvement  of 	
‘Padasekharasamithi  ’  were  helpful  to  the  cultivators  for  improving   their  production.  The 
hike  in  the  price  of  paddy  during  the  above  period  and  the  support   from  the  government 	
 	
2130
2012-2013

14.Kasargod	
Factors  such  as  fertility  of  land,  Monsoon  behaviour,  rainfall,  irr
igation,  application  of 
fertilizers, 	climate  conditions,  marketing  facilities,  price,  availability  of  agriculture  labours 	
etc., determine the productivity of paddy.	
 
Year 	
Productivity	
2008-09 	2213	
2009-10 	2107	
2010-11 	2367	
2011-12 	2218	
2012-13 	2310	
 
 	
2213
1950
2000
2050
2100
2150
2200
2250
2300
2350
2400
2008-2009	
Kg/Ha	
93 	
Factors  such  as  fertility  of  land,  Monsoon  behaviour,  rainfall,  irr igation,  application  of 	
climate  conditions,  marketing  facilities,  price,  availability  of  agriculture  labours 	
etc., determine the productivity of paddy.	 	
Productivity	 	Remarks	
2213	  - 	
2107	 	In autumn season there was heavy rainfall during 
harvest time and attack 	of pests affected in the 	
production of rice	 	2367	  - 	
2218	 	Some paddy fields of border areas were destroyed 
by wild animals like pig, elephant & monkeys.	
2310	   	
 	 
21072367
2218
2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012
Kasargode	
 	
Factors  such  as  fertility  of  land,  Monsoon  behaviour,  rainfall,  irr igation,  application  of 	
climate  conditions,  marketing  facilities,  price,  availability  of  agriculture  labours 	
Remarks	 	
In autumn season there was heavy rainfall during 	
of pests affected in the 	
Some paddy fields of border areas were destroyed 
by wild animals like pig, elephant & monkeys.	 	
2310
2012-2013

94 
  ANNEXURE VI 	
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF RICE IN KERALA	 	
Adverse weather has affected the production of rice in India. As far as
 	
Kerala  context  is  concerned,  productivity  has  declined  from  2557  to  245 2 
and  from  2733  to  2577  during  2010-11  and  2012-13  comparing  with  its 
previous years. 
Reasons  for  the  decline  in  the  productivity  are  many.  Major  among 
them  are  lack  of  adequate  fertilizer  usage,  lack  of  irrigation,  attack  of  pest, 
scarcity  of  labours  for  harvest,  lack  of  sufficient  rain,  repeated  use  of  
chemical  fertilizers  has  depleted  bio-fertility  of  soil,  the  high  wage  rat e  and 
shortage  of  agricultural  labours,  the  shortage  of  experienced  labours  etc. 
District wise productivity is appended. 
The  subsidies  distributed  by  Agricultural  department  for  paddy 
cultivation  are  very  low  compared  to  the  high  input  cost  of  paddy 
cultivation. 
Analyzing  the  table  of  productivity  of  important  crops  during  the  last 
six  years,  the  Chairman  suggested  that  it  would  be  very  useful  to  have  a  
district  wise  report  of  production  and  consumption  of  rice  in  Kerala   during 
the last few years as this would be a very valuable input from DES  for policy 
decisions of the Government. DES may therefore get such a report prepared 
early  and  after  consideration  of  the  same  by  the  Committee,  it  could  be 
submitted  to  Planning  Board  and  Government.  This  is  a  topical  stud y  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  cultivated  area  of  crops  has  been  decreasing  fro m  year 
to year and so the only remedy to increase production seems to be the use o f 
high tech farming.   On  the  basis  of  the  recommendation  of  the  Expert  Committee,  DES 
hasprepared  a  report  on  district  wise  production  and  consumption  of  R ice 
for the last six years. It is stated bellow:-

