President Jokowi: Agricultural Census 2023 For Policy Accuracy

President Jokowi/Youtube Presidential Secretariat

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo said the 2023 Agricultural Census (ST2023) aims to obtain data accuracy and make appropriate decisions in agriculture.

"Often the data is not ready and accurate. Why is this Agricultural Census implemented? This sector involves the lives of many people, so policy accuracy and policy accuracy need data accuracy," said President Jokowi at the 2023 Agricultural Census Implementation event at the State Palace. Jakarta reported by ANTARA, Monday, May 15.

The Agricultural Census is held every 10 years, namely in the year ending at 3. The Agricultural Census of 2023 is the seventh agricultural census carried out by the Government through the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

"We know, to produce the right policy, we need accurate data. We are often slack here. If we have decided to cultivate subsidies, let's say 9 million tons, that's from the data deciding that; but in the field, many farmers shout, sir, fertilizers don't exist?," added Jokowi.

He said the complaint may have been caused by the lack of fertilizer supply, improper distribution, or other causes.

"But, if the data is accurate, it's very easy Oh, yes, it's not 9 million tons, but 13 million tons, for example. Therefore, I really support the implementation of the Agricultural Census in 2023 and this has been the last implementation 10 years ago," he said.

However, he continued, the census carried out for 10 years was too long.

"This should be every five years, the cost shouldn't be much, maybe IDR 3 trillion, but it's important. How can I decide a policy if the data is inaccurate and the most updated," he explained.

Jokowi also requested that the Agricultural Census in 2023 really produce the latest, accurate, and reliable data.

"This agricultural census concerns agriculture, plantations, livestock, fisheries, and forestry. Everything does a census there, because we know this sector has a very strategic role. The data in me, (farms) contributed 11.8 percent to our total GDP, very large," he said.

The President also said that agriculture is in a very vulnerable condition due to the threat of a food crisis.

"Three hundred and forty-five million people in the world are threatened with food shortages and hunger due to climate change, due to war. Therefore, this sector plays a very important role going forward, a very strategic role going forward, and provides the work of 40 million people living in this sector. This is already 29 percent of the workforce," he said.

Furthermore, Jokowi also asked all stakeholders in the agricultural sector to make the census a success which will be held from June 1 to July 30, 2023.

"This means that two months are complete and after that we get an accurate and quality data," he added.

The Agricultural Census in 2023 is carried out to obtain the necessary variables for the completeness of developing agricultural data very dynamically and to answer data needs, both at the national and international levels.

In addition, the census is designed to obtain international standard results by referring to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) program known as the World Program for the Census of Agriculture (WCA).

The 2023 Agricultural Census is a large activity consisting of a series of stages of activities that begin with planning, preparation, data collection, presentation, and data analysis.

The ST2023 activity has started since 2021 and all activities are scheduled to end in 2024. One of the important stages in ST2023 is data collection in June-July 2023 which involves many officers, both from BPS organics and partners.