APPENDICES

APPENDIX A. AGENDA

ASIA AND PACIFIC COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS

TWENTIETH SESSION

New Delhi, Republic of India, 20 - 24 September 2004

AGENDA

APPENDIX B. LIST OF DELEGATES

AUSTRALIA

Allan NICHOLLS
Director
Goods and Services National Statistics Centre
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
Belconnen ACT 2616
Tel: (61-2) 6252 5339
Fax: (61-2) 6252 6470
E-mail: [email protected]

BANGLADESH

Md. Habibur RAHMAN
Joint Chief
Ministry of Agriculture
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka 1000
Tel: (8802) 7168161
Fax: (8802) 8112771
E-mail: [email protected]

BHUTAN

Tshering JAMBAYANG
Statistical Officer
Policy and Planning Division
Ministry of Agriculture
P.O. Box 252
Thiumphu
Tel: (975) 2 324669/323745
Fax: (975) 2 323748
[email protected]

CAMBODIA

KITH Seng
Director
Department of Planning, Statistics & International Cooperation
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries
Phnom Penh
Tel: (855-16) 918 084
E-mail: [email protected]

TUOR Vannak
Vice Chief
Statistics Office
Department of Planning, Statistics & International Cooperation
MAFF
Phnom Penh
Tel: (855-11) 951 933
E-mail: [email protected]

CHINA

XU Zhiquan
Deputy Director-General
Rural Survey Organization
National Bureau of Statistics
75 Yuetan Nanjie, Sanlihe
Beijing 100826
Tel: (86-10) 63401423
Fax: (86-10) 63401409
E-mail: [email protected]

CHEN Lishui
Director
Information and Statistics Division
Department of Market and Economic Information
Ministry of Agriculture
11 Nong Zhan Guan Nanli
Beijing 100026
Tel: (86-10) 64193149
Fax: (86-10) 64193145
E-mail: [email protected]

MAO Feng
Director
Rural Survey Organization
National Bureau of Statistics
75 Yuetan Nanjie, Sanlihe
Beijing 100826
Tel: (86-10) 63810051
Fax: (86-10) 6340109
E-mail: [email protected]

ZHANG Yi
Deputy Director
Rural Survey Organization
National Bureau of Statistics
75 Yuetan Nanjie, Sanlihe
Beijing 100826
Tel/Fax: (86-10) 63401416
E-mail: [email protected]

INDIA

M.M. NAMPOOTHIRY
Economics & Statistical Adviser
Directorate of Economics & Statistics
Dept. of Agriculture & Cooperation
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23382719
E-mail: [email protected]

Vijay KUMAR
Adviser
Directorate of Economics & Statistics
Department of Agriculture & Cooperation
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23382236
E-mail: [email protected]

A.K. VISHANDASS
Additional Statistical Adviser
Dte. Of Economics & Statistics
Ministry of Agriculture
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23384218
E-mail: [email protected]

Jitender KUMAR
Addl. Statistical Adviser
National Crop Forecasting Centre
Dept. of Agri. & Cooperation
Ministry of Agriculture
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel/Fax: (91-11) 23382016
E-mail: [email protected]

R.K. SONKAR
Addl. Economic Adviser
Directorate of Economics & Statistics
Ministry of Agriculture
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23384780

A.K. JENA
Deputy Statistical Adviser
Directorate of Economics & Statistics
Ministry of Agriculture
Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23383798

D.K. TIWARI
Deputy Director
R. No. 543, Krishi Bhavan
Ministry of Agriculture
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23388911 Ext. 4516
E-mail: [email protected]

S. CHANDIRAMANI
Deputy Director
Ministry of Agriculture
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23382244

Rajiv MEHTA
Member Secretary
Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices
Ministry of Agriculture
Government of India
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23384006
Fax: (91-11) 23383848
E-mail: [email protected]

Shailja SHARMA
Joint Director
Ministry of Agriculture
Department of Agriculture & Cooperation
CACP, New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23385894
E-mail: [email protected]

