AGRICULTURE
(1)
This chapter presents annual data on agriculture in Israel (including Jewish localities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza area).
Agricultureincludes agriculture, forestry and fishing as defined in the Standard Classification of Economic Activities, 1993.
The years in the tables, through 1985/86, are agricultural years beginning on October 1. As of 1986, years in most tables are calendar years (January-December).
LAND AND CROP AREA
(Tables 19.1-19.6)
DEFINITIONS
Agricultural area, by industry: The physical area used for agriculture - excluding natural pasture area, and including area that has been sown but not reaped.
Area for other uses: Area of buildings, yards and roads in the agricultural farm as well as areas fit for cultivation on which there were no crops during the surveyed year.
Fishery area: Area of fish ponds and reservoirs used for growing fish.
Bi-crop: Two crops grown in the same plot during the same year.
Species area: total area (in dunams) of species grown during the survey year (including bi-crops), which were harvested and gathered even if the yield was poor.
SOURCES AND METHODS OF COMPUTATION
Agricultural Areas:Data are obtained from an annual census conducted in co-operation with the Ministry of Agriculture through questionnaires sent to all co-operative localities, moshavim, and non-Jewish localities including Bedouin tribes (one questionnaire for each locality). A sample of other Jewish farms (private farmers in urban localities, education and research institutions) was surveyed with an identical questionnaire (to the census questionnaire), which was sent to them by the Agriculture Division of the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Certain figures are obtained from production and marketing boards.
Forest area: See table 1.6 - Forest area by species - in Chapter 1 - Geophysical Characteristics.
OTHER PRODUCTION FACTORS
(Tables 19.7 -19.10)
DEFINITIONS
Capital stock in agriculture: Total value of all fixed physical assets, which serve the production of agricultural produce: fruit plantations, livestock, agricultural machinery and equipment, agricultural structures, irrigation network, greenhouses, fish ponds and drainage. Since 1970, land reclamation for agriculture has been included. Not included are values of assets: land, forests, water plants, residential buildings, roads, electricity installations, etc. Neither are values of assets in the fishing industry included, nor the value of spraying aircraft.
Gross capital stock: Gross value of assets, before deduction of cumulative depreciation.
Net capital stock: Gross capital stock less cumulative annual depreciation up to the surveyed year.
SOURCES AND METHODS OF COMPUTATION
Employed persons: The data are based on Labour Force Surveys, as well as on the data of employees from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Area who work in agriculture in Israel; since 1992, data on foreign workers are also included. Data on workers from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Areas as well as data on foreign workers are obtained from reports of the National Insurance Institute and the Employment Service.
As of 1988, data of employees from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Area were revised according to actual workdays in each year compared to 1987. As of 1995, the data are according to the Standard Classification of Economic Activities 1993. The chaining coefficient from the 1970 classification to the 1993 classification is 100.2 (calculated according to the data from the January-March 1995 Survey). See introduction to Chapter 12 - Labour and Wages.
Capital stock: computed by the “perpetual inventory” method, according to which a given year's capital stock includes the sum of gross capital formation in assets according to whose "lifetime" depreciation is still deducted.
The price indices that serve for deducting annual investment are specific for each type of asset.
Part ofthegross capital formation is obtained from estimates of capital formation for the national accounts (agricultural equipment and machinery, agricultural structures, greenhouses, irrigation network and land reclamation); see introduction to Chapter 14 - National Accounts.
Another part is estimated as follows:
Livestock: Data on fixed value of capital stock are obtained by multiplying the number of livestock (with a life span exceeding one year) at the beginning of each year by the respective price of each unit in 1986 (see also the definition of “number of animals” below).
Fruit plantations: The data on capital formation value in new plantations according to species are obtained by a normative computation of the value of expenditure - expenditure per dunam multiplied by the number of dunams according to the age of the plantation until fruit bearing. The area of new plantations is obtained from the annual census of agriculture.
Fish ponds. Data on the value of capital formation in fish ponds are obtained each year by a normative computation of the expenditure - the additional area (in dunams) multiplied by the expenditure on digging out one dunam of a pond. As of 1990, the series has been updated; therefore comparison with data of previous years should be done with caution.
Number of animals: Since 1972/73, inventories of cattle, sheep and goats have been based mainly on the findings of the above-mentioned annual census on the cultivated area, with additions from various records, especially for sheep and goats.
Historical data are based on annual updating of census bench marks, as well as on records of professional organizations and of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The poultry inventory is based mainly on data regarding chick hatchings.
Water for agriculture: See Chapter 21 - Energy and Water.
