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National forest products statistics, India

 

Introduction

The importance of Forestry Statistics in India was realised in a meeting of The Board of Forestry at Dehradun in 1925 where it was decided that all provinces would conduct an economic survey of Forest Resources. Formats for collection of information were designed and circulated and the resulting information was sent to the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun for compilation of an ‘all India’ view. Until 1946/47, The British India Government collected only limited forestry information, however, after independence coverage was gradually extended to include forests located in the former princely states.

In 1958/59, the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation standardised state forestry statistics collection formats and began compiling national level data. However, the accuracy of data and the timeliness of its collection and compilation were limited by inadequate mechanisms and checking and analysis was minimal. To overcome these difficulties it was felt necessary to form a central body to collect and compile forestry information.

In 1965, a Central Forestry Commission (CFC) was set up in the Ministry of Agriculture with the objective of collecting, compiling and publishing standardised forestry statistics. In 1967 the CFC revised the standard DES formats and, following comments from the states and other experts in the field, began collecting standardised statistics. There was, however, still insufficient organisation for prompt collection, compilation and analysis.

Following creation of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), the CFC was reconstituted into separate Statistics and Utilisation Divisions. During this period the FRI collected basic timber price information through its Forest Utilisation wing, and also compiled limited forestry statistics, published through the MOEF as ‘India’s Forests’. These activities were discontinued, however, after the post of Forest Utilisation Officer in FRI was abolished.

Previously, data on different aspects of forestry were collected and stored by different agencies in India but were not held in any single place which created difficulties in projecting a complete picture of forestry and ecosystem management in India. To centralise information, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) organised a directorate of statistics in January 1995, under the Forestry Research, Extension and Education Project (FREEP). The role of this directorate, now called the Division of Statistics, is to collect, collate, process, publish and circulate covering all aspects of forestry at the national level.

The current forest products statistical system

The Division of Statistics gathers data on production and trade of forest products from State Forest Departments, IAPMA, FIPPI and the Ministry of Commerce (Figure 1). In addition to production and trade data information is also received from the Planning Commission and MOEF, the Forest Survey of India and the Central Statistical Organisation. At present data is received either in hard copy or electronically via e-mail.

Data collected through State Forest Departments

Forest products information is collated by the State Forest Departments using standard formats reviewed at the FORSTAT–96 national workshop organised by the Directorate of Statistics in February 1996 at ICFRE, Dehradun. Data from forest ranges, the lowest data collection unit, are determined through a chain of custody system (Box 1). Information from different field offices is compiled at division level and transmitted annually to the State Forest Department Head Quarters, where statewide statistics are collated and consolidated. The State Forest Departments send data in standard format to ICFRE where, after analysis and discussion with State Forest Departments, it is compiled using Microsoft Excel by the Division of Statistics. The validity of data is checked at state level with the help of ICFRE institutions.

Figure 1. Inflow of information and data for production and trade of forest products

Box 1. System for Determination of Timber Production.

Production figures from State Forests Departments are collected through the following system: (i) timber removals are based on marking book records which incorporate species name and girth over bark at breast height; (ii) all removals are recorded in a felling register which bears the total volume and number of pieces from each stump; (iii) transport of removals is recorded in a transit pass register and in triplicate on transit passes; (iv) removals are taken to Govt. depots/go downs where a copy of the transit pass is deposited and receipt indicated on a duplicate copy; (v) in Govt. depot/go downs all incoming material is measured piecewise and recorded in a depot/go down register; (iv) annual arrivals at, and disposals from, depot/go downs is reported to Division/state level authorities annually by the end of June.

Information on different aspects of national forestry is summarised and published in ‘Forestry Statistics India’ in the form of tables. To date, editions have covered 1988-94, 1995, 1996 and 2000. Forest products information covered in Chapter 11 includes paper production (MT), plywood production by state (m2), annual sawnwood production by state and saw mill (m3), as well as a survey of wood product manufacturing units and information on paper industries and their raw material sources. Chapter 12 covers state wise annual production of timber (m3), poles, pulp and matchwood (m3), fuelwood (MT), sal seeds (MT), tendu leaves (standard bags/MT), gums and resins (MT), cane and rattan (MT), bamboo (no.), grass and fodder, drugs, spices, tannins and other NTFPs (MT).

In most states channels of information flow are not well organised and hence information flow is too slow. As Government Forests are controlled at the state level, national agencies can only collect data with the cooperation of State Forest Departments. Efforts are currently being made to improve the efficiency of forestry data flow between the state and national levels. To outline the flow of information on production and trade of forest products in India, the structure and situation in Madhya Pradesh State is used as an example.