S.D. SHARMA
Director
(Representing DARE)
IASRI, Library Avenue
Pusa, New Delhi-110 012
Tel: (91-11) 25841479
Fax: (91-11) 25841564
E-mail: [email protected]

H.V.L. BATHLA
Head
Division of Sample Survey
IASRI, Library Avenue
Pusa, New Delhi 110 012
Tel: (91-11) 25841475
Fax: (91-11) 25841564
E-mail: [email protected]

O.P. MISRA
Director (Stat.)
Ministry of Water Resources
Shastri Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23389496

S.K. CHAKRABARTI
Director
Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying
Ministry of Agriculture
Gate No. 32, First Floor
Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium
New Delhi 110 003
Tel: 24365637
E-mail: [email protected]

B.K. TYAGI
Director (Agri. Census)
Ministry of Agriculture
Dept. of Agri. & Cooperation
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23070047

Vaskar SAHA
Addl. Director General
Central Statistical Organization
Ministry of Statistics & PI
Sardar Patel Bhavan,
New Delhi

Ramesh KOHLI
Deputy Director-General
Central Statistical Organization
Ministry of Statistics & PI
Sardar Patel Bhavan
New Delhi

P.C. MOHANAN
Director
Central Statistical Organization
Ministry of statistics & PI
Sardar Patel Bhavan
New Delhi-1
Tel: (91-11) 23363823
E-mail: [email protected]

G.M. BOOPATHY
Director
National Sample Survey Organization
Ministry of Statistics & PI
Sardar Patel Bhavan
New Delhi

Sunil JAIN
Joint Director
National Accounts Division
Central Statistical Organization
Ministry of Statistics & PI
Sadar Patel Bhavan
Parliament Stareet
New Delhi-110001
Tel: (91-11) 23360071
Fax: (91-11) 23342384
E-mail: [email protected]

Harcharan SINGH
Director
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Shram Shakti Bhavan
New Delhi-110001
Tel/Fax: (91-11) 23710222
E-mail: [email protected]

Jai Singh PARIHAR
Group Director (ARG)
Space Application Centre
Ambawadi Vistan PO
Ahmedabad - 380015
Tel: 079-26914024
Fax: 079-26915823
E-mail: [email protected]

S.K. Ramalinge GOWDA
Inspector General of Forests
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road,
New Delhi-110003
Tel: (91-11) 24360379
Fax: (91-11) 24365721
E-mail: [email protected]

Bipin BEHARI
Deputy Inspector General of Forests
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 24360704
Fax: (91-11) 24360704
E-mail: [email protected]

Alok SAXENA
Joint Director
Forest Survey of India
Kaulagarh Road
Dehradun - 248195
India
Tel/Fax: (91-135) 2755037
E-mail: [email protected]

K.V.S. CHAUHAN
Asstt. Director
Forest Survey of India
Dehradun
Tel: (91-135) 2755042

N.K. SAHU
Director
Ministry of Rural Development
Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi
Tel/Fax: (91-11) 23383006
E-mail: [email protected]

K. RADHAKRISHNAN
Director
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
(Dept. of Ocean Development)
'Ocean Valley'
Gajularamaram B.O.
(via) IDA Jeedimetla
Hyderabad-500055
Tel: 040-25503595
Fax: 040-25503596
E-mail: [email protected]
[email protected]

T. Srinivasa KUMAR
Head
Advisory Services & Satellite
Oceanography Group
INCOIS,
Hyderabad

O.P. HISARIA
Deputy Secretary (Trade)
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23386741

Suchitra GOSWAMI (Ms)
Director
Department of Food & Public Distribution
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 23385238

M. MONI
Deputy Director-General
NIC
CGO Complex
New Delhi
Tel: (91-11) 22722368

Saroja Rama RAO
Director
Directorate of Economics & Statistics
Government of Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad
Tel: 040-23317191

D. Dakshina MURTY
Joint Director
Directorate of Economics & Statistics
Khairthabad
Hyderabad - 4
Tel: 040-23317191

H.R. MHASKE
Technical Officer
Commissionerate of Agriculture
Maharashtra State
Pune-411001
Tel: 020-2612041
Fax: 020-26125562