95 
  Production & Consumption of Rice 
 
Source.1.  Production  of  Rice--Agricultural  Statistics  Reports  from  20 07-08  to 
2012-13,   Department of Economics and Statistics, Kerala 
2.  Consumption--  Report  on  NSS  Socio-  Economic  Survey  64th  Roun d 
(Household Consumer Expenditure 2007-08), Department of Economics an d 
Statistics, Kerala     
3.  Population--  Projected  population  from  2007  to  2010  a nd  2012,  Census 
population for 2011. Kerala 	
District wise  Production and Consumption of Rice in K erala from 2007-08 to 
2012-13(Production & Consumption in Tonnes)	
 
 	
 
             (Production 2007-08 & Consumption 2007)	 
 	
Sl.  
No.	
 	DISTRICT	 	Production  of Rice	
 	
Consumption  of Rice	
 	
Production  	
gap	 	
Production gap %	
 	
1 	THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 	 	7182	 	303855	 	296673	 	98	 	
2 	KOLLAM 	 	7988	 	248999	 	241011	 	97	 	
3 	PATHANAMTHITTA 	 	4631	 	94921	 	90290	 	95	 	
4 	ALAPPUZHA 	 	62270	 	188110	 	125840	 	67	 	
5 	KOTTAYAM	 	28428	 	197567	 	169139	 	86	 	
6 	IDUKKI	 	5959	 	100870	 	94911	 	94	 	
7 	ERNAKULAM	 	24407	 	320096	 	295689	 	92	 	
8 	THRISSUR 	 	59381	 	314145	 	254764	 	81	 	
9 	PALAKKAD	 	244244	 	278758	 	34514	 	12	 	
10	 	MALAPPURAM	 	21748	 	421304	 	399556	 	95	 	
11	 	KOZHIKODE 	 	5097	 	274460	 	269363	 	98	 	
12	 	WAYANAD	 	32079	 	84017	 	51938	 	62	 	
13	 	KANNUR 	 	14111	 	248795	 	234684	 	94	 	
14	 	KASARGOD	 	10963	 	119832	 	108869	 	91	 	
STATE	 	528488	 	3196341	 	2667853	 	83

96 
  (Production 2008-09& Consumption 2007) 
  
Source.1.    Production  of  Rice--Agricultural  Statistics  Reports  from  20 07-08  to 
2012-13,   Department of Economics and Statistics, Kerala 
2.  Consumption--  Report  on  NSS  Socio-  Economic  Survey  64th  Roun d 
(Household  Consumer  Expenditure  2007-08),  Department  of  Economics  
andStatistics,  Kerala.3.  Population--  Projected  population  fro m  2007  to 
2010 and 2012, and Census population for 2011.   (Production& Consumption in Tonnes)	
 	
 
Sl No	 	DISTRICT	 
Production 
of Rice  Consumpti
on of Rice  Production  
gap  Production 
gap % 	
1  THIRUVANANTHAPURAM   7274	 	306702	 	299428	 	98 	
2  KOLLAM   8292	 	250767	 	242475	 	97 	
3  PATHANAMTHITTA   7399	 	95260	 	87861	 	92 	
4  ALAPPUZHA   104250	 	189067	 	84817	 	45 	
5  KOTTAYAM  32154	 	198874	 	166720	 	84 	
6  IDUKKI  5494	 	101333	 	95839	 	95 	
7  ERNAKULAM  25907	 	323155	 	297248	 	92 	
8  THRISSUR   71909	 	316776	 	244867	 	77 	
9  PALAKKAD  240143	 	281391	 	41248	 	15 	
10  MALAPPURAM  23265	 	428052	 	404787	 	95 	
11  KOZHIKODE   5613	 	277055	 	271442	 	98 	
12  WAYANAD  33861	 	85350	 	51489	 	60 	
13  KANNUR   13637	 	250515	 	236878	 	95 	
14  KASARGOD  11043	 	121230	 	110187	 	91 	
STATE  590241	 	3225236	 	2634995	 	82

97 
 
(Production 2009-10& Consumption 2007)
 
