Agricultural census 2018 begins today

The sixth agricultural census 2018 begins today to collect latest information on the country’s crops, fisheries and livestock resources.

Agriculture contributes 13.31 percent to the country’s gross domestic product while 40 percent people are directly and indirectly involved in the sector.

The census will continue until June 20, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

It is being conducted as per the guideline of World Programme for the Census of Agriculture-2020 (WCA 2020) of the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Modular approach will be followed for data collection. Short questionnaire will be used initially and later, sample census will be conducted through long questionnaire in farm households.

 “A total of 144,044 data collectors will work in the field. They will be overseen by 23,142 supervisors,” said Jafor Ahmed Khan, project director and joint secretary at the planning ministry.

Last month, the BBS arranged a three-day training for the divisional and district level census coordinators in Dhaka. A similar consensus took place in 2008.