Rajendra Singh SOLANKI
Deputy Director Agriculture (Stat.)
Department of Agriculture
Haryana
Sector-21, Khadi/Krishi Complex
Panchkula (Haryana)
Mobile: 09888035287

B.B. KUNDACIA
Deputy Director Agriculture (Stat.)
Department of Agriculture (GS)
Gandhinagar, Gujarat State
Tel: 07923256210
Fax: 0792356027

J.N. RAUT
Director
Directorate of Economics & Statistics
4^th Floor, HOD Building
Orissa, Bhubaneswar-751001
Tel: 2401295
Fax: 2401897

M.R. BALAKRISHNAN
Director
Economics & Statistics
Vth Floor, Vikas Bhavan
Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala
Tel: 2305318
Mobile: 9447115318
Fax: 047-2305318
E-mail: [email protected]

V.P. LAMMAM
Add. Director
Department of Economics & Statistics
Chennai-6
Tel: 044-2431929
Fax: 044-24321871

Vinod Kumar SINGH
Joint Director Agriculture (Stat.)
Department of Economics & Statistics
M.M.M. Marg
Krishi Bhavan
Lucknow-226001
Uttar Pradesh
Tel: 0522-2206580/2205210
E-mail: [email protected]

N.K. SAHA (Dr)
Add. Director of Agriculture (Evaluation)
17., S.P. Mukherjee Road
Kokata-700025
West Bengal
Tel: 033-24761492
E-mail: [email protected]

Jogi Jagdip SINGH
Joint Director of Agriculture
Punjab Agriculture Department
S.C.O. No. 85-88
Secotr-34, Chandigarh
Tel: 0172-2600318
Fax: 0172-26 - 275

D.P. RAO
Agriculture Statistical Officer
Directorate of Agriculture
Panchkula, Haryana
Tel: 2571544 Ext. 51

INDONESIA

Edi ABDURACHMAN
Director
Centre for Agricultural Data and Information
Ministry of Agriculture
Jakarta 12540
Tel: (62-21) 7816384
Fax: (62-21) 7816385
E-mail: [email protected]

HARISNO
Head
Agricultural Data and Information Services Division
Centre for Agricultural Data and Information (CADI)
Ministry of Agriculture
Jakarta
Tel: (62-21) 7816384 & 78050305
Fax: (62-21) 7816385
E-mail: [email protected]

IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF

Gholamali KHEIRI
Assistant Director-General
Department of Agricultural Statistics, SCI
Statistical Centre of Iran
Tehran
Tel/Fax: (98-2-1) 89 581 89
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Alireza HATAMISADABAD
Deputy Director-General
Bureau of Statistics and Information Technology
Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture
Tehran
Tel: (98-21) 6122113
Fax: (98-21) 8960377
E-mail: [email protected]

JAPAN

Hiromori KUROKI
Director
Census Statistics Office
Statistics Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Kasumigaseki 1-2-1, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8950
Tel: 81-3-3502-0739
Fax: 81-3-5511-7282
E-mail: [email protected]

Yukito KONNO
Senior Statistician
Statistics Planning Division
Statistics Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Kasumigaseki 1-2-1, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo 100-8950
Tel: 81-3-3502-8092
Fax: 81-3-3501-9644
E-mail: [email protected]

LAO PDR

Samaychanh BOUPHA
Director-General
National Statistics Center
Committee for Planning and Investment
Vientiane
Tel: (856-21) 216656
Fax: (856-21) 242022
E-mail: [email protected]

Savanh HANEPHOM
Director
Statistics Division
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Tel: (856-21) 415359
Fax: (856-21) 451715
E-mail: [email protected]

MALAYSIA

Aziz OTHMAN
Chief Statistician
Department of Statistics Malaysia
Level 8, Block C6, Parcel C
Federal Government Administrative Centre
62514 Putrajaya
Tel: (603) 8888 9258
Fax: (603) 8888 9250
E-mail: [email protected]

ABD. AZIZ Haji Shamsudin
Director
Agriculture Division
Department of Statistics Malaysia
Level 8, Block C6, Parcel C
Federal Government Administrative Centre
62514 Putrajaya
Tel: (603) 8885 7741
Fax: (603) 8888 9250
E-mail: [email protected]

