The Census of Agriculture and Fisheries is undertaken every ten years by the National Statistics Office. It is a large scale government operation geared towards the collection and compilation of statistics on the nation's agriculture and fisheries sectors. The collected data constitute the bases from which our policy makers and planners will evolve plans for the country's development.

The 1991 CAF is the fourth of a series of decennial census on agriculture and the third census on fisheries in the Philippines. Prior to the 1991 census were the 1981, 1971 and 1960 Census of Agriculture. On a limited scale, the Census of Agriculture was conducted in 1903, 1918, 1939 and 1948 together with the Census of Population. However, only the postwar census results are available.

The Census of Agriculture and Fisheries was envisioned with the following objectives:

1. To determine the structure and characteristics of holdings, e.g. variation in size, tenure of holdings, land utilization and area planted to crops;
2. To determine the number and distribution of household and establishments engaged in fishing and gather information as to the operation of these households and establishments;
3. To provide baseline data fro improving the reliability of current estimates;
4. To provide sampling frame to other statistical undertakings; and
5. To provide dasic data for use in national as well as local development planning.

In line with the objectives of the Census, the following items are included in the Census of Agriculture and Fisheries:

1. Agriculture

a. Legal status of the holder
b. Farming population
c. Location, size, and tenure status of the parcel(s)
d. Land utilization
e. Main irrigation system
f. Temporary/permanent crops planted
g. Area planted to temporary/permanent crops
h. Selected agricultural activities
i. Equipment anf facilities
j. Livestock and poultry
k.Selected agricultural practices
l. Availment of credit, membership in farmer's organization and availment of extension services
m. Main sources of income

2. Fishing

a. Type of fishing activity
b. Fishing gears used
c. Fishing boats used
d. Type of aquafarm
e. Location and size of aquafarm

All households from the the sampled barangays whether they are in urban or rural areas are to be listed to determine whether any member was engaged in any agricultural or fishing activity. All agricultural operators and fishing operators as defined in Chapter V are included in the enumeration.

All agricultural/fishing establishments are to be included in the Census of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Sampling Design

The 1991 Census of Agriculture adopted a systematic sampling of an ordered population for the 73 provinces and a simple systematic sampling method for the National Capital Region (NCR).

Sampling Units and Sampling Frames

The 1,690 cities and municipalities of the country were the domains of the CA and the ultimate sampling units were the barangays. The sampling frames were constructed by integrating the 1990 Census of Population and Housing barangay lists with the 1980 CA data on the total farm area (TFA).

Sampling Procedures

The barangays in each city/municipality of the 73 provinces (excluding NCR) were ranked by descending values of TFA. Those that did not have TFA values because either they were new, or they were no longer the same barangay in 1980 due to splitting or merging with other units, were appended at the bottom of the ranked list either alphabetically or by increasing value of their geographic codes. The barangay with highest TFA was automatically part of the sample and this is referred to as the certainty barangay. Then fifty percent (50%) of the remaining barangays were chosen systematically. The total sample barangays, which are referred to as the non-certainty barangays, were 21,011, representing 52% sampling rate nationwide excluding NCR. Those that were not selected are referred to as the non-sample barangays.

                                      n’               n                m
      Y’   =  Yc + N'/n'   Sum  Y_1i  + Sum Y_2i +  Sum Y_j
                                                i=1             i =1             j=1     

where:

  n                              n'
Sum Y_2i = Y_{c, est.} + Sum Y_{1i, est.}
i = 1                         i = 1

Y’ = estimate of any farm characteristics in a city/municipality

Y_c = refers to the characteristics of the farms which are household-based in the certainty barangay of a city/municipality

Y_{c, est.} = refers to characteristics of the establishment-based farms taken from the certainty barangay of a city/municipality

Y_1i = refers to the characteristics of the farms, which are household-based, in the ith non-certainty barangay of a city/municipality; I = 1,2,.. . . . . ,n’

