Brief Introduction

I. Main Contents and Statistical Scopes

The data in this chapter show the basic conditions of agricultural production and rural economy, including mainly rural employed labour force, cultivated land, quantity of agricultural machinery, output of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, output of major products, facilities of water conservancy and efforts to eliminate water-logging and combat alkalinity, productive fixed assets owned by rural households, basic conditions of State-owned farms.

Statistics on agriculture cover all agricultural production activities except horse raising for military purpose and agricultural production activities undertaken by agriculture research institutions. In other words, included in agriculture statistics are production activities in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery undertaken by rural economic units of various types and by rural households; production activities of farms specializing in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery; production activities in agriculture undertaken by government agencies, institutions, schools and military units; production activities in agriculture undertaken by collective farms run by townships and villages; and production activities in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery undertaken by manufacturing and mining enterprises.

(1) Agriculture: refers to cultivation of farm crops, including cereals, beans, tuber crops, cotton, oil-bearing crops, sugar crops, hemp, tobacco leaves, vegetables, gardening plants, fruits, nuts, crops for beverages and spices, medicinal herbs and other farm crops.

(2) Forestry: includes the planting of trees (excluding the operations of planting, management and harvesting on tea plantations, mulberry fields and orchards), cutting and transport of timber and bamboo and collection of forest products.

(3) Animal husbandry: includes the raising and grazing of domestic animals and poultry, and the hunting and raising of wild animals.

(4) Fishery: includes cultivation and catching of aquatic animals and seaweed.

(5) Services in support of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery: include supporting services to production activities in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery but do not include activities of science and technology and professional services.

Rural social and economic statistics cover social and economic activities in all townships except county towns.

II. Data Sources and Survey Methods

(1) Data on rural grassroots units, engaged labour force and agricultural production (Table 13-1 to Table 13-8 and Table 13-15 to Table 13-22) are provided by the Department of Rural Survey of the NBS using data from the Statistical Reporting Form System on Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fishery; the Statistical Reporting System on Agricultural Output and Prices; the System of Rural Social and Economic Survey; and the Sample Survey System of Farm Crops.

Statistical Reporting Form System on Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fishery is a comprehensive reporting program for reporting by provincial statistical bureaus to the National Bureau of Statistics. Data required in this reporting program are collected by statistical offices at all levels by means of sample surveys, surveys of key units or complete enumeration depending on the local circumstances, or estimated by using information from other government agencies at the same level or from the sample survey of farm crops and rural household survey conducted by NBS. For instance, some data on condition of agriculture production and on forestry and fishery are obtained from statistics data collected by other government agencies at the same level.

Sample Survey System of Farm Crops is a nation-wide survey designed by the NBS and implemented by sample survey teams throughout China with unified sample selection and estimation procedure, in order to obtain high quality data on grain production and related statistics. Using data from the agriculture census as sampling frame, a total of 130,000 sample plots are selected from some 15,000 villages in the country through a comprehensive multi-stage and multi-phase stratified systematic sampling programme. Actual crop cutting and measuring is conducted on these plots to estimate the national production. The survey is characterized by a multi-purpose probability proportional to size sample design that keeps sampling error to ±2% with the confidence probability at 95%. A rotation scheme is used in the sample survey on farm crops with the cycle of a complete rotation being 4 years. Data on crop production, cotton production, crop planting acreage and production of major animal husbandry products are collected from the Sample Survey System of Farm Crops.

System of Rural Social and Economic Survey is a special survey designed by the NBS to understand the basic conditions of social and economic activities at township level, the size and mobility of total rural labour force and investment in fixed assets in rural areas. Under this survey system, a complete enumeration is conducted every 3 years to collect information on the basic conditions of social and economic activities for all towns, townships and villages. Sample surveys are used to collect information on other items, with township, village and household samples. In the two former cases, both township and village samples are selected from individual provincial frames. The household sample is the same as in the rural household survey.

(2) Data on fixed assets, cultivated land and sales of farm products of rural households (Table 13-12 to Table 13-14, Table 13-25 and Table 13-26) are collected and compiled by the Department of Rural Survey of the NBS through the System of Rural Household Survey. Please refer to Chapter 10 (People’s Living Condition) of the Yearbook for description of the System of Rural Household Survey.

(3) Data on the basic conditions of the State-owned farms come from the statistical reports tabulated by the Bureau of Reclamation, Ministry of Agriculture. The statistical scope includes 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government; except Tibet. Data are collected from the grassroots units in accordance with the statistical reporting scheme whereby reporting is done level by level for aggregation. The contents of indicators and statistical coverage are consistent with those stipulated by the National Bureau of Statistics.

(4) Data on irrigation and reservoirs, data on efforts to eliminate water-logging, to prevent floods by water control and to combat alkalinity as well as data on the facilities of water conservancy and the area of water-logging eliminated and the improved area of saline-alkaline land come mainly from statistical reports of the Ministry of Water Sources. The statistical scope includes provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Data are collected from individual counties in accordance with the statistical reporting system and are tabulated and reported level by level. Data on some special indicators, such as the number of irrigated areas, large reservoirs and the medium-sized and small reservoirs that cut across counties are collected directly by the prefectures and reported to the provincial departments of water sources.

(5) Data on disaster-covered area and disaster-affected area are figures jointly confirmed by the NBS in consultation with the Ministry of Civil affairs, the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration.

3. The Agricultural Census was conducted in 2006. Date in 2006 on the situation regarding village basic organization, agricultural machinery, use of chemical fertilizer and use of electricity in villages are not available in the chapter. These data will be issued in the Agricultural Census Communiqué.