Dorairaju SUPPAN
Deputy Director
Level 7, Block C6, Parcel C
Corporate and User Services Division
Federal Government Administrative Centre
62514 Putrajaya
Tel: (603) 8885 7656
Fax: (603) 8888 9248
E-mail: [email protected]

MOHD. NOR ISHAK
Statistician
Strategic Planning and International Division
Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
3^rd Floor, Wisma Tani
Jalan Sultan Salahuddin
50624 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (603) 2617 5306
Fax: (603) 2691 5642
E-mail: [email protected]

NEPAL

Rabi SINGH
Deputy Director
Central Bureau of Statistics
Thapathali
Kathmandu
Tel: (977-1) 4245848
Fax: (977-1) 227-720
E-mail: [email protected]

PHILIPPINES

Josie PEREZ (Ms)
Director
Household Statistics Department
National Statistics Office
Ramon Magsaysay Blvd. Sta. Mesa
Manila 1008
Tel: (632) 716-0298
Fax: (632) 716-0471
E-mail: [email protected]

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

HUH Yoon-Jin
Director-General
Agricultural Information and Statistics Bureau
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
#427-719 Gwanmnro 88
Gwachen-City, Geonggi-do
Tel: (82-2) 500-1611
Fax: (82-2) 507-3961
E-mail: [email protected]

CHO Kyoo-Pyo
Assistant Director
Information Management Division
Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry (MAF)
#427-719 Gwanmunro 88
Gwacheon-City, Gyeonggi-do
Tel: (82-2) 500-1634
Fax: (82-2) 507-3961
E-mail: [email protected]

KIM Tae-Choong
Director
Agriculture & Fishery Statistics Division
Korea National Statistical Office (KNSO)
#302-701 Government Complex 3
Dunsan-Dong 920, Seo-Gu, Taejeon
Tel: (82-42) 481-2284
Fax: (82-42) 481-2473
E-mail: [email protected]

KIM Tae-Jun
Assistant Director
Agriculture & Fishery Statistics Division
Korea National Statistical Office (KNSO)
#302-701 Government Complex 3
Dunsan-Dong 920
Seo-Gu, Taejeon
Tel: (82-42) 481-2290
Fax: (82-42) 481-2473
E-mail: [email protected]

THAILAND

Angsumal SUNALAI
Deputy Secretary General
National Statistical Office
Larn Luang Rd., Bangkok 10100
Tel: (662) 281-0481
Fax: (662) 281-3848
E-mail: [email protected]

Rajana NETSAENGTIP (Ms)
Chief
Household Economic Statistics Group
Larn Luang Rd., Bangkok 10100
Tel: (662) 281-0333 Ext. 1206
Fax: (662) 281-3815 or 281-8617
E-mail: [email protected]

Montol JEAMCHAREON
Director
Centre for Agricultural Information
Office of Agricultural Economics
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
Tel: (662) 5793607
Fax: (662) 9405521
E-mail: [email protected]

Suraporn ISSARADETKUL (Ms)
Senior Statistics Technical Officer
Horticultural Crop Information Division
Centre for Agricultural Information
Office of Agricultural Economics
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
Tel/Fax: (662) 940-5407
E-mail: [email protected]

Phadol PANTHAWORN
Policy and Plan Analyst
Division of International Agricultural Economic Affairs
Office of Agricultural Economics
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
Tel: (662) 579-2567
Fax: (662) 579-2567
E-mail: [email protected]

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Larry A. SIVERS
Director
International Programs Office
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Department of Agriculture
Room 4112 South Building
14^th & Independence Ave. SW
Washington D.C. 20250-2000
Tel: (202) 720-4505
Fax: (202) 720-0506
E-mail: [email protected]

VIET NAM

PHAM Quang Vinh
Director
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Statistics
General Statistics Office
Hanoi
Tel: (84-4) 8463522
Fax: (84-4) 7341015
E-mail: [email protected]

