THE ongoing Agriculture Census 2024 by the Statistics Department in Terengganu has documented more than 92,000 households and 480 businesses involved in agricultural activities.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the census is being carried out by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) and is now entering its 43rd day.
He said large-scale census covers the census of households and businesses involved in agricultural activities namely food crops and commodities, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture as well as logging and forestry.
"Census results show that the crops subsector is the highest contributor to the agriculture sector at 69 per cent, followed by the livestock subsector (24.2 per cent), the fisheries subsector (6.5 per cent) and the forestry and logging subsector (0.2 per cent).
"The Hulu Terengganu district recorded the highest percentage of residential areas visited, at 75.1 per cent, followed by Kemaman (72 per cent), Dungun (69.5 per cent), Kuala Terengganu (63.2 per cent), Besut (60.9 per cent), Setiu (53.3 per cent), Kuala Nerus (46.1 per cent) and Marang (45.1 per cent)," he said.
He said this when visiting the honeydew melon production at the Ayana Agrotech Permanent Food Production Plant in Kampung Tok Dor, on Sunday.
Also present were deputy Agricultural Census commissioner Marlini Sahul Hamid, state agriculture department director Datuk Zulkepli Amin Mat Jusoh and state veterinary services department director Dr Anun Man.
He said the Besut district recorded the highest percentage of agricultural residences at 30.9 per cent, followed by Hulu Terengganu (30.3 per cent), Setiu (27.7 per cent), Dungun (20.2 per cent), Kemaman (17.8 per cent), Kuala Terengganu (14.3 per cent), Marang (13.3 per cent) and Kuala Nerus (8.9 per cent).
"For Terengganu, the agriculture sector is the third largest contributor to its gross domestic product (GDP), which is 7.5 per cent with a value of RM 2.9 billion in 2023.
"The crops subsector is the largest contributor to the agricultural sector in Terengganu at 58.6 per cent, followed by the fisheries subsector (15.6 per cent), the livestock subsector (14.5 per cent) and the forestry and logging subsector (11.4 per cent).
Uzir added that the information from the census would open up more investment opportunities in the agricultural sector to the public.
He said that those interested in studying agriculture will use the census information obtained to study the potential of an agricultural product.
"So far, the overall achievement of the national census results has reached 44.3 per cent with Penang being the first state with the highest at 65.3 per cent followed by Terengganu at 60.4 per cent," he said.
He said various census data, including the dependence of the import-export network system as well as various price differences in terms of price stability, wholesale prices and sales prices would help in the process of planning to increase the income of the country's agricultural sector.
Uzir also visited various subsectors in each district, including the aquaculture subsector in Kampung Chabang, Kerteh, Kemaman, the dairy cattle and goat farming in Kampung Kuala Besut, and the Tok Dor honeydew melon project.