Forestry administrative structure and information flow in Madhya Pradesh

 

 

Figure 2. Forest products data flow

The flow of forest products data flow in Madhya Pradesh State is shown in Figure 2. Descriptions of the units involved and their tasks are as follows.

Coupes are the lowest unit of government forest due for logging in a particular year and are generally looked after by forest guards educated to high school level. In charge of coupe records tree fellings in a felling register, and stacking of logs and woodfuel in a stacking register, which refers to the felling register. Products from felling are then sent with transit passes to the Government Depots with details being recorded in a transit register. The felling register, transit register and transit passes all contain piece-wise log measurement and volume information.

A beat is the lowest forest management administrative unit and is looked after by a forest guard. Illegal felling and tree uprooting is recorded and recovered logs are sent to the Government Depot with transit passes, which include records of each log. A copy of the transit pass is also sent to the Range Officers.

A depot is a forest products dump and sales point and is overseen by a depot officer who maintains records of forest products received from each coupe and their value after re-measurement. Products are auctioned in graded stacks and records are made of quantities sold and the value fetched by each stack. Depot officers send monthly and annual receipt and disposal data to the Sub-Divisional Offices who send it on to Divisional Forest Offices after scrutiny and validation.

A Range Office is the administrative office of a group of beats and is headed by a Forest Range Officer who maintains records in standard formats as prescribed by the Divisional Forest Office. Each month, forest products data is sent from the range offices to the Sub-Divisional Office and copied to the Divisional Forest Office.

There are between two and four Sub-Divisional Forest Offices in each Division. The Sub-Divisional Officers validate data from the Range and Depot Officers both by physically verifying stock and checking entries in the various registers. They also verify coupe records, depot receipts and disposal records at the end of each forestry year. The data is then sent to Divisional Forest Officers for validation and scrutiny, after which necessary actions are taken.

The Divisional Forest Offices are the highest administrative body of forest resource management in a district. The Divisional Forest Officers maintains records of all activities within their jurisdiction including forest products production and trade data. Records are communicated to the Circle and State level authorities at monthly and annual intervals. All sawmills are registered in the Divisional Forest Offices under the Kastha Chiran Adhiniyam Act, 1984. All sawmills submit standard format accounts of receipts and disposals to the Divisional Forest Officers at quarterly and annual intervals. This information is not, however, communicated to Circle and State Head Quarters.

The Circle Office is a supervising office of a group of Divisional Forest Offices and is overseen by a Conservator of Forest. The Conservator sends all information and data received from Divisional Forest Offices to State Head Quarter together with comments and validation if required.

Data collected by States and Union Territories

States and Union Territories (UTs) also independently generate some forestry information, which is published in Annual Reports (see Appendix 1). Most states and UTs still collect data on auction or sales values and compile annual case returns covering topics such as illicit felling, road repairs, budgets, regeneration and forest and nursery operations. A number of states also collect, compile and publish statistical information on subjects including climate and rainfall, forest area, growing stock and annual yield, plantation and development activities, production and export of forest products, market prices, fuelwood consumption, forest administration, forest revenue and expenditure, forest protection, social forestry programmes, wildlife and forestry research. The quality of the resulting statistical publications is enhanced in the certain cases where computers and suitable software applications are used.

Paper and newsprint data

Paper and newsprint data are received from IAPMA or IPMA in standard format. They collect three quarters of the data on paper and newsprint through sampling of manufacturing units with the rest being assessed on the basis of annual commercial tax and sales tax records. Data is sent in hard copy.

Wood-based panel data

The Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industries (FIPPI) collect data on decorative veneers, particle board, hardboard and medium density fibreboard from individual manufacturing units. The data is validated on the basis of commercial tax, sales tax and other government records. Information is sent to ICFRE in hard copy and by e-mail.

Trade data

Forest products import and export data is published in ‘Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade’ by The Directorate of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Ministry of Commerce. The nomenclature used follows that of the World Customs Organisation harmonised system. Data is sent in hard copy as well electronically on floppy discs.

The Department of Custom and Central Excise collate data on import and export of Forest Products from its daily trade reports and custom clearance records. These data are reported to the Directorate of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Calcutta, for dissemination. The data is based on authentic Govt. records and are therefore reliable.

Revenue data from domestic trade of forest products is assembled by State Forest Departments from audited records and submitted to the Division of Statistics.

Data dissemination

The statistical information collected and compiled by the Division of Statistics is stored in a database with a report being published biannually in hard copy and on the Internet (http://www.icfre.org). The report is sent to all the State Forest Departments, State Forest Corporations, concerned Govt. of India Ministries and other miscellaneous users who request such information from ICFRE.

