Summary
ASEAD Project is sailing along the path of its late second year. The counterparts are active in participating in the project work under the new OAE Secretary-General, Mrs. Anchalee Ooraikul. The project activities are proceeding smoothly in each of five fields, following the annual plan of activities defined in April 2004.
As the output, crop cutting methods were developed for paddy and major food crops, preparation of a new area survey method started, survey data entry and processing methods using network technology were improved and economic analyses (construction of input-output table for 2000; development, maintenance and updating of macro-model; and development of commodity demand-supply models) proceeded. Improvement of counterparts’ capability has been continued in these areas.
As the number of commodities covered by crop cutting increased, and area survey started, counterparts’ workloads for the project increased. It is necessary to increase the number of participants in OAE and ROAE, together with their technical capabilities. It is also desirable to study the means of disseminating new methods developed by ASEAD to neighboring ASEAN countries.
Important events and developments during the period are as follows:
The Meeting of Directors-General of Agricultural Statistics and Information in ASEAN+3 Countries by AFSIS Project held in Yangon, Myanmar in January 2005 acknowledged the necessity of strengthening agricultural statistics and information throughout the ASEAN+ 3 Region. It clearly indicates that Thailand is requested to contribute to the regional improvement on the basis of outputs from the ASEAD project.
OAE made it clear in October 2004 that it would restructure the whole system of crop production surveys. According to the plan, the present interview surveys would be replaced by a combination of crop cutting surveys for estimating yields and an area-based survey utilizing geographical information (GI) technology combined with field enumeration.
The crop cutting survey for paddy was conducted and yields were estimated from the survey results. In addition, the second-year crop cutting surveys were conducted for cassava and sugarcane. These surveys helped OAE to refine the yield survey methods.
In parallel with the crop cutting, studies and preparations for the introduction of area surveys based on area sampling frame using geographical information technology.
A Short-Term Expert helped CAI to develop a pilot computer program to formulate sampling frames for CAI sample surveys, using data from 2003 Census of Agriculture conducted by the National Statistics Office. It opened a way for improving survey accuracy through complete sampling frame.
The Project Expert and a Short-Term Expert helped CAI to develop the crop cutting data entry and reporting system, enabling speedy data entry, processing and reporting. The new system enabled ROAE to report the survey data directly to OAE, instead of sending the data as e-mail-attached excel files. “Real-time monitoring” of the data input by OAE became possible, too.
Economic analyses (construction of input-output table for 2000; development, maintenance and updating of macro-model; and development of commodity demand-supply models) has been accelerated after a Long-Term Expert for Economic Analysis arrived in Bangkok in June 2004.
Training programs preceding paddy crop cutting survey helped ROAE staff improve their capacity to teach/ guide Sokoto in how to conduct the survey accurately.
The Second Joint Coordinating Committee of the ASEAD Project was convened on 9 March, 2005 and defined the direction of the project activities for the coming one-year period.
