How Is Statistics Used In The Agriculture Sector?

By Author: Namdev Alapure
Total Articles: 3
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In an agrarian country like India, the value of statistics in the agriculture sector is very high, but so far it has not been leveraged to its fullest. A number of quantitative agricultural researches, are primarily based on statistical data. Many courses on masters in statistics India are giving students the option to specialise in this branch of statistics.

With developments in data processing equipment, professionals who plan the use of agricultural land are enabled to use new techniques and methodologies which meet growing demands for data.

A wide range of diverse forces such as physical, social, cultural, economic, institutional, political, and psychological interact with each other in the realm of the agricultural sector. The challenges of the growth and development in agriculture cannot be solved using approaches that are fractional and isolated. A multidisciplinary approach is required to solve problems of the agriculture sector along with incorporating a large body of data for any project of research.

Thus researchers and planners in the agriculture sector have become increasingly aware of the utility ...
... of data. The facts and figures about agriculture, how they relate to land use, irrigation, forestry, agricultural production, yield and prices of the agricultural commodities are called agricultural data.

The agricultural data is information presented quantitatively. This could include figures on various aspects of agriculture of a macro or micro-region. Agricultural data can be determined for a country as a whole or a state, or district, or block, or village, or farm, or even a field. This data helps in estimating, planning and forecasting the agricultural operation of a given unit of area at a given point of time.

The use of statistics in agriculture is growing in its scope. Detailed agricultural statistics are needed at different levels like the national, village and farm levels to make an informed agricultural policy decision, placing agricultural development and estimates of the agricultural and national income.

Agricultural statistics can be understood further by looking at the different categories it is divided into:

1. Land utilization and irrigation

Data regarding net area sown, gross cultivated area, current fallow, cultivable waste, fallow other than current fallow, other uncultivated land, irrigated area in Kharif and Rabi seasons etc. is mined and studied as part of this category

2. Agriculture organisation and structure

Data related to the organisation and structure of agriculture and farming. This includes total people employed in agriculture, their status, land holdings of different tenures, number of draught animals, farm building, etc.

3. Economics of agriculture

Data points relating to the economics of production and marketing such as the cost of production, input-output ratio, marketing changes, marketing spread over, etc

4. General statistics

This includes literacy rates among those employed in agriculture, health, and sanitation.

This is a great time to get into this area of study and work. If you are in search of a college that offers high-quality courses in statistics make sure to check out https://ssi.edu.in, their agricultural statistics and computational statistics course is among the most coveted in the country.