SSC
The Agriculture Census in India is conducted at an interval of:
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Answer: Option B — 5 years
Detailed Solution
The Agriculture Census is conducted in India every five years by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, in cooperation with the states and union territories. It is the main source of data on the number, size and characteristics of operational holdings (farms) in the country.
History:
India's first Agriculture Census was conducted with reference year 1970-71, as part of the World Census of Agriculture programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Since then, it has been held every five years. The 10th Agriculture Census had the reference year 2015-16, and the 11th Agriculture Census had the reference year 2021-22.
The 11th census used smartphones and tablets for the first time to collect data, with digitised land records in many states.
What it collects:
- The number and area of operational holdings, classified by size (marginal, small, semi-medium, medium and large).
- Distribution of holdings by social group (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and others) and by gender of the operational holder.
- Land use, irrigation, cropping pattern, tenancy and use of farm inputs (in later phases, through the input survey).
Key findings (Agriculture Census 2015-16):
- The average size of an operational holding fell to about 1.08 hectares.
- Small and marginal holdings (less than 2 hectares) made up about 86 per cent of all holdings, but covered less than half the total area.
- The number of holdings operated by women increased.
Size classes of holdings:
- Marginal: less than 1 hectare.
- Small: 1 to 2 hectares.
- Semi-medium: 2 to 4 hectares.
- Medium: 4 to 10 hectares.
- Large: 10 hectares and above.
Other agricultural surveys:
- The Livestock Census is also conducted every five years by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying; the 20th Livestock Census was held in 2019.
- The Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households is conducted by the National Statistical Office.
Why not the other options?
- ✗3 years and 7 years are not the intervals used for the Agriculture Census.
- ✗10 years is the interval of the Census of India (population census), not the Agriculture Census.
Quick tip
Remember: Agriculture Census = every 5 years (since 1970-71); Livestock Census = also every 5 years; population Census = every 10 years.
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Agriculture in India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Agriculture in India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers agriculture in India: cropping seasons (kharif, rabi and zaid), major food and cash crops and their leading producer states, irrigation, the Green, White, Blue and other agricultural revolutions, and allied activities such as animal husbandry and fisheries. Questions usually ask which crop belongs to which season, which state is the largest producer of a crop, and which revolution relates to which product. For example, the White Revolution relates to milk and was led by Verghese Kurien, and the Blue Revolution relates to fisheries. Producer rankings can change from year to year, so check the latest data for those questions. Practise the agriculture in India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.