Source.1.    Production  of  Rice--Agricultural  Statistics  Reports  from  20 07-08  to 
2012-13,   Department of Economics and Statistics, Kerala 
 2.  Consumption--  Report  on  NSS  Socio-  Economic  Survey  64th  Rou nd 
(Household Consumer Expenditure 2007-08), Department of Economics an d 
Statistics, Kerala 
 3.  Population--  Projected  population  from  2007  to  2010  a nd  2012,  and  Census 
population for 2011. Kerala    (Production & Consumption in Tonnes)	
 	
 	
Sl 
No	
 	DISTRICT	 	Production  of Rice	
 	
Consumption  of Rice	
 	
Production  	
gap	 	
Production gap %	
 	
1 	THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 	 	7564	 	309576	 	302012	 	98	 	
2 	KOLLAM 	 	7947	 	252548	 	244601	 	97	 	
3 	PATHANAMTHITTA 	 	7738	 	95601	 	87863	 	92	 	
4 	ALAPPUZHA 	 	97976	 	190029	 	92053	 	48	 	
5 	KOTTAYAM	 	39413	 	200190	 	160777	 	80	 	
6 	IDUKKI	 	6137	 	101798	 	95661	 	94	 	
7 	ERNAKULAM	 	21024	 	326244	 	305220	 	94	 	
8 	THRISSUR 	 	63854	 	319430	 	255576	 	80	 	
9 	PALAKKAD	 	266231	 	284049	 	17818	 	6 	
10	 	MALAPPURAM	 	19893	 	434909	 	415016	 	95	 	
11	 	KOZHIKODE 	 	4302	 	279675	 	275373	 	98	 	
12	 	WAYANAD	 	33157	 	86703	 	53546	 	62	 	
13	 	KANNUR 	 	13843	 	252247	 	238404	 	95	 	
14	 	KASARGOD	 	9260	 	122645	 	113385	 	92	 	
  	STATE	 	598339	 	3254392	 	2656053	 	82

98 
 
Source.1.    Production  of  Rice--Agricultural  Statistics  Reports  from 
2007-08  to  2012-13,      Department  of  Economics  and 
Statistics, Kerala 
2.      Consumption--  Report  on  NSS  Socio-  Economic  Survey  64th  Round  (Household  Consumer  Expenditure  2007-08),  
Department of Economics and Statistics, Kerala     
3.      Population-- Projected population from 2007 to 201 0 and     
       2012, and Census population for 2011. Kerala.       (Production 2010-11& Consumption 2007)	
 	
 
(Production & Consumption in Tonnes)	 	
Sl. 
No.	
 	DISTRICT	 	
Production  of Rice	
 	
Consumption  of Rice	
 	
Production  	
gap	 	
Production gap %	
 	
1 	THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 	 	6923	 	312477	 	305554	 	98	 	
2 	KOLLAM 	 	7155	 	254342	 	247187	 	97	 	
3 	PATHANAMTHITTA 	 	6628	 	95944	 	89316	 	93	 	
4 	ALAPPUZHA 	 	91325	 	190995	 	99670	 	52	 	
5 	KOTTAYAM	 	40970	 	201514	 	160544	 	80	 	
6 	IDUKKI	 	4744	 	102266	 	97522	 	95	 	
7 	ERNAKULAM	 	17823	 	329362	 	311539	 	95	 	
8 	THRISSUR 	 	53079	 	322105	 	269026	 	84	 	
9 	PALAKKAD	 	218155	 	286732	 	68577	 	24	 	
10	 	MALAPPURAM	 	21069	 	441876	 	420807	 	95	 	
11	 	KOZHIKODE 	 	3814	 	282320	 	278506	 	99	 	
12	 	WAYANAD	 	27911	 	88077	 	60166	 	68	 	
13	 	KANNUR 	 	13308	 	253992	 	240684	 	95	 	
14	 	KASARGOD	 	9834	 	124076	 	114242	 	92	 	
  	STATE	 	522738	 	3283811	 	2761073	 	84

99 
 
 
(Production 2011-12& Consumption2007) 
  
Source.1.  Production  of  Rice-Agricultural  Statistics  Report  from  2007 -08  to 
2012-13 DES, Kerala 
2.  Consumption--  Report  on  NSS  Socio-  Economic  Survey  64th  Roun d 
(Household Consumer Expenditure 2007-08), Department of Economics an d 
Statistics, Kerala      
3.  Population--  Projected  population  from  2007  to  2010  an d  2012,  and 
Census population for 2011. Kerala  (Production  & Consumption in tonnes) 	
Sl.  
No.	
 	