Y_{1i, est.} = refers to the characteristics of the establishment-based farms taken from the ith non- certainty barangay of a city/municipality

Y_1i = refers to the sum of the total establishment-based farms in the ith non-certainty barangay including those in the certainty barangay of a city/municipality; I = 1,2, . . . . .,n

Y_j = refers to the characteristics of the farms, which are establishment-based, in the jth non-sample barangay of a city/municipality; j = 1,2, . . . .,n

N’ = total number of barangays in a city/municipality minus the certainty barangay

n’ = total non-certainty barangays in a city/municipality minus the certainty barangay

In the case of NCR, the same procedures in estimating the farm characteristics were followed in order to compute the estimates at the district level except that the n’ were no only ten percent of the total remaining barangays which were not included in the criteria for identifying the certainty barangays.

Concepts and definition in this report are those that were used in the 1971 and 1980 Census of Agriculture. The definitions are mostly adopted from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommendations. The data were tabulated in the city/municipality where the farms can be located.

Basic concepts and definitions used in the Census of Agriculture and Fisheries are the following:

a. Agricultural operation refers to the following:

1. growing of temporary crops like palay, corn, sugarcane, camote, string beans, cabbage, etc.
2. raising of permanent crops like coconut, santol, mango, guava, grapes, etc.
3. tending of livestock and poultry
4. culture of mushrooms, honeybees, earthworms, silkworms, etc.;
5. cultivation of ornamental and flowering plants for sale; and
6. management of above activities including planning, supervising, marketing of produce, purchasing inputs, and record-keeping.

b. A farm operator or holder is a civil or juridical person who exercises management control over the agricultural operation of a farm/holding and takes major decisions regarding resource use. He has the technical and economic responsibility for the farm/holding and may undertake all responsibilities directly, i.i., he operates the holding, or delegates responsibilities related to day-to-day work management to a hired manager.

c. Head of the household is an adult person, male or female, who is responsible for the organization and care of the household or who is regarded as such by the members of the household.

d. Hired manager is a person who is paid a salary or wage (sometimes plus a commission) to operate the holding. He is responsible for the day-to-day agricultural operations of the holding and may supervise others in performing those operations.

e. Household refers to a person or group of persons who sleep under the same roof and usually have common arrangement for the preparation and consumption of food. A farm household refers to the household of a farm operator.

f. Respondent is any adult peson who is a responsible member of the household who provides answers to questions and gives information about the household.

In the 1991 Census Field Operations, the farm was defined as any piece or pieces of land used wholly or partly for any agricultural activity, i.e., growing of crops, tending livestock and poultry, etc., and operated as one technical unit by one person alone or with others, regardless of title, legal form, size and location. During the machine data processing and tabulation, each set of data was examined carefully and the data pertaining to the farms were segregated using the following definition:

A farm/holding is any piece or pieces of land having a total area of at least 1,000 square meters used wholly or partly for the growingg of crops such as palay, corn, fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc., and/or tending of livestock and/or poultry, regardless of number; or any land regardless of area, used for the raising of at least 20 heads of livestock and/or 100 heads of poultry.

Other terminologies used are defined as follows:

Parcel is one contiguous piece of land under one form of tenure without regard to land use. A piece of land is contiguous if it is not separated by natural or man-made boundaries that are not part of the farm/holding.

Farms reporting denotes the count of farms which are reported in each size grouping and number of parcel.

The area of the farm refers to the physical or actual measurement of the land, reported only once regardless of how many times it was used during the reference period.

The size of the farm was based on the physical area of the land in each farm. Grouped into 9 size class, the lowest size group was “under 0.500 ha”. No farm with an area below 0.100 hectare is included in the table except those farms with at least 20 heads of livestock and/or 100 heads of poultry. Similarly, the highest size-group was chosen as :25.00 has. and above” instead of breaking it further into several smaller size groups in as much as the farms falling under this size were relatively few in number.

Tenure means the right under which the parcel is held or operated. A farm may be operated under a single form of tenure or under more than one form of tenure if the farm is composed of more than one parcel. The tenurial status of a farm parcel/parcels are the following:

a. Fully owned refers to the land operated with a title of ownership in the name of the holder and consequently, the right to determine the nature and extent of the use of the land.

b. Held under certificate of land transferincludes only those parcels that are still being paid by the holder under the government land reform program of transfer of ownership of tenanted rice and corn lands from the landowners to the tenant-tillers.

c. Ownerlike possession other than CLT refers to the area of the land under conditions that enable a person to operate it as if he is the owner although he does not possess title of ownership. Area held under ownerlike possession includes those that are held under heirship and other forms in ownerlike possession.

d. Tenanted refers to rented lands wherein the rental arrangement is in the form of share of produce or harvest.

e. Leased/Rented refers to an area cultivated by a lessee which belongs to or is legally possessed by another, the lessor. The rental payment is in the form of a fixed amount of either money, produce, or both.

f. Rent free refers to an area operated without title of ownership and without paying rent but with the consent or permission of the land owner.

Land use refers to the main use of the land operated by the farm operator during the period January 1, 1991 to December 31, 1991. Land use may be classified as follows:

a. Homelot is land used mainly for residential purposes of the farm operator, regardless of location.

b. Arable land refers to all lands generally under rotation whether it is under temporary crops temporarily fallowed, or used as temporary meadows.

1) Land under temporary crops is land planted to crops which are grown seasonally and whose growing cycle is less than one year and must be sown or planted again for production after each harvest.

2) Land temporarily fallowed is land which is purposely allowed to stay idle for a period of at least one year and at most 5 years in order to recover its fertility, after which period, it is planted to temporary crops.

c. Land under permanent crops is land planted to crops that occupy the land for a long period of time and do not need to be replaced after each harvest like fruit trees.

d. Land under permanent meadows and pastures is land used permanently for more than 5 years for the purpose of growing herbaceous forage crops, either seeded or cared for or existing naturally.

e. Land covered with wood and forest is that part of the farm/holding which has natural or planted forest trees such as ipil-ipil, shrubs, and other non-fruit trees.

Temporary crops are crops which are grown seasonally and whose growing cycle is less than one year and which must be sown or planted again for production after each harvest.

Area planted refers to the total effective area planted to temporary crops. Effective area planted is the size of the land used for agricultural operation, reported as many times as it was planted to the same crops or different crops during the reference period.

Permanent crops are crops which occupy the land for a long period of time and do not need to be replaced after each harvest such as fruit trees, shrubs, nuts, etc. These crops maybe productive, which have already borne fruits or capable of bearing fruit, or non-productive.

Area planted for compact plantation refers to the area where plants or trees are planted in a regular or systematic manner. Plants or trees forming an irregular pattern but dense enough to permit the collection of information regarding the area are also considered compact plantation.

Irrigation is the practice of artificially providing land with water to increase its agricultural productivity.

Irrigated farms are those lands provided with artificial irrigation system. Such systems include the following:

a. National irrigation system is a government owned irrigation system built or constructed to provide continuous supply of water for agricultural purposes to farmers in exchange for fee.

b. Communal is an irrigation system owned by the community, association, farmers’ cooperative, etc.

c. Individual is an irrigation means provided personally by the operator for his holding’s/farm’s irrigation needs. It could be rented, borrowed or owned by him or by any member of the household.

A farm reporting in the tabulations was counted in “All Systems” but may be counted in each of the reported irrigation systems.

Data users are reminded that the data presented refer only to farms. Agricultural lands of non-farm households, that is households engaged in the raising of crops, livestock and poultry but whose agricultural operations did not satisfy the definition of a farm are not included.

The data referring to farms were tabulated according to the geographic/actual location of the farm or farm parcels.

It should also be noted that the results of the 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1991 censuses may not be entirely comparable because of differences in the definition of farm, the reference period, and sampling design. Furthermore, like any other data gathering activities, the results of the census are also subject to sampling and non-sampling errors.