INTRODUCTION 



Page 



HISTORY V 



USES OF THE CENSUS V 



AUTHORITY AND AREA COVERED V 



FARM DEFINITION V 



COMPARABILITY OF DATA V 



TABULAR PRESENTATION V 



SPECIAL TABULATIONS V 



CENSUS DISCLOSURE RULES V 



INVENTORIES, PRODUCTION, AND SALES DATA V 



ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS VI 



HISTORY 



The 1 990 Census of Agriculture for American Samoa is 

 the eighth census to be fallen by the U.S. Department of 

 Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The first agriculture 

 census was taken in 1920 as part of the decennial census 

 of population and has continued every 10 years. 



USES OF THE CENSUS 



The census of agriculture is the recognized source of 

 Statistics about American Samoa's agricultural production 

 and the only source of consistent, comparable data at the 

 district level. Census statistics are used to measure agri- 

 cultural production and to identify trends in an ever chang- 

 ing agricultural sector. Many local programs use census 

 data as a benchmark for designing and evaluating surveys. 

 Private industry uses census statistics to provide a more 

 effective production and distribution system for the agricul- 

 tural community. 



old farm definition used in previous censuses, which 

 defined a farm as having a minimum number of livestock, 

 poultry, fruit or nut trees, or any crops or vegetables 

 harvested for sale. 



COMPARABILITY OF DATA 



Data comparability has been maintained in chapter 2 

 which contains the 1 980 data along with the comparable 

 1990 data. Dollar figures shown for agricultural product 

 sales only apply under the new farm definition in chapter 1 . 



TABULAR PRESENTATION 



Island data— Chapter 1 , tables 1 through 8 and chapter 

 2, tables 1 through 7 show detailed data for American 

 Samoa. Chapter 1 , tables 22 through 25 show 1 990 data 

 cross tabulated by tenure of operator, size of farm, age of 

 operator, and value of agricultural products sold. 



District and county data— Data for districts and coun- 

 ties are presented in chapter 1, tables 9 through 21 and in 

 chapter 2, tables 8 through 1 8. 



SPECIAL TABULATIONS 



Custom designed tabulations are available to individual 

 user specifications on a programming cost reimbursable 

 basis. Inquiries about special tabulations should be directed 

 to the Chief, Agriculture Division, Bureau of the Census, 

 Washington, DC 20233. 



AUTHORITY AND AREA COVERED 



The census of agriculture is required by law under Title 

 13, United States Code, sections 142(a) and 191. The 

 census of agriculture in American Samoa is conducted 

 every 10 years in conjunction with the census of population 

 and housing. 



FARM DEFINITION 



CENSUS DISCLOSURE RULES 



In keeping with the provisions of Title 13, United States 

 Code, no data are published that would disclose the 

 operations of an individual farm. However, the number of 

 farms in a given size category or other classification, such 

 as size of farm, is not considered a release of confidential 

 information and is provided even though other information 

 such as crop production, number of livestock, and sales is 

 withheld. 



The statistics presented relate to places qualifying as 

 census farms. Chapter 1 uses the new farm definition, 

 developed by the Census Bureau and the Government of 

 American Samoa, which defines a farm as any place from 

 which $100 or more of agricultural products were sold or 

 normally would have been sold during the census year. 

 Chapter 2 provides comparable 1 990 data according to the 



INVENTORIES, PRODUCTION, AND SALES 

 DATA 



Inventories of livestock, poultry, and fruit and nut trees 

 or plants are determined by the number on hand on the 

 day of enumeration. Crop production and sales, as well as 

 livestock sales, are for the calendar year. 



1987 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE 



INTRODUCTION V 



