A holistic approach to the development of sustainable agriculture: application of the ecosystem health model

Serious resource depletion has made sustainable agriculture an important and pressing issue for scientists, policy makers, and stakeholders worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Researchers have focused on methods to assess agriculture correctly, and to introduce sound solutions for sustainability, but have reached no agreement. In this paper, we introduce the theoretical framework of the agro-ecosystem health model, a new holistic approach, and apply it at a regional scale using four aspects (4S): sound structure, stable function, safe service, and sustainable development. We examine how 12 indicators of an agro-ecosystem health assessment (AHA) were selected using three dimensions based on this theoretical framework. In an AHA, we used an amoeba approach to examine a high-yield agro-ecosystem in Huantai County, Shandong Province, China. The results indicate that this model of ecosystem health can reflect the complex ecological, economic, and human conditions of an agro-ecosystem and evaluate these conditions using perspectives pertinent to system structure, function, and responses (services).     

What motivates farmers to participate in sustainable agriculture? Evidence and policy implications

Sustained growth in agricultural productivity has become an ideal model and a political goal of agricultural development in China. Local participation is essential for the implementation of sustainable agriculture strategy. We conducted a case study in Hailun County, an important grain production base in China, to find ways to motivate farmers to participate in sustainable agriculture. We obtained data from semi-structured interviews of 98 households using participatory rural appraisal methods. Logistic regression models were used to explore factors that underlie farmers' attitudes towards agricultural production and their environmental awareness. Results indicated that low agricultural economic efficiency could result in less enthusiasm for agriculture among local farmers. This is a potential risk for China's food security and sustainable agricultural development. The backward development of the rural economy limited improvement of farmers' environmental awareness. Moreover, poor rural labour quality implied a lack of local participation in sustainable agriculture. Suggestions for sustainable agricultural development include establishment of a reasonable market and agricultural subsidy mechanisms, basic and vocational education for young adults, effective agricultural instruction and environmental education agencies and two-way communication mechanisms.     

现代生态农业与农业安全

现代生态农业是现代农业的发展方向；现代生态农业的核心是农业的可持续发展，其重要内容是农业安全。文章着重提出现代生态农业的基本概念与内涵，指出现代生态农业是以生态理论为基础，以现代生态农业技术为手段，通过农业与环境，生态与经济的平衡，达到农业可持续发展、农业安全和人类健康的最终目标。在总结国家发展现代生态农业的经验的基础上，列举了我国东南沿海经济发达地区(包括江苏省)存在的生态环境质量和农业安全问题，最后提出现代生态农业建设和解决农业安全问题的对策与建议。     

至2050年中国生态高值农业体系建设特征与目标

2010年6月7日,国家主席胡锦涛在两院（中国科学院、中国工程院）院士大会上针对农业科技明确指出：构建我国生态高值农业和生物产业体系,建成农业高值转化的产业体系。本文对＂生态高值农业＂进行论述。所谓生态,就是要体现农业既能为社会提供安全优质的农产品又能实现农业资源的永续利用,将农业纳入可持续发展的道路;所谓高值,就是要体现农业有很高的土地产出率、投入产出率、劳动生产率。因此,＂生态高值农业＂是集约化经营与生态化生产有机结合的现代农业。它以健康消费需求为导向,以提高农业市场竞争力和可持续发展能力为核心,兼有高投入、高产出、高效益与可持续发展的双重特性,是转变农业增长方式、提高农业综合生产能力的集中体现。     

Sustainability indicators for environmental performance and sustainability assessment of the productions of four fine Italian wines

Increased awareness of the importance of environmental protection and the introduction of international standards like ISO 14001 stimulated development of environmental sustainability indicators as a means to measure systems environmental performance. Here, a thermodynamic approach, emergy analysis (Odum, 1988) was used to obtain sustainability indicators able to analyse and quantify the productive and ecological performance of four famous Italian wine productions: Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, Nobile di Montepulciano, and Barbera d'hti. The application to agricultural production was motivated by the growing need for productive and environmentally sound development in modern agriculture, in which the resource base, the environment, is preserved. The choice of wines, more precisely, grape production, is due to their importance for Italian agriculture and the economy. All the wines demonstrated a good long-term environmental sustainability, especially in view of their high quality and in comparison with the average Italian wine production. Emergy analysis proved a powerful tool for assessing environmental performance of these systems, and its use could easily be extended to other wine productions to obtain a form of environmental performance classification of this product. Systematic use of emergy analysis to assess environmental performance of different processes and products, not necessarily in agriculture, could be useful for environmental certification.     

