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Agricultural census - FSS 2007 - History

History of the agricultural surveys in Hungary

In Hungary agricultural surveys look back to long historical traditions. Production surveys implemented for taxation purposes were conducted in the early medieval centuries under the Árpád Dynasty. After the lost battle against the Turks in Mohács the Royal Chambers had regular records of production. Starting from the 16th century surveys of census type served the purpose of tax assessment. The Statistical Tables of the Austrian statistical office (Tafeln zur Statistik der Österreichischen Monarchie) were regularly published starting from 1840, including, among others, data and estimates on the distribution of arable land of Hungary by branches of cultivation, yields of some agricultural crops, and even the entire output of agricultural production in monetary terms. The data for the 1850 cadastre survey were collected by the administrative authorities for taxation purposes. The first harvest statistics is dated in 1868; the first plant cultivation survey is dated in 1871; the first livestock survey was conducted in 1884; the first orchard survey took place in the years between 1956 and 1959, whereas the first vine survey is dated in 1961-63. The first agricultural census was conducted in 1895, followed by five similar censuses in 1935, 1972, 1981, 1991 and 2000.

The comprehensive census of 1935 was implemented upon the recommendation of the predecessor of FAO, the International Agricultural Institute (IIA) in Rome. The census of 1981 was implemented in compliance with the recommendations of the global census of 1980 of FAO, by the use of cost-efficient methods.

The agricultural census of 2000 was the first to be linked with the farm structure survey of the European Union. The farm structure survey of 2003 was implemented in compliance with the expectations agreed upon at the accession negotiations.

The Farm Structure Survey of 2005 and 2007 was conducted according to the EU stipulations.