Page 26 - 1960 (3) Pakistan Census Of Agriculture Vol 2 West Pakistan

xxi

· 56; No survey of agricultural r operations in culturai development. Sine(;) · agricultural production.
lthe urban areas was conducted, therefore, the Census is the sum-total of the perforJ}]:atjce of niillions of farmers
-<la.ta do .not include urban areas .. it is but imperative for thci"planilers to find out first as
to who the millions ·of farmers are, how they are dis-
. As regards the reference period, the main notable persed and what economic aad social factors are there
. ~difference is in the case of livestock for which the pub- which affect the process of production on the farms .
· lished figures available are for the year 1955 while =Thus· a variety of information oil agricultural holdings,
:·the Census figures are for 1960. · by size, ·by type of tenure; by class ofland, by class of
irrigation, by type pf farming, etc., is the basic require-
57.• · Some difference's between the published ment for a sound scheme of developi;nent.
1igures ·and the census estimates are accounted for by
- ,difference in the definitions of certain items; The ·· · 62. Information as to the extent of culturable
most .notiGeable effect of this factor has .been in the waste land, the inddence of fragmentation, the intensity
<(:ase of the (::ensus area of current fa!low in Hyderabad of land use and cropping; manuring practices, cropping
·.a!lcl Khairpur . Divisions. It fell short considerably patterns, and such other . ~eatures of agriculture,
;.of its opposite number in the Re.venue Record, obviously viewed in relationship to. the size and tenure of farms
-0ue· to the differences in the' definitions ©f the current would help tb promote objective thinking on the
t allow. According to the census definition, any land maladies of agriculture. · For instance, the num~er
= hat-remained out of u~~ for less than two )ears was of bullocks in relation to the cultivated area of a dis-
t
0 .considered as current fallow. But . according to the :trict as a whole may present a: satisfactory picture but
Revenue Records in the _· Hyderabad and Khairpur in relation to the size· of the fanns may indicate shortages
:Divisions (former Sind), if land was out of use for on the one hand and · wasteful under-use on the other.
,two years or more, it was counted as c4rrei:it faHo~: . Likewise, the cattle population of .~· distri t • on the
7
'. whole may. appea·r to be sm~ll but_ u1 relation to the
· 58. · ... The Census. figures published· in this report 'cultivated ·• area of the holdmgs m1ght· appear to be
•Jlre · final· and supersede the preliminary · estimates 'excessive and undesirable. · Thus forplanning in the
:published earlier. · · · · · field of agriculture not only . is the overall pic~ure:·of
resources required but also JS needed the dtstnbutwn
11.Jses of Census data of such resources by tenure and by size of farms. ·Neces-
sary data for that purpose are provided by the -census
59. A brief discussion of the possible uses of the of agriculture.
~census data is being given Iiere with the object of pro-
..:moting maximµm possible use of the very large volume 63. Land reforms is one of the most important
,-0f data that have been collected and tabulated. . socio-economic measures adopted by the Government~
A glance over the . Census tables would . indicate that
60. Major fields of national development in the data can be of immense use in many phases of land
·-which the census data could be made use of are : reforms policies. If the object is to improve the eCOJ?,O-
mic and social conditions of the farmers b,y makmg
. (i) Planning for increased agricultural pro- adjustments in the tenure pattern, it would be necessary
duction and better income to the farmers ; .to know what the tenur~ pattern in ,different parts
of the country is before a land ref~rm pr?gramme
(ii) Planning for Land Reform programme and could be prepared. If !he ref ~rms aim at mcreased
evaluation of its implementation; production it would be 1mperat1ve to know how pro-
ductivity is affected by different combinati0ns of te1;1ure·
(iii) Developing rational farm policies and car- and size of farm and to what extent such combmations
rying out of farm management studies; exist in the country. Similarly if it is desired that t~e
size of the farms be upgraded to the level of economic
(iv) Agricultural extension work; units, a complete knowledg_e ~f the number of farms
of different sizes would be mdispensable. The ~ensus.
(v) Price and income support policies in agri- provides basic inform:3-tio_n needed for ~nswenng all
culture;
such questions that an~e m the fori:nulat1on of a land
reforms policy and also m the evaluation of the results.
( vi) Agricultural market analyses and planning
industrial sales programmes in rural areas;
64. In the formulation of_ farm policies, the
Government is quite often hand1capp~d by !he
(vii) Improvement of agricultural statistics; and
absence of relevant data. A~y pohc1~s re~ardmg
,., fann mechanization mu~t take 11;1t@ cons1d.erati~m the
..__..., (viii) Preparation of national accounts.
existence of farms of different size and the d1~erent
features of the fanns that v.:il! be 3:ffected by partial ,?t
61. By far the most important use of agricultural
<census data can be in the field of planning for develop- total mechanisation. Policies with regard . to pro::
?,JD.ent. Hitherto planning in the field of agriculture curement of wheat, rice, jute, etc., must take mto co?-·, .,
:has been difficult especially in the under-developed sideration the number of. growers of such crops in ~.
<.Countries like Pakistan where production is dispersed different administrative umts and the areas :1nder these
-0ver a multitude of small farms whose performance final- crops. Similarly policies in ~egard to fixatton of crop,
Hy determines the success or failure of any plan of agri- zones or changes in croppmg patterns must take-

I