LE Trung Hieu
Statistician
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Statistics
General Statistics Office
Hanoi
Tel: (84-4) 8463495
Fax: (84-4) 7341015
E-mail: [email protected]

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Hiek SOM
Chief
Survey and Statistical Development Service
Statistics Division
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, Italy
Tel: (39-06) 57055070
Fax: (39-06) 57055615
E-mail: [email protected]

Robert MAYO
FAOSTAT2 Project Manager
FAO Headquarters
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
Rome, Italy
Tel: (39-06) 57054105
Fax: (39-06) 57055615
E-mail: [email protected]

Kimihiko EURA
Agricultural Statistics Expert
GCP/RAS/184/JPN
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: (662) 697-4354
Fax: (662) 697-4407
E-mail: [email protected]

Shunji SUGIYAMA
APO (Fishery Statistics)
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: (662) 697-4242
Fax: (662) 697-4445
E-mail: [email protected]

LIAISON OFFICER

Vijay KUMAR
Advisor
Government of India
Ministry of Agriculture
Krishi Bhavan
New Delhi
Tel/Fax: (91-11) 23382236
E-mail: [email protected]

FAO CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT

Frederick BAKER
Senior Statistician
and APCAS Secretary
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: (662) 697-4250
Fax: (66-2) 697-4445
E-mail: [email protected]

Truchai SODSOON (Mrs)
Translation Assistant
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand

Luisa KOSAISAEVEE (Mrs)
Secretary
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200, Thailand

APPENDIX C. LIST OF DOCUMENTS

Information Documents:

APPENDIX D. INAUGURAL ADDRESS

By

Honorable Shri Kantilal Bhuria
Minister of State for Agriculture

Delivered to the

20^th Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS)

New Delhi, 20 - 24 September 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is a matter of pride for us that India is hosting the 20^th Session of APCAS. Prior to this India has hosted the 2^nd Session in 1968.

We all know that the agricultural statistics are very essential for the planning which is done to provide food at the right time and at right price to the common person.

Several State Governments of our country help us immensely in this regard. Various schemes are being run by the Government for this purpose. Agricultural census and Livestock census are being conducted with a lot of effort and care in our country. For this the methodology adopted is improved from time to time with the advice of the experts. Various improved technologies like Remote Sensing and GIS are also used for the purpose.

Information on international trade and food processing industries is also collected and utilized for the planning process.

Several apex institutions of this country like the Ministry of Agriculture, CSO, NSSO and Ministry of Statistics are continuously working in this area.

Information on size of holdings is very much beneficial for the purpose of preparation of various schemes and increasing the agricultural production. Using the statistics, planning should be done to provide every individual of the world with necessary food and planning should be done so that every country of the world becomes self reliant in food.

Special efforts should be made so that the farmers get remunerative prices for their produce. Proper care should also be taken to save the environment while trying to increase the agricultural productivity.
World Agriculture Census 2010 should be done with proper preparation and with cooperation of each other. Whenever there is an agriculture census in one country, experts from other countries should be invited so that they can have better experience.

I am happy to know that several countries like Japan, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam are using the OCR technique to make the statistics available at a speedier pace.

I congratulate the representatives of theses countries.

In the field of agricultural statistics, we have been using Remote Sensing Technology for generation of advance estimates of cropped area. However, use of this technology is at present limited to a few crops. We have, therefore, recently formulated a scheme aimed at expanding coverage in terms of crops and states. Other countries should also make use of the latest techniques. More and more investment is required in agriculture to facilitate modernisation. Efforts should therefore be intensified to achieve this objective. Government has already identified areas for focused and priority attention. The identified areas include doubling rural credit in three years dry land farming and horticulture, creation of additional irrigation facilities, market support to farmers and insurance of crops against production loss.

We all should have only one aim that not even a single person goes to bed hungry. For this we all should make collective efforts.

In order to materialize all these, this session assumes a lot of importance.

I hope you would be able to reach at certain conclusions as a result of these deliberations which will also help improve relations among countries.

At the end I wish you all the best for the success of this Session and welcome you all in our country.