At the national level, well-organised data is also generated by other agencies such as The Forest Survey of India, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Central Statistical Organisation, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), the Directorate of Foreign Trade and the Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industry.

Potential data users

Potential data users include:

Review of trade data

Comparisons were made between 1990-2000 FAOSTAT forest products import and export data and figures in the Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade publication produced by the Directorate of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Ministry of Commerce (MoC).

Import data

Export data

Weaknesses and constrains in the forest products statistical system

Reliability of production and trade data

There are several difficulties with ensuring the reliability of data from different sources collates by the Division of Statistics. These are related not only to the direct providers of information, but also to the chain of information providers from which they themselves receive data.

With respect to information collected by State Forest Departments from forest ranges and sent to the Division of Statistics, the mechanisms involved are, at present, inadequate to ensure data accuracy and timely submission. This is partl y because of the lack of statistical units in some State Forest Departments and the fact that the involved staff, being already burdened with other work, may be inclined to treat collation of information from user agencies as a secondary task. The Division of Statistics also faces difficulties in collating information from state and central agencies as a result of differences between the data collection formats used by the agencies and those sent by The Division of Statistics. Gaps in information are therefore inevitable and on occasion there is considerable hesitancy in sharing data for one reason or another.

Once information is received by the ICFRE Division of Statistics for national publication, it is considered correct and as such no checking, even by sampling, is carried out. All precautions are taken, however, during data compilation. Safeguards include scrutiny of data, in consultation with experienced forest officers at Dehradun and double-checking of information with original forms once data are entered in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. In general, there are no great problems in analysing and disseminating statistical information at the national level and The Division of Statistics at Dehradun discharges this duty very efficiently.

State/UT Forest Departments do not have staff trained in collection and compilation of statistical information and, due to a scarcity of funds, are unable to acquire the latest data processing equipment. They also lack the funding to appoint experienced database and Internet administrators to efficiently manage and maintain statistical systems and, in fact, very few State/UT Forest Departments are able to access internet facilities. Without making such facilities available to the State/UT Forest Departments it is unlikely that it will be possible to obtain accurate and timely forestry information. The main constraints and weaknesses in forest products statistics collection are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1. Matrix of weaknesses and constraints in the current statistical system

Activity

Weaknesses

Constraints

Data collection

Information may be inaccurate and unreliable

Information is reported irregularly or not at all.

Data formats used at the state and national levels are not uniform.

There is often indifference to sharing information.

General lack of staff and also a lack of staff trained in relevant fields.

Lack of funds.

Responsibility for state level reporting is not entrusted to the Directorate of Statistics.

No single agency is responsible for providing state level information.

Data compilation and analysis

Data may go unchecked or unanalysed

Insufficient staff and electronic equipment

Lack of a database and of database administrators

Lack of staff trained in the use of relevant software.

Lack of trained and experienced staff at both state and national level.

Dissemination

No priority is given to timely collection and supply of information by the states.

Difficulties are found in publishing final reports on time.

Lack of funds.

Lack of an internet administrator.

States HQs have no internet facilities

Lack of a database at the central and state levels.

1 erstwhile Directorate of Statistics; the unit of statistics under the Directorate of Education in ICFRE.

Adherence of customs statistics to the WCO Harmonised System

For the assessments in this report, forest products trade statistics were taken from the March 2000 issue of Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade, published by the Directorate of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Department of Commerce. The information contained therein conforms exactly to the World Customs Organisation harmonised system. This is in accordance with the explanatory notes issued by the Directorate of Publication, Custom and Central Excise, New Delhi, which includes the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System. The nomenclature and codes followed for export and import of forest products is covered in chapters 6, 12, 14 and 44 to 49. In this respect, there are no problems with trade statistics.

Recommendations to improve the forest products statistical system

To improve the national forest products statistics systems state and national level data collection formats should be harmonised to facilitate accurate and timely data reporting and compilation.

At the national level, the Division of Statistics maintains a forestry database and equivalent databases should be set-up in all State Forest Departments. Those that do not have a statistical unit at head quarters should create such a unit. To ensure that the unit is properly staffed, the staff should comprise one Senior Statistical Officer, two Statistical Officers and four Research Investigators. The Division of Statistics should post a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) to each State/UT Forest Department to assist with compiling and sending information to the National Forest Department HQ on time. The JRFs could also help with installing information-processing systems.

