ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal officially launched the results of the 7th Agricultural Census 2024” Integrated Digital Count,” a landmark in Pakistan’s statistical history covering agriculture, livestock and farm machinery.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, he acknowledged the remarkable efforts of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for introducing innovation, transparency, and precision in data collection and will go long way for country economic growth and prosperity.
He emphasized that Agriculture was the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, contributing significantly to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exports and employment.
The 7th Agricultural Census is a historic step forward in economic reform and data-driven policymaking, and aligned with URAAN Pakistan initiative, under the 5Es framework that aims at transforming Pakistan in to $3 trillion economy by 2047.
The Census-2024 represents a pivotal moment in the evolution of agricultural planning in Pakistan for the first time; the country has successfully implemented a fully integrated digital approach utilizing advanced technologies such as real-time mapping, geo-tagging and automated data systems to collect accurate and timely information from the field with efficient resource management.
The insights derived from this extensive data collection will play a critical role in shaping forward-looking agricultural policies, optimizing resource allocation, and enabling data-driven decisions at both federal and provincial levels.
Most importantly, the findings would directly contribute to improving the livelihoods of millions of farming households by ensuring that policies are responsive, inclusive and grounded in reality.
This would also enable targeted interventions and effective resource allocation
The 7th Agricultural Census executed after 14 years leveraged advanced technology, including ERP systems, GIS dashboards, geo-tagging, real-time synchronization linked to centralized dashboards for quality assurance and to streamline data collection and analysis.
The census revealed significant increase of agriculture farm households to 11.7 million from 8.3 million farm households from 2010, while cultivated area increased from 42.6M acres (2010) to 52.8M acres (2024).
It said that 79 percent of the cultivated area is irrigated by canals and tube-wells.
The livestock population has reached 251 million, growing at 3.18 per cent per annum since 2006, goats (95.8M), cattle (55.8M), buffaloes (47.7M), sheep (44.5M), camels (1.5M) asses (4.8M).
PBS Chief Statistician Dr Naeem uz Zafar said the 7th Agricultural Census 2024 represented far more than just a statistical achievement which stood as a ground breaking innovation in governance and public data systems.
By incorporating real-time data monitoring, implementing widespread and structured training programs, and integrating cutting-edge Geographic Information System (GIS) tools, he said this census has set a new gold standard for how large-scale data collection exercises should be conducted in the future.
Member (SS/RM,) Project lead/ focal person for Agriculture Census, Muhammad Sarwar Gondal said the much-anticipated results of Pakistan’s first-ever Integrated Digital Agricultural Census successfully compiled in just four months.
“This historic digital census has generated crucial data that will drive economic growth and serve as a cornerstone for evidence-based policy planning,” he said.
Gondal said the success of this large-scale operation was made possible through the dedicated efforts of over 7,000 trained personnel, the coordinated support of provincial departments and valuable collaboration with the FAO and academic institutions.
