Statistics Estonia started to employ enumerators for the Agricultural Census

“The Agricultural Census being conducted in autumn does not concern the whole population, but only the holdings where there is at least one hectare of agricultural land,” Ms Eve Valdvee, the Project Manager of the Agricultural Census of Statistics Estonia, said.

The Agricultural Census will be conducted from 1 September to 15 November. An important innovation is that the Census data will mainly be collected electronically. Legal and natural persons can submit the data through the electronic data transmission environment eSTAT of Statistics Estonia. The holders of holdings of natural persons who have not submitted their data for the end of the electronic data submission period will be visited by the enumerator of Statistics Estonia.

“Thus it is very important that the applicant is computer literate in addition to the knowledge of the Estonian and Russian languages, as during the visit the enumerator will enter the data in the laptop computer,” explained Ms Valdvee.

One can apply for the post on CV Online (http://www.cv.ee/too/statistikaamet-loendus/) until 21 June.

The Agricultural Census includes about 30,000 holdings. The Census observes agricultural holdings where there is at least one hectare of utilised agricultural land or where agricultural products are produced mainly for sale. Utilised agricultural land also includes the land where agricultural products are not produced, but which is kept in good condition and for which area payments is received.

The Agricultural Census will be conducted for the sixth time in Estonia. The previous Agricultural Censuses were conducted in 1919, 1925, 1929, 1939 and after the restoration of independence in 2001. In the European Union countries Agricultural Censuses will be conducted in 2009 and 2010. In the EU countries Agricultural Censuses are conducted every ten years.

Additional information on the 2010 Agricultural Census can be found on the website of Statistics Estonia www.stat.ee/agricultural-census