This is the twenty first issue of the publication Selected indicators of food and agriculture development in Asia-Pacific region. It presents data on selected items for the years 1993-2003, except some tables that provide information for the period 1992-2002. Most tables show two types of information: annual figures for 1993, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 and the annual growth rate for the period 1993-2003. The indicators are grouped under the following headings: Agricultural land and population, Agricultural inputs, Production indices, Staple food crops, Edible oil crops, Horticultural crops, Fibre crops, Other crops, Livestock, Agricultural trade, Fisheries, Forestry, Nutrition and Other indicators including a table reporting the status of organic farming in the region. A section on country profiles has been added; your comments about the content and scope of the profiles would be appreciated.
Countries of the region are shown under two groups: "Developing countries", including the "Transition market" countries, and "Developed countries". For comparison purposes, figures relating to "Rest of world" and "World" are also presented. Data for new member countries in the region have been included in this year's publication and a new format has been adopted. Please note that country data for Timor-Leste were reported as provincial data for Indonesia before 2000 and no country data were reported for the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau before 1995.
For almost all commodity tables, data are retrieved from the FAO computerized data base, especially FAOSTAT, or from the FAO Yearbooks. These, in turn, are based on information supplied by member countries.
The growth rates shown in the present publication have been worked out using the exponential growth method to indicate the overall regional performance and also to highlight inter-country differences.
Various units of FAO including the Statistics Division and the Information Systems and Technology Division have cooperated with the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in the preparation of this publication, providing computer programs and data bases for the production of tables. This collaboration is duly acknowledged.
He
Changchui
Assistant Director-General and
FAO Regional Representative for
Asia and the Pacific
Bangkok, October 2004