JAI HIND

APPENDIX E. KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY SECRETARY (AGRICULTURE AND COOPERATION) AT THE 20^TH SESSION OF ASIA AND PACIFIC COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS (APCAS) TO BE HELD ON 20 - 24 SEPTEMBER 2004

Hon'ble Minister of State for Agriculture, distinguished representatives of FAO, distinguished delegates from member countries of Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics, distinguished participants from Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments and friends.

We are indeed privileged to be hosting the 20^th Session of the Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS) in India this year, and would like to extend a very warm welcome to all the delegates from the participating countries as well as the FAO. Statistics as a tool for management and policy decision is important in every sector, but even more so within the agricultural sector, where dependencies on agriculture are high and volatility even higher. The area of agricultural land in Asia and the Pacific region accounts for about one-third of the total agricultural land of the world, with India's share in Asia and Pacific region being around 32%. The Asia and Pacific region accounts for 73% of the world's agricultural population and that of India is 30% within the region. These statistics would reveal the importance of agriculture in the economies of the Asian and Pacific countries. More so for countries like India where agriculture not only contributes sizably to the GDP of the country, but also that close to 650 million people are still dependent on agriculture for their livelihood and income. In such a situation there is imperative need for agricultural statistics to keep pace with the requirement of the times. Agriculture Statistics forms the very basis for evolving and deciding food, nutrition and agricultural policies. Statistics are also necessary for monitoring production and productivity patterns, determination of agricultural input requirements ¯ areas of scarcity, those of plenty, evening out disparities. As most of food grain production is on a seasonal/annual basis, upkeep of agricultural statistics affords opportunity to bring about mid-course correction, if that is what is required to meet the inadequacies or a deficient situation.

Agricultural operations world over suffer from inherent instability due to the vagaries of the weather, with such instability being more pronounced in the Asia and the Pacific region where rains are seasonal and large tracts of cultivable land still under rainfed agriculture. In India this is even more true in view of the overwhelming dependence of agriculture on the monsoons ¯ on whose onset is dependent the start of agricultural operations, production and productivity levels determined. Thus a year to year season to season, agricultural statistical operation provides the backbone of the country's buffer-stocking policies, food and nutrition security systems, including agricultural policies that need to be adopted for meeting the exigencies of the emerging situation. Large variation in productivity and production figures convince us that more and more areas need to be brought under assured irrigation, which then could insulate at least partially the agricultural operations from intense vagaries of the weather. Weather and climatic conditions today are becoming ever so more complex, in view of the discernible climatic changes which are occurring not only in the Indian sub-continent, but the world over. Assurance of production would also help facilitate better markets and predictability of supply. Other variables too including a suitable infrastructure is very dependent on good quality agriculture statistical data, and it is our endeavour to upgrade and detail such data, year after year.

A look at the trends in the key macro-economic variables will show that though there has been noticeable decline in the share of agriculture GDP in the overall GDP of India ¯ it being around 39% in 1983, has declined to around 23% in the year 2003-04. Nonetheless, there still continues to be an overwhelming number of workers in the country that are dependent on agriculture for their economic and social well-being. As avenues of employment and opportunity in the developing countries are limited, it is important that this very large workforce depending on agriculture ¯ not only in the Indian context ¯ but in that of the Asian and Pacific region as well find gainful means of employment, which are land based and within rural settings. This would require much more investment in the rural sector towards developing a vibrant agricultural economy that is based on value addition, food processing and other add-ons. More and more diversification towards newer crops and produces is the need of the day. With India's agro-climatic diversity, this comparative advantage could be greatly enhanced for the welfare not only of the country, but for the region as a whole.

Despite considerable progress made in collection, compilation and dissemination of statistics on food, agriculture and other allied activities including livestock and fisheries there are several occasions where we find ourselves handicapped for want of reliable data. This underscores the need for constant and vigilant efforts for updating and enlarging the gamut of food and agriculture statistics at the federal and State levels as also for the region as a whole. On this is dependent the future commodity market exchanges which have now emerged as a powerful phenomenon of India's agriculture and marketing network programmes. The power of informatics for and to the rural masses is one of the most significant ways of empowering the rural community and helping farming community to get remunerative prices and reasonable incomes.

