NSO ICS Report Flags Procedural Lapses in Crop Cutting Experiments

The NSO’s Annual Report on Improvement of Crop Statistics (ICS) Scheme, 2023-24 flags concerns about the quality of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs). The report highlights procedural lapses, inadequate supervision, and instances of untrained personnel conducting CCEs, affecting crop yield estimation quality.

NSO Annual Report on Improvement of Crop Statistics Scheme:

Dimension	Key Details
CCE definition	Crop Cutting Experiment (CCE) is a field-based statistical method to estimate crop yield.
CCE method	A scientifically selected portion of a field is harvested, threshed, cleaned, and weighed to calculate yield per hectare.
Crop production calculation	Final crop production is mainly calculated using: Area under crop × Average yield per hectare.
Compliance with prescribed procedures	In 2023-24, 72% of CCEs follow the prescribed scientific procedures, and around 28% have procedural lapses or errors.
Types of errors reported	In 2023-24, about 11% of CCEs have errors in crop selection, harvesting, or weighing, and around 10% have errors in recording information such as irrigation, seeds, and fertilisers.
Sampling issues	Selected villages or fields are frequently replaced in several states, affecting the quality of scientific sampling.
Supervision and staffing	Supervision is inadequate in several states, and some CCEs are conducted by untrained personnel.
Importance of official crop estimates	Official crop estimates influence MSP and procurement, PDS, food grain imports and exports, food security planning, crop insurance claims, and agricultural policy and planning.
Measures suggested in the report	Measures include: Ensure 100% supervision of CCEs; train field personnel properly; update the General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES) plan; ensure timely selection of fields; improve coordination with farmers; strengthen digital monitoring and quality checks.
ICS scheme introduction	The Improvement of Crop Statistics (ICS) scheme is introduced jointly by MoSPI and state authorities in 1973-74.
ICS scheme purpose	The ICS scheme provides for checking and evaluating the quality of crop-area enumeration and crop-cutting experiments conducted by state field workers.
Executing agency	The National Statistical Office (NSO) is the executing agency for the ICS scheme.
Scope	The ICS scheme operates across multiple states and union territories to maintain data integrity for India’s agricultural policy and food security planning.