LAHORE, June 11: The field operation (enumeration) of the fourth livestock census in nine districts of Balochistan, eight of Azad Kashmir, two agencies and the NWFP’s federal region is in full swing.

Officials involved in the exercise told Dawn on Sunday that the field operation would conclude by June 20 in Quetta, Pishin, Qilla Abdullah, Mastung, Kalat, Loralai, Qilla Saifullah, Zhob and Ziarat districts of Balochistan; Bhimber, Mirpur, Kotli, Sadhnoti, Rawalakot, Bagh, Muzaffarabad and Neelum districts of Azad Kashmir, besides Hungu district, Central Kurrum federal region, Kurram and Orakzai agencies of the NWFP.

However, they said, enumeration in Dera Bugti district of Balochistan and North Waziristan Agency of the NWFP could not be carried out because of law and order situation there.

The Agriculture Census Organisation (ACO) of the Statistics Division of Finance and Economic Affairs ministry started work on the fourth livestock census on Sept 1 last year. So far, three phases of the exercise have been completed. The two-month first phase of enumeration in the selected mouzas of 11 Punjab and talukas of 10 Sindh districts was completed on Nov 11 last year, they said.

The enumeration work in the second phase in selected mouzas of 26 Punjab and talukas of 13 Sindh districts was completed on Jan 20 this year.

The fourth phase in Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and the NWFP was under way, while the fifth phase would start from July 5 in the colder areas of the NWFP and Northern Areas, and would be completed by the end of next month, they said.

“Pakistan is among those few countries which carry out livestock and agriculture machinery censuses separately, while in more than 90 per cent countries, the two are parts of the agriculture census,” they said.

The ACO staff had been posted at district headquarters for supervision, monitoring and guidance of the enumerators during the field operation, they said.

Around 5,500 enumerators and about 1,200 supervisors of the provincial livestock or animal husbandry and dairy development departments had been engaged to collect data from all over the country.

Established in 1957, the ACO conducts mouza census after every five years, the agriculture census in the year ending on the digit 0, the agricultural machinery census in the year ending on 4 and the livestock in the year ending on digit 6.

The agriculture census was carried out in 1960, 1972, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2005, the agricultural machinery census in 1968, 1975, 1984, 1994 and 2004, the livestock in 1976, 1986 and 1996, and the mouza census in 1971, 1979, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003.