In this context, APCAS has an extremely important role to play as we understand that APCAS reviews the state of food and agricultural statistics in the region and advises member-nations on development and standardization of agricultural statistics. Within the emerging scenario of increasingly integrated world, the 20^th Session of APCAS would, I am sure, lead to several new innovative recommendations and action points for bringing about the desired improvements in food and agriculture statistics, within the member-countries.

Powerful tools have today emerged to assist and refine collection of statistics, namely, remote sensing of cropped areas, and production, application of remote sensing and GIS in vast sensitive areas, that include fisheries and forestry, vegetative cover, desertification and other parameters for sustainable natural resource management. Besides, reliable agricultural census is the only way to generate and maintain a healthy trade and price policy environment. This Session of the APCAS is well attended and we do hope that with the vast pool of wisdom and knowledge that compatible software will come to bear on its deliberations, several useful lessons will emerge. The Commission also provides a platform for sharing experiences among the member countries, thus opening avenues for improvement and further sophistication in data collection and collation. I do wish the conference all success.

APPENDIX F. OPENING ADDRESS

By

He Changchui
FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for

Asia and the Pacific

Delivered to the

20^th Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS)
New Delhi, India,
20 - 24 September 2004

Mr Chairman,
Your Excellency, Minister of State for Agriculture,
Distinguished delegates
Ladies and gentlemen

It is a great pleasure to extend on behalf of the Director-General of FAO and on my own behalf our warm welcome to all of you to the Twentieth session of the Asia and Pacific Commission on Agricultural Statistics (APCAS). I am pleased to see that APCAS return once again to the site of the second session which convened in New Delhi in 1968. I am especially grateful to the government for kindly hosting this session and for providing excellent facilities and an environment conducive to fruitful and productive discussions. I take this opportunity to recognize the significant contribution made by India to the development of statistics throughout the world and the region, and for providing considerable resources to FAO, its staff and consultants. I am personally grateful to you, Your Excellency, for sparing valuable time to inaugurate the 20^th session of APCAS.

I am also delighted that delegations from 15 member countries are attending the meeting, together with observers from 2 United Nations, international organizations and development partners. Your active involvement and continued interest in the activities of FAO in the field of food and agricultural statistics are especially significant as the demands for information about the sector are increasing and the availability of comprehensive regional data becomes essential to proper planning and decision-making.

Ladies and gentlemen:

In 1996 FAO organized the first World Food Summit. A key feature of the WFS Plan of Action formulated by world leaders was the global commitment to reduce by half the number of hungry people in the world by 2015. This commitment was reiterated in the 2000 United Nations Millennium Summit and is one of the targets of its Millennium Development Goals. At the 2002 World Food Summit: five years later, world leaders noted that efforts to reduce the number of hungry have not met short-term objectives, and reaffirmed their commitment and resolve to accelerate progress toward meeting the WFS goals.

Today, according to FAO's latest estimates, too many small-scale farmers remain trapped in subsistence agriculture, while over 842 million people live without enough to eat, suffering from micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition caused by an inadequate diet.

In this context, effective long-, medium- and short term policies and programmes need to be devised by our leaders and decision-makers on issues related to food and agricultural development with the aim to solve poverty and food insecurity problems in their countries. In the course of policy formulation and programme development. The policy-makers and planners would rely on timely and reliable statistics and information for an accurate description of the status and structure of the sector and analysis and projection of trends. It is thus essential that national statistical programmes, and particularly the food and agricultural statistics component, are designed to facilitate measurement of the progress made in achieving this target. It will not be over emphasizing to say that adequate financial and resources need to be allocated by governments to carry out this fundamental work.

This year, governments and the United Nations system are continuing their efforts in implementing and monitoring the Millennium Development and that FAO is further expanding the establishment or strengthening national Alliances Against Hunger. As a result, I feel it is especially valuable for us to focus this week on how to provide decision-makers with measures and indicators that help determine appropriate policies that improve food security and alleviate poverty and with methods for the evaluation of the impact of these policies.