河南省农业生态环境分析与生态建设

河南省是一个农业大省,其农业的可持续发展与否,对我国的农业发展有着重要影响。在广泛、深入调查的基础上,分析了河南省农业生态环境存在的主要问题,结合农业生态建设的指导思想及目标,提出了河南省农业生态建设的４大对策。     

Environmental sustainability index of Shandong Province,China

Since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, sustainable development has been embraced as an important goal. In order to measure sustainable development, many scientists and researchers have made efforts to establish measurement systems such as the Driving Force State Response (DSR) framework (Hens 1995), the Human Development Index (HDI) (Goeteyn 1996) devised by the United Nations Development Programme, the Sustainable National Income (SNI) developed by Hueting et al. (1992) and the Ecological Footprint proposed by Wackernagel and Rees (1996). The environmental sustainability index (ESI) is a composite index, which was created by the World Economic Forum, Yale and Columbia Universities, aggregating data at the national level to measure a country's performance in sustaining a healthy, livable environment. 142 countries have been measured with ESI by 2002. However, it has not yet been documented if it can be applied at a regional level. In this study, we have tried to apply ESI to measure the sustainable development of Shandong in China. 22 indicators and 43 variables were chosen, and results showed the ESI of Shandong was 49, suggesting that Shandong is still far from a position of sustainable development.     

Moving towards sustainable development: rhetoric,policy and reality of ecological agriculture in China

Past decades have witnessed the rise of sustainable agriculture movements throughout the world. In parallel with this international trend, ecological agriculture (with essential goals of food security, rural employment, poverty alleviation, natural resource management and environmental protection) has been advocated as a workable approach for the realization of sustainable agriculture in China. Two decades of ecological agricultural development have shown that it not only gained legitimacy at the senior policy level but also became a focus of scientific research in fields such as ecological economics, ecology, and agricultural and environmental sciences. However, this endeavour is hardly known in the West and little attention has been paid so far to examining the broader politico-economic and sociocultural contexts within which it has evolved. This paper attempts to provide a general review of the emerging background, development history, policy initiatives and recent tendencies of ecological agriculture. In addition, the extant problems and potential contributions of this alternative practice to China's sustainable agricultural development are discussed. The purpose of this study is to identify the gap between the policy rhetoric and practical implementation of Chinese ecological agriculture and therefore to facilitate its moving towards sustainable development.     

中国农业可持续发展技术

随着经济的高速发展，中国农业面临着环境与发展的双重挑战。为实现农业的可持续发展，必须在继承传统农业技术精华和引进现代农业新技术的基础上，运用生态经济学原理和系统工程方法，在不同层次上建立起具有中国特色的农业可持续发展技术体系。通过协调环境保护与经济发展、自然资源开发及其永续利用的关系，实现生态与经济的良性循环，达到持续发展的目标。     

经济全球化背景下中国农业生态学面临的新问题与新任务

中国农业发展正呈现现代化、结构优化、产业化、标准化、信息化、生态良性化等发展趋势。在经济全球化背景下 ,中国加入WTO后 ,农业生态学也面临着新的问题和任务 ,主要包括 :(1 )农业结构调整中的生态学问题 ;(2 )农业生物安全问题 ;(3)食物安全与生态农业建设问题 ;(4)农业资源与物种多样性保护问题 ;(5)农业生态管理与生态补偿问题 ;(6)农业与农村生态环境建设与生态恢复问题 ;(7)农业人口迁移与城市化过程中的生态学问题 ;(8)贫困地区的农业生态经济与可持续发展问题     

Evaluation of the sustainable land use status of the North China Plain

The North China Plain is one of the most important production areas for wheat and maize in China, and also has the densest agricultural population in China. How to use and develop the limited land resources reasonably, and improve and protect them, have become issues of major concern. This paper is based on sustainability theory, reviewing the fundamental principles of sustainability, and developing an index system with which to evaluate the sustainability status of land use. We also use this method to evaluate the land-use status of the North China Plain and to analyze current factors affecting sustainable land use in this area. In addition, we propose a specific method for evaluating sustainable land use.     