All State/UT Forest Department Head Quarters should equip their statistical units with Internet facilities and modern data processing equipment. With such facilities available to all State/UT Forest Departments, information flow will be much more rapid and State/UT level information could also be made available on the Internet. A programme to improve facilities in this way would be facilitated by researchers and funding agencies working together with the Forest Departments.

Other proposed suggestions include:

Information sources

Indian Agro Paper Mill Associations, 1006 Pragati Town, 26 Rajendra Place, New Delhi- 110 008.

Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industry, 709 Pragati Town, 26 Rajendra Place, New Delhi-110 008.

State Forest Department of India.

Monthly Statistics of Foreign Trade, March 2000 Directorate of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India.

Customs and Central Excise, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India.

Central Statistical Organisation, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

Directorate of Publications Customs and Central Excise, New Delhi.

 

Appendix 1: Forest Products Data, 1995-2000

 

Table 1. Production of industrial roundwood, poles, fuelwood, sawnwood and pulp and matchwood

Product

Production (‘000 m3)

1995/96

1996/97

1997/98

1998/99

1999/00

Industrial roundwood

2 793.540

1 415.748

2 168.031

1 692.883

1 574.587

Poles

108.641

30.049

24.910

40.510

14.195

Fuelwood

2 937.678

1 936.615

1 710.057

2 898.81

2 933.628

Sawnwood

10 624

18 520

16 293

NA

NA

Pulp and matchwood

698.115

471.339

450.168

817.321

397.422

Source: State Forest Departments

 

Table 2. Production and trade of paper and newsprint

Product

Element

Quantity (‘000 tonnes)

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-2001

Paper

Production

4 050

4 150

4 275

4 567

4 786

Import

110

300

271

277

297

Export

100

60

70

100

150

Newsprint

Production

302

410

500

400

700

Import

547

500

498

350

487

Export

0

0

0

0

0

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Indian Agro Paper Mills Association

 

Table 3. Plywood capacity and production

State

Annual

capacity

No.

Units

Production (million m2–4 mm)

2000

1999

1998

1997

1996

1995

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

10.057

3

1.491

5.889

8.462

8.397

7.712

8.294

Arunachal Pradesh

30.674

9

-

-

-

0.051

18.465

17.601

Assam

44.512

22

1.019

-

0.783

3.214

39.084

42.956

Karnataka

9.749

8

2.286

2.397

1.465

0.867

1.031

0.820

Kerala

8.790

8

0.513

0.639

0.689

0.915

0.734

0.764

Maharashtra

1.437

2

1.440

1.077

1.260

1.596

1.465

1.810

West Bengal

2.716

2

2.124

1.220

0.121

0.263

0.856

0.905

Nagaland

4.200

2

2.605

-

-

-

-

-

Meghalaya

2.600

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

Andhra Pradesh

1.500

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

Uttar Pradesh

0.558

1

2.035

2.487

-

-

-

-

Rajasthan

1.500

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

Madhya Pradesh

5.750

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

Chennai

-

-

1.177

-

-

-

-

-

Source: Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industry

Table 4. Production of decorative veneers, particle board, hardboard and medium density fibreboard

Product

Production

1997/98

1998/99

1999/00

Decorative veneers (m2)

-

2 092 021

23 356 997

Particle board (tonnes)

34 634

63 683

92 728

Hardboard (tonnes)

45 126

81 290

78 414

Medium density fibreboard (tonnes)

30 632

39 085

43 567

Source: Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industry

Table 5. Value of wood-based industry product exports

Product

Value (millions rupees)

1995/96

1996/97

1997/98

1998/99

1999/00

2000/01

Plywood and plywood products

579.5

631.8

413.9

172.4

282.0

303.0

Hardboard of wood fibre

145.0

175.8

142.2

172.1

208.0

239.0

Veneers

211.1

237.2

221.0

109.9

184.0

161.0

Teachest plywood

38.9

45.2

53.7

26.9

15.0

18.0

Wooden furniture

115.2

166.1

219.3

364.4

619.0

1165.0

Source: Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industry

Table 6. Import values of plywood and plywood products

Product

Value (millions rupees)

1995/96

1996/97

1997/98

1998/99

1999/00

Veneer sheet and sheet for plywood

208.9

229.1

382.5

522.7

170.9

Particle board and similar board of wood other ligneous material

133.0

128.0

153.4

162.8

285.9

Fibre board of wood or other ligneous material

8.5

24.1

298.4

353.2

366.1

Plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated products

233.6

148.0

265.3

374.4

242.3

Total

584.0

529.2

1099.6

1413.1

1075.2

Source: Federation of Indian Plywood and Panel Industry

 

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