Traditional agriculture in transition: examining the impacts of agricultural modernization on smallholder farming in Ghana under the new Green Revolution

Following the renewed effort at achieving a new green revolution for Africa, emphasis has been placed on modernizing smallholder agriculture through the deployment of improved inputs especially mechanized technologies. In Ghana, the government has in the last decade emphasized the provision of subsidized mechanized ploughing services to farmers alongside a rapidly growing private sector tractor service market. While mechanized technology adoption rates have increased rapidly, the deployment of these technologies has been without critical analysis of the impacts on production patterns and local agrarian systems. This paper examines the distributional impacts of agriculture mechanization on cropping patterns and farm sizes of smallholder farmers in northern Ghana using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, and semi-structured interviews with smallholder farmers (n=60). Specifically, comparative analysis of the field sizes and cropping patterns of participant farmers prior to and after the adoption of mechanized technologies was conducted. In-depth interviews were used to contextualize the experiences of smallholder farmers toward understanding how mechanization may be impacting traditional agriculture. Our findings reveal a mechanization paradox in which farm sizes are expanding, while cropping patterns are shifting away from traditional staple crops (pearl millet and sorghum bicolor) to market-oriented crops (maize, rice and groundnuts). This transition we argue, has adverse implications on the cultural dimension of food security, the organization of social life, and climate change adaptation. We recommend a retooling of the current agricultural policy focus to ensure context sensitivity for a more robust battle against food insecurity.     

Male-biassed response of garden chafer, Phyllopertha horticola L., to leaf alcohol and attraction of both sexes to floral plant volatiles

Summary. Field tests were performed to evaluate the response of the garden chafer, Phyllopertha horticola (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) to known scarab attractants and to investigate the influence of trap colour and height on the number of captured beetles. Both sexes were attracted by a lure mixture composed of geraniol, eugenol, and 2-phenylethyl propionate (PEP) (ratio 3:7:3). When