Ladies and gentlemen,

To further facilitate the analysis and utilization of food and agricultural information it is important to create - at the national and subnational levels - statistics databases with common data structures and compatible software. In addition and because globalization accents the value and use of data not only at country but at regional and world levels, the development of harmonized and standardized definitions on agricultural statistics is needed to make global comparisons effective and meaningful.

The World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT) - hosted by FAO - has been an important source of comparable information about the agricultural sector across the globe. I am pleased to inform you that FAO has not only made efforts to continue improving the quality of the data in WAICENT, but also created new initiatives to increase the effectiveness of the dissemination system for the FAOSTAT databases. With its new look, FAOSTAT2 will have an enhanced capacity for analysis of the information along with more userfriendliness. I am glad to note that the present APCAS session will have an opportunity to learn about current developments of FAOSTAT2 as well as efforts to develop the Regional Data Exchange System (RDES).

The RDES is a valuable addition to the databases for the region, since it gives users an opportunity to review at national and subnational level, information about livestock numbers and about area harvested, production and yield of major agricultural commodities in the APCAS countries. The contributions of the government of Japan in the development of RDES have been crucial. FAO greatly appreciates the continued support from Japan to strengthening agricultural statistics systems in the region, and to further increasing analytical capacities in the countries.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Among the types of data required for decision-makers is information about trade flows. The presentation on this topic should serve as an important lead-in to the roundtable about data requirements for policy analysis. This consultation no doubt will highlight the need for early forecasts of production so that the planning for food and agricultural imports and exports can be further improved. I recall that the 19^th session of APCAS recognized the need to develop objective techniques of forecasting. In this respect, I note that a presentation has been included in the present meeting on remote sensing technology for estimation of area and yield for early forecasting of crop production. Presentations on the use of this same technology in fishery and forestry statistics demonstrate the potential for integration of remote sensing and geographic information system technology as a powerful tool for various stages of planning.

One area where this new information technology application is extremely important is in the development of appropriate guidelines for prevention, monitoring and mitigating of major agricultural disasters. When a comprehensive national benchmark database exists and is integrated with geo-referencing natural resource and environmental information, through dynamic Geographic Information System, the resulting information will provides a solid basis for quantifying the impact of disasters and for planning emergency aid and rehabilitation programme development and implementation.

I am also pleased that this session will have an opportunity to consider issues related to the consolidation at the national level of information from different agricultural statistics agencies. I appreciate that the creation of a FAOSTAT-like database system with subnational level data may be complex, but the benefits of having such a system are substantial and the session's input into FAO's development of a prototype for "CountrySTAT" is both crucial and necessary to its future implementation.

The statistical benchmarks for these databases typically arise from a large scale agricultural structure survey which provides data for lower level political and administrative areas. In many cases this survey is a complete enumeration, but may be carried out through a sufficiently large sample. FAO has long been responsible for publicizing strategies for conducting agricultural censuses and it is now in the process of preparing the guidelines for the World Census of Agriculture 2010.

The APCAS presentation of major issues for this new publication offers an opportunity for delegates to discuss these issues and I look forward to receive your recommendations to FAO in this regard.

Ladies and gentlemen,

All along its 41 years of existence, APCAS has provided strong support for the development of agricultural statistics in the region. The commission has acted both as a monitor for the direction of statistical development as well as a catalyst for strengthening statistical systems. As FAO looks to its member countries for assistance in the planning of new programmes and initiatives, it is important that those agencies most involved observe how previous undertakings have been implemented and recommend future actions. FAO looks to you for this guidance. In turn, I wish to assure you that we at the FAO Regional Office in Bangkok are always ready to extend technical assistance to our member countries to the best of our expert capability and resource limitations.

Finally, let me again convey my sincerest gratitude to the government of India for hosting this session of the commission. I acknowledge the hard work of the secretariat staff from the Ministry of Agriculture in the preparation and organisation for this meeting. I also should like to thank my colleagues from FAO India, headquarter and the regional office for their commitment to making this a valuable and productive session.

I wish you success in your deliberations and a pleasant stay in delightful Delhi.

Thank you.

APPENDIX G. ASIA AND PACIFIC COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS

Members as of September 2004