Improving Agricultural Statistics in the COMCEC Region
9
Figure 1: Linkages of Different Dimensions of Agricultural Statistics
Source: FAO, 2006; Kasnakoglu, 2005.
The important thing to observe with respect to different components of agricultural statistics
is that they usually have different sizes and require significant work of mapping to harmonize
their sizes. For example, corresponding to 100 primary agricultural products, there may be
more than 3,000 consumer goods which need to be linked somehow to be able to relate
production to consumption and trade. Similarly the units of measurement, reference periods,
geographical coverage, may vary for different components to make integration difficult.
Input-Output matrix links inputs to outputs and summarizes the technology. This is the most
important yet rarely available linkage in agricultural statistics for economic and policy
analysis. Inputs in agriculture include land, labor, fertilizers, chemicals, machinery, buildings,
etc. The most common input-output relationship available is the one between land and output
which is known as the yield or productivity.