DISTRICT	 	Production 
of Rice	
 	
Consumption  of Rice	
 	
Production   gap	
 	
Production gap %	
 	
1 	THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 	 	6139	 	293764	 	287625	 	98	 	
2 	KOLLAM 	 	4768	 	242857	 	238089	 	98	 	
3 	PATHANAMTHITTA 	 	8989	 	90188	 	81199	 	90	 	
4 	ALAPPUZHA 	 	111980	 	183910	 	71930	 	39	 	
5 	KOTTAYAM	 	63579	 	192477	 	128898	 	67	 	
6 	IDUKKI	 	3135	 	96296	 	93161	 	97	 	
7 	ERNAKULAM	 	16572	 	320047	 	303475	 	95	 	
8 	THRISSUR 	 	62316	 	312355	 	250039	 	80	 	
9 	PALAKKAD	 	224413	 	282981	 	58568	 	21	 	
10	 	MALAPPURAM	 	18577	 	433775	 	415198	 	96	 	
11	 	KOZHIKODE 	 	4274	 	278409	 	274135	 	98	 	
12	 	WAYANAD	 	23526	 	79359	 	55833	 	70	 	
13	 	KANNUR 	 	12170	 	249927	 	237757	 	95	 	
14	 	KASARGOD	 	8555	 	120992	 	112437	 	93	 	
  	STATE	 	568993	 	3175668	 	2606675	 	82

100 
  (Production 2012-13& Consumption 2007)
 	
(Production & Consumption in tonnes)	 
 	
Sl. 
No.	
 	DISTRICT	 	
Production  of Rice	
 	
Consumption  of Rice	
 	
Production   gap	
 	
Production gap %	
 	
1 	THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 	 	4096	 	294417	 	290321	 	99	 	
2 	KOLLAM 	 	2928	 	243282	 	240354	 	99	 	
3 	PATHANAMTHITTA 	 	6041	 	89920	 	83879	 	93	 	
4 	ALAPPUZHA 	 	104593	 	184054	 	79461	 	43	 	
5 	KOTTAYAM	 	51019	 	192737	 	141718	 	74	 	
6 	IDUKKI	 	3183	 	96114	 	92931	 	97	 	
7 	ERNAKULAM	 	8533	 	321874	 	313341	 	97	 	
8 	THRISSUR 	 	67569	 	313743	 	246174	 	78	 	
9 	PALAKKAD	 	189229	 	285010	 	95781	 	34	 	
10	 	MALAPPURAM	 	15377	 	439210	 	423833	 	96	 	
11	 	KOZHIKODE 	 	5326	 	280385	 	275059	 	98	 	
12	 	WAYANAD	 	28052	 	79656	 	51604	 	65	 	
13	 	KANNUR 	 	14237	 	251076	 	236839	 	94	 	
14	 	KASARGOD	 	8116	 	121955	 	113839	 	93	 	
  	STATE	 	508299	 	3190791	 	2682492	 	84	 	
 
Source.1.  Production  of  Rice--Agricultural  Statistics  Reports  from  20 07-08  to 
2012-13,   Department of Economics and Statistics, Kerala 
2.  Consumption--  Report  on  NSS  Socio-  Economic  Survey  64th  Roun d 
(Household Consumer Expenditure 2007-08), Department of Economics an d 
Statistics, Kerala  
   3. Population-- Projected population from 2007 to 2010  and 2012, and Census 
population for 2011. Kerala
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