INPUT, OUTPUT AND DOMESTIC PRODUCT
(Tables 19.11-19.21)
DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS
Input: composed of total materials and services purchased by agriculture from other activities in Israel and from imports (the purchased input), the intermediate produce and the depreciation inrenewal prices.
Pesticides for use in agriculture:
Chemical materials used to treat diseases and pests that damage animal and plant life.
For data on toxicity, environmental toxicity potential, and half-degradation time in soil, see Chapter 27 - Environment.
The three main types of pesticides are insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides.
Active Ingredient (AI) -The toxic ingredient in a pesticide. Pesticide preparations comprise mixtures of active ingredients (one to three ingredients) that are diluted in a basic material that increases the volume of the preparation. The concentration of active ingredient is measured in kilograms of active ingredients per liter or per kg of the preparation.
Usage groups - Data in table 19.14 are aggregated into groups by main types of agriculture treatment.
- The group of animal and insect pests includes insecticides, acricides, nematodes, snails, rodents, material attracting insects, and material for repelling birds and mammals.
- The group of fungicides, bactericides and evaporation materials which also includes preparations for treatment after harvest.
- Herbicides and materials causing fall of leaves.
- Oils includes spray oils and herbicide oils.
- Other materials includes ointments for trees, preparations to regulate plant growth, materials causing corrosion and other auxiliary products.
Output: The value of agricultural production (including intermediate produce) with the addition of investment in new plantations and afforestation. The data include output mostly produced (especially harvested) during the survey year, even if production began during the previous year and the marketing in the years that followed. The data on citrus fruit, avocados, bananas and flowers, for the survey year, include all the harvest from August-September of the preceding year to July-August of the survey year.
Destinations of output:
For local consumption: The produce destined for direct consumption by the population of Israel including consumption by the farmer and the farmer’s household ("home consumption").
For local manufacturing includes all of the fresh produce supplied for manufacturing, including fresh produce after industrial processing.
Exports: Fresh agricultural produce destined for export - not necessarily identical to the actual exported produce in the same year. As of 1986, excluding sales to the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Area.
Intermediate produce is agricultural produce that re-enters the agricultural production process (e.g., locally grown barley used for livestock feed).
Data on intermediate produce also include data on destruction of agricultural produce and changes in livestock inventory, and as of 1986 - sales to Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Area.
Income originating in agriculture is the income of "primary" production factors (labour and capital) employed in agriculture. Income is estimated as the sum of the value of total agricultural output as well as compensation and additional industry receipts, less the value of the input. The estimates of agricultural income that appear here differ from those appearing in Chapter 14 - National Accounts, where income from non-profit institutions that serve agriculture are added.
Compensation and other receiptsof the industry include all transfers (excluding subsidies to production units), compensation from insurance (like natural damages), drought compensation, compensation on water cutting, wage supplements and other receipts (various subsidies).
As of 1991, also including compensation from private insurance companies.
SOURCES AND METHODS OF COMPUTATION
Purchased input is an inclusive estimate for each of the main input items. The main sources are as follows: imports of agricultural inputs (such as feed); supply from local production (such as oil cake and fertiliser); water consumption, as estimated by the Water Commission; data from surveys of distributors and production boards (such as pesticides); financial reports of the government and local authorities; analysis of the balance sheets of various organizations.
Depreciation is estimated at renewal prices by the 'straight line' method and is based on the Bureau's series on investments in agriculture (see "Capital stock", above).
Wages are based on wage series as obtained from the summaries of employers' reports to the National Insurance Institute (see Chapter 12 - Labour and Wages). They include wages of workers paid through the Wages Administration of the Employment Services in addition to social supplements paid by the employer. Wages include only compensation of employees, and do not include imputation of wages for the farm owners’ work.
Pesticides -The data on amounts were obtained from distributors of pesticides and from the Ministry of Health, and not directly from the users, i.e., the farmers themselves.
The data for 1952-1983 were provided by the Department for the Protection of Plants at the Ministry of Agriculture.
The data for 1998 are based on a survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the Upper Galilee Technology Center (MIGAL).
Output: estimates of vegetables, fruit, poultry, cattle, milk, eggs, fish and part of the field crops are based chiefly on monthly reports from wholesalers, production boards, and from industrial enterprises, on produce received from the farms for the local market, for export and for manufacturing. Estimates of private sales, home consumption and intermediate produce are added to these data.
Production of some field crops is estimated by multiplying the average yield per dunam by the area sown.
The value of agricultural output (quantity multiplied by price) is an estimate adjusted to the average general price level of each year. The value of each product in the month of marketing is adjusted to the average of the year according to the Consumer Price Index. The agricultural output value usually excludes board fees and marketing commissions.