生态农业系统综合效益评价研究动态与展望

总结了国内外生态农业发展和生态农业系统生态经济评价体系及评价的方法，阐述了生态农业综合效益评价的特点及国内外研究的最新动态。提出土壤健康在农业持续发展评价中的重要性。最后指出了生态-经济系统整合模型在建立生态农业最优化模式中的应用前景。     

农业可持续发展状态评价指标(体系)框架及其分析

通过对农业活动、农业政策与农业环境变化关系的研究,提出了反映农业可持续发展状态的指标结构以及面向农业决策的状态指标分析框架,建议采用“离差法”来评价农业系统的可持续发展状态,其评价结果可以用来判断和制定正确的农业政策;同时还论述了状态评价的具体方法、步骤及评价标准     

Ecosystem service tradeoff between traditional and modern agriculture: a case study in Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, China

Besides crops, agriculture supplies all three major categories of ecosystem services (ES). However, agriculture also supplies an array of ecosystem dis-services (EDS) that may harm other ecosystems. The flows of ES and EDS are directly dependent on the management of agricultural ecosystems. The traditional method of Chinese agriculture, which supports sustainable agriculture, has been proven to increase ES and reduce EDS. However, there is a lack of a detailed understanding of the ES and EDS associated with traditional agriculture, and also of differences between traditional and modern agriculture. In this study, an investigation was conducted on the ecosystem services (ES) and ecosystem dis-services (EDS) of traditional and modern agriculture in Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, China. Afterwards, the economic values of ES and EDS were quantified experimentally and calculated based on the market price. The results show that: the net economic value of traditional rice-fish agriculture was 3.31×10⁴ CNY·ha^?1 (6.83 CNY = 1 USD as of July, 2009) and that of rice monoculture was 1.99×10⁴ CNY·ha^?1. Significant differences existed between traditional rice-fish and rice monoculture fields for their economic values of some ES or EDS. A benefit and cost analysis (BCA) model was used to adjust the conflict between the economic income and environmental loss from traditional and modern agriculture. The BCA model not only calculates the net income but also monetizes the EDS of the agricultural systems. The results showed that the net income of rice-fish agriculture was 1.94×10⁴ CNY·ha^?1 higher than that of rice monoculture. However, the benefit to cost ratio (BCR) of rice-fish agriculture was lower than that of rice monoculture, indicating that the traditional agricultural model was not the most optimized choice for farmers. The value of the rice-fish agriculture was much higher than that of the rice monoculture. Thus, when considering the benefits that rice-fish agriculture contributes to the largescale society, these agricultural methods needs to be utilized. Furthermore, the labor opportunity costs were calculated and the comprehensive value of rice monoculture was negative. Finally, the compensation standard was calculated based on the comprehensive benefit analysis. The lowest level was 1.09×10³ CNY·ha^?1, and the highest level was 1.21×10⁴ CNY·ha^?1.     

微生物资源的开发利用与农业可持续发展

对微生物资源在农业可持续发展中的作用及其合理开发利用进行了阐述和总结。认为微生物作为一种宝贵的资源,它与农业可持续发展的关系十分密切,它在土壤肥力的提高与保持、营养元素的转化、环境净化与生态系统的平衡等方面起着极其重要的作用。因此,加强以微生物肥料、微生物农药、微生物食品、微生物饲料、环境激素和环境工程微生物等为核心的农业清洁生产技术的研究与开发利用将具有广阔的应用前景。微生物农业即所谓的"白色农业"将成为未来农业可持续发展的重要方向之一。     

Sustainable agriculture: Competing visions and policy avenues

Since the publication of Agenda 21 agricultural sustainability has become an internationally important goal. Whereas in the past issues of food security and sustainability centred on the developing world only, where large sections of the population are undernourished, it is today increasingly recognised that the developed world also has a 'food problem'. Indeed, with rising levels of obesity and environmental damage, goals of sustainable agriculture are now as pertinent in the developed world as the developing. This paper seeks to explore the policies of two competing visions for food and agricultural sustainability. One vision seeks to break the productionist hegemony with policies to promote, inter alia, organic and local food. The other vision seeks to continue the productionist hegemony in only a slightly modified fashion; emphasising biotechnology and technological panaceas. This paper contends that the modified productionist vision is flawed and political will is now required to promulgate radical agricultural policies that break the productionist hegemony.     

