LAISHA
Open Laisha

ASRB NET Agricultural Statistics System, Census & Official Statistics: practice questions

ASRB NET - Agricultural Statistics (and Computer Application / Bioinformatics) · India · Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ICAR)

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
43written to this exam in this subject
10syllabus units

What this subject covers

Who collects which number and how: land-use and crop statistics, the agricultural census and input survey, livestock census and integrated sample survey, fishery and horticulture statistics, cost of cultivation, price and market statistics, and the international frameworks (FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture, Global Strategy, FAOSTAT, SDG indicators).

In the exams: AICE-JRF Ag Stat Unit 5 'agricultural statistics system: land use, crop estimation, livestock and fishery statistics' (heavy); UPSC ISS Statistics IV official statistics (heavy); SSC CGL JSO (present); state statistical-officer exams (heavy)

Where the 43 questions fall

How our questions for ASRB NET spread across the units of Agricultural Statistics System, Census & Official Statistics. Difficulty: 5 easy, 24 medium, 14 hard.

Comprehensive scheme for cost of cultivation7
Timely Reporting Scheme and advance estimates of crop production6
Livestock census and the integrated sample survey for major livestock products6
Agricultural census and input survey5
Fishery and horticulture statistics5
Land-use statistics and the nine-fold classification4
National Sample Survey: situation assessment of agricultural households4
Agricultural prices, wages and market arrival statistics3
The national statistical system: MoSPI/NSO and the Directorate of Economics and Statistics2
FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture and FAOSTAT1

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Land-use statistics and the nine-fold classification · medium

Land left uncultivated only during the current year is classified as:

  1. Barren land
  2. Current fallows
  3. Culturable waste
  4. Permanent pastures
Answer and working

B. Current fallows

Current fallows: uncultivated in the current year only.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

2 · Timely Reporting Scheme and advance estimates of crop production · hard

Why are revisions between advance and final estimates a quality indicator?

  1. They prove that final estimates are biased
  2. They are required by FAO for every crop
  3. They show how reliable early figures were
  4. They measure the sampling error exactly
Answer and working

C. They show how reliable early figures were

Users need to know how much early estimates change.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

3 · Agricultural census and input survey · hard

What did the eleventh agricultural census (reference year 2021-22) introduce?

  1. A switch to ownership holdings only
  2. Complete omission of land-record states
  3. Annual rather than periodic rounds
  4. Tablet and smartphone data capture
Answer and working

D. Tablet and smartphone data capture

Tablets and smartphones were used for data collection.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

4 · Livestock census and the integrated sample survey for major livestock products · hard

Which livestock product estimate is generally least reliable?

  1. Meat
  2. Wool from shearing records
  3. Eggs from organised farms
  4. Milk
Answer and working

A. Meat

Household and unregistered slaughter are under-recorded.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

5 · Comprehensive scheme for cost of cultivation · hard

The CCS sample selects about how many holdings per cluster?

  1. Fifty
  2. Two
  3. One hundred
  4. Ten
Answer and working

D. Ten

Two from each of five size classes.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

6 · Agricultural prices, wages and market arrival statistics · easy

Farm harvest prices are used mainly to:

  1. Set the minimum support price
  2. Value output in national accounts
  3. Measure retail food inflation
  4. Fix the consumer price index weights
Answer and working

B. Value output in national accounts

They are producer-to-trader prices at village sites in the harvest period.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

7 · Agricultural prices, wages and market arrival statistics · medium

Why are market arrivals not equal to production?

  1. Production is measured only in markets
  2. Arrivals are measured only in value terms
  3. Arrivals always exceed production exactly
  4. They omit on-farm use and include inflows
Answer and working

D. They omit on-farm use and include inflows

Arrivals miss sales outside markets and include produce from elsewhere.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

8 · National Sample Survey: situation assessment of agricultural households · hard

Why must SAS results be compared across rounds with care?

  1. Results are only national
  2. Income was not collected in 2019 at all
  3. Each round used the same sample
  4. Definitions and thresholds changed
Answer and working

D. Definitions and thresholds changed

Different thresholds define agricultural households.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

9 · National Sample Survey: situation assessment of agricultural households · medium

The 77th round SAS was combined with which survey?

  1. Land and Livestock Holdings
  2. Consumer Expenditure
  3. Periodic Labour Force Survey
  4. Time Use
Answer and working

A. Land and Livestock Holdings

Both used the same households.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

10 · FAO World Programme for the Census of Agriculture and FAOSTAT · medium

FAO's definition of an agricultural holding stresses:

  1. Single management
  2. Legal ownership of land
  3. Registration with the state
  4. A minimum area of 1 ha
Answer and working

A. Single management

An economic unit of production under single management.

Further reading: FAO, World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020; DES, Agricultural Statistics at a Glance; NSO and DAHD reports

Ten here, 43 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to ASRB NET in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.

Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.

Practise the full set in Laisha →

Read the subject

Agricultural Statistics System, Census & Official StatisticsThe full study manual, free ASRB NETFormat, sections and how it has changed

More ASRB NET practice

Small Area Estimation & Model-Based Survey InferenceBioinformatics & Computational BiologySampling Theory II: Unequal Probability, Cluster, Multistage & Repeated SamplingFactorial Experiments, Confounding, Split- & Strip-Plot DesignsResponse Surface, Mixture & Optimal DesignsStatistical Genetics: Population & Quantitative GeneticsBiometrical Techniques in Plant & Animal BreedingSpecialised Agricultural Experiments: Cropping Systems, Animal & On-Farm TrialsStatistical Genomics: QTL Mapping, GWAS & Genomic SelectionIncomplete Block Designs & Design ConstructionGroups of Experiments, Multi-Location Trials & Genotype x Environment AnalysisLinear Mixed Models, Variance Components & Spatial Analysis of Field TrialsAdvanced Design of Experiments (PhD)Bioassay, Survival & Epidemiological StatisticsCrop Area & Yield Estimation: Crop-Cutting ExperimentsSurvey Design, Questionnaires, Field Operations & Non-Sampling ErrorsLinear Models & Regression AnalysisCategorical Data Analysis & Generalized Linear ModelsPrinciples of Experimental Design & Basic DesignsOptimization Techniques for StatisticiansMultivariate AnalysisCrop Forecasting, Weather-Based Models & Non-linear Growth ModelsSampling Theory I: Simple, Stratified, Systematic, Ratio & Regression EstimationNonparametric & Rank-Based Methods

Agricultural Statistics System, Census & Official Statistics for other exams

ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF · IndiaState statistical services · IndiaIndian Statistical Service Examination · India

Ask Laisha about this

Opens Laisha's chat with your question ready to send. Sign in or start free.