Production value at previous yearprices is obtained by multiplying the quantity of each item by the price of the previous year. This value is used in calculating the quantitative change in the series (see "Indices" below).
New plantations and afforestation. Data on investments in afforestation are obtained from the Land Development Authority, while data on investment in new plantations is obtained by normative computation of the costs of cultivating the plantation fields until fruit bearing.
Indices: Changes in quantity and price of the various components of the agricultural account were computed according to the Laspeyres and Paasche methods, respectively, using an estimate of the value at previous year's prices. It should be noted that the differences between the price indices derived from the agriculture account (“implicit indices”) and the price indices of agricultural output presented in Chapter 13 - Prices, are due mainly to differences in definition. Whereas the price indices relate to the entire agricultural output, those in Chapter 13 and in Table 19.11 relate to the traded produce only. Moreover, the weights of the production price index are current weights, whereas the weights of the output price index are fixed. The same applies to the Index of Input Prices in Agriculture, which is derived from the Agriculture Account, as compared with the Index of Input Prices in Chapter 13 - Prices
For data on imports of agricultural produce, see Chapter 16 - Foreign Trade.
FOOD SUPPLY AND NUTRIENTS
(Tables 19.22-19.24)
DEFINITIONS
Food supply balance sheetis the record and sum total of the sources of food according to their description and the calculation of their nutritional value (calories, fat, protein, minerals and vitamins) consumed on average per capita per day, by the actual population living in Israel in the year surveyed.
The balance sheet is drawn up in the form determined by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), with some adaptations to conditions in Israel.
Until 1986/87 data were published according to agricultural years (October-September). As of 1988, data are published for calendar years.
Food commodity:The food commodities recorded here are generally 'primary' commodities. These commodities serve as the basis for calculating the nutritional values of food commodities obtained from them. For example, the item 'wheat' contains wheat used for manufacture of bread, biscuits, noodles etc., except for quantities that are a component of another commodity in the balance sheet.
Quantities of commodities are recorded at the weight and measure of the primary commodity. For example, canned vegetables are included in the balance sheet as quantities of fresh vegetables. Tea leaves, coffee beans and alcoholic beverages are not considered foods in the balance sheet.
The following are details for several definitions:
Wheat - from the column Production until the column Total available supply, data are for grains (Table 19.22).
The column Other supply and waste is comprised of the weight of grain used for fodder and the weight of products resulting from grain milling.
Starting from the column Food and onward, data are for flour.
Vegetables - including peas and corn for canning.
Fruits and melons - fruits, watermelons and sweetmelons.
Fresh fruits excluding citrus - this group does not include olives for oil, almonds and pecans. Those appear in different items in the balance.
The commodity butter is included under Oils and Fats, and Cream is included under Milk and Dairy Products. The (general) group from animals includes the groups of commodities: meat, eggs, fish, milk and dairy products and the commodity "butter".
Production:local agricultural production in the year surveyed, i.e., the year of agricultural production. The production date of winter fruit (bananas, avocado) in the food balance sheet are according to the marketing in the balance year.
Data on production (tons) for the commodities maize, peas, animals for meat, eggs and milk are recorded in the balance with a measuring units that are different from the definitions of data on domestic agricultural production. Therefore, the numbers differ between the two series.
Exports:exports sent overseas and surplus (positive) of food commodities transferred from Israel to Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Area.
Imports: imports from overseas and surplus (positive) of food commodities transferred from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Area to Israel.
Change in stocks: commodities in the stock at the beginning of the year, both from the domestic production of the previous year and from imports, less commodities that remained in the stock at the end of the surveyed year - whether they were imported or grown and produced during the surveyed year, but consumed during the following year.
Other supply and waste(Table 19.22):This column indicates quantities used for fodder and seed, for industrial processing, or for production of another commodity appearing in the balance. For perishable food commodities e.g., fruit and vegetables, waste is estimated according to quantities that rotted or were destroyed between the stage of wholesale marketing and the retail marketing stage. The estimate of waste is calculated according to coefficients.
(1)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
(1)
SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
1081Agricultural Survey 1995
CURRENT BRIEFINGS IN STATISTICS
9, 2002Agricultural Activity Account in Israel, 2000-2001
13, 2002Agriculture in Israel 2000
Area and Livestock
TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS
58Input and Output Price Indices in the Agricultural Activity, 1986
JUBILEE PUBLICATIONS (on the occasion of Israel’s 50th year)
Agriculture (No. 2 in the series)
(1)