基于能值方法的广东省农业系统分析

采用能值理论和方法对广东省农业系统的能值投入结构和产出特征进行分析,以期弥补单纯经济分析中出现的自然环境投入价值缺失的不足,并尝试加入农业基本建设投资和农业保险的计量,完善系统投入结构的能值计算。同时,引入Y*/Y指标使广东省农业系统的生产水平与全球平均水平相比较,以利于评价广东省农业系统的生产力及其发展水平,并为其优化发展提供理论依据和现实指导。研究结果:广东省农业系统2003年的能值投资率(3.12)、环境负载率(1.70)、能值/货币比率(4.26E 12sej.$-1)、净能值产出率(1.25)和Y*/Y(0.96)。上述结果与中国平均水平、中国其他省份以及一些发达国家(如意大利和日本)的相应指标比较,表明广东农业系统发展水平高于全国平均水平,低于发达国家。系统能值投入产出结构分析发现,不可更新的工业辅助能值占系统投入总能值的61.92%。为此,应进一步提高农业的可更新能值投入和优化投入结构。     

Empirical analysis on the influence of the Shaanxi fruit industry on regional food security

As part of its development policy to relieve rural poverty in west China, the Chinese government has introduced measures such as agricultural tax exemptions, agricultural subsidies, and scientific, technological and restructuring improvements to agriculture. Following these actions, farmers’ incomes have increased greatly and the economy in poor areas of west China has seen rapid improvements. However, agricultural restructuring, infrastructure construction and ecological restoration projects have reduced the area of land under arable farming, restricting opportunities for increasing total grain yield. Regional food security is therefore threatened and an imbalance between economic development and food security is created. Shaanxi is a representative province in west China where agricultural restructuring has resulted in large areas of arable land being converted into orchards that produce higher economic returns. This study randomly surveyed 1430 farm households in three counties in the apple-producing region of Shaanxi Province (Luochuan, Changwu and Baishui). The standard of living and household income of farmers in the fruit production areas were higher than in grain-producing areas, thus discouraging grain production. Land under agriculture in the counties studied comprised 59% orchards and 39% arable, with 2% under other uses. Per capita, 204.3 kg of grain was produced, 51% of that required for self-sufficiency. Other staple foods produced amounted to only 13.9% of that needed for self-sufficiency. As a result, nearly half of the grain needed by the community was purchased from outside, resulting in very poor regional food security. Clearly, fruit production in this region seriously affects regional food security. Coordination of relationships between rural economic development and regional food security is key for sustainable development of the regional agriculture and economy of west China.     

A novel living agricultural concept in urban communities: Family Business Garden

During the process of urbanization, people are subject to the indiscriminate use of resources due to competition. The present trend in global population growth predicts that the situation will be aggravated as many people prefer living in towns and cities to resource-poor rural areas. In consequence, limited space, high percentage of ageing population, urban poverty, environmental pollution, changes in urban lifestyles and varied consumption patterns have to be dealt with in sustainable development strategies. In this context, urban agriculture can play a vital role by visualizing the urban homestead as a potentially viable production unit of agriculture. In order to live with limited urban infrastructure facilities, environmental conditions and socio-economic situations, the concept of the Family Business Garden justifies the necessity of its presence through the experience in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Having a proper mix of environmental and commercial agricultural concerns, the concept paves the way not only to address family food requirements but also to produce for markets under liberalized economies by promoting agro-entrepreneurship and social capital development attempts in urban communities.     

Market interactions,farmers' choices,and the sustainability of growing advanced biofuels: a missing perspective?

Advanced biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol are of great interest in the USA. With agriculture being the major source of feedstock for advanced biofuels, how farmers would respond to markets and policy incentives in providing such feedstock can directly affect sufficient and sustainable supply of advanced biofuels and their environmental sustainability. In this study, we developed an economic model to examine farmers' production choices in a context where agricultural markets are linked to energy markets. We identified the economic conditions under which farmers could maximize their profits by converting current grain cropland to grow cellulosic biomass crops. An empirical illustration showed that with current technology, farmers are unlikely to grow switchgrass as a dedicated energy crop instead of corn on cropland. The biofuel incentives in the 2008 Farm Bill can improve the competitiveness of switchgrass, but may stimulate corn production as well, with corn residues as an alternative feedstock for advanced biofuels. The continuous, possibly expanding, corn production in future raises the same issues for advanced biofuels as for corn grain-based ethanol. To assure the environmental sustainability of advanced biofuel production, further research is needed to help design environmental policies alongside existing biofuel initiatives.