The census of agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry is conducted in accordance with the Statistics Act; it is one of basic national censuses. The first census was launched in 1956, and the 2020 Census was the 14th one. With the development of economic globalization, the agricultural authority considers not only market competition but also the food safety in our country. Faced with the aging of the agricultural workforce, the shortage of labor and the challenge of climate change, there is an urgent need to establish the innovative agriculture, which is expected to develop value-added agriculture through innovative thinking and cross-border cooperation, promote the operational efficiency in agriculture by integration of population, land and water resources, enhance the competitiveness of agriculture, and expand the international market so that Taiwan's agriculture will be transformed from a localized industry into a globalized green industry. To plan the 2020 Census, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) of Executive Yuan had took reference to the suggestions of FAO and the experiences of worldwide countries, reviewed the merits and demerits of previous census, and invited the representatives of agricultural authorities, experts and scholars to participate in a number of meetings and discussions. In the preparatory stage, DGBAS had conducted pretests twice and drafted various detailed operation methods, census forms as the principles to carry out the census. Important improvements in 2015 Census are summarized as follows:
I. Improvement of questionnaire items: For response to the need of the current agricultural policy, we maintained basic items and added new items in census questionnaire. The new items included the collection of agricultural information on operation of agriculture-related and fishery-related business, production and distribution of agriculture and fishery products, irrigation water, labor force in agriculture and fishery, and agriculture-related and fishery-related income. It is expected to provide policy formulation and academic research needed to play the maximum function of the census.
II. Links of official files, improvement of census population, and expansion of census statistics items: Based on the 2015 census frame, we continued to collect the information on the latest rosters of agriculture operators , and linked agricultural resources related official files (e.g., land ownership file, the roster of animal husbandry survey, organic farmers, and the roster of traceability agricultural products), in order to improve the coverage rate of census objects, expand the census statistics items, and enhance the value of the census data.
III. Census operation systemization and improvement of census efficiency: Reviewed the previous census operations and the needs of the 2020 Census, developing and improving various operating systems such as systematized reorganization of census roster address, to enhance the accuracy and completeness of census frame; improved data processing operations for systematic and standardization of processes to improve census data processing operations efficiency; optimized the functions of census administrative system to reduce staff administrative workloads.
IV. Enrichment of interactive and practical content, and improvement of training program: Set up digital learning materials for interview procedures and experience sharing; arranged interactive and practical training contents for workshop, such as played interview simulated short films, demonstrated interview procedures and techniques, and strengthened the explanation of examples and the implementation of filling out forms. In addition, in order to enhance the accuracy and completeness of census information, the census examples were noted with the requirements of review on census forms.
V. Use digital enumeration area to improve the efficiency of investigation: In order to alleviate the burden of grass-roots administrative work, Taichung City, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Changhua County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, and Pingtung County were demarcated census districts by DGBAS. The geographic information system was used to establish the digital enumeration area; it provided the census districts map to concretize the scope of enumerator’s responsibility, and improve the efficiency of investigation.
The raw data were mainly processed by personal computer; some special cases were handled by staffs and data clerks. In order to strive for timeliness and to meet the needs of all circles, we first selected important items, then compiled into various statistical tables, preliminary statistical analysis and reports. After being deliberated and approved by experts, scholars and Census Evaluation Commission, DGBAS, and then reported to Executive Yuan for promulgation, providing application for all circles.
The detailed census results were based on a more in-depth cross-analysis of census items. In addition to the overall operating status of agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry in the preliminary report, its contents contain such detailed statistical items as the household population and labor force, crop cultivation and livestock raising, forest operations, main type of fishing, and the species of cultivated/propagated aquatic organisms. The comprehensive census reports were compiled, including general report, industry reports, and county/city reports, in order to provide references for the administration of agriculture authority and the academic institute’s study.
The 2020 Census was accomplished and successfully contributed to the efforts devoted by nearly 10,000 census staffs and the cooperation and full support from 950,000 census units operating production and leisure activities of agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry in Taiwan and Fujian areas. Finally, the Department of Census, DGBAS acknowledges and appreciates the comprehensive review and recommendations by experts, scholars and the members of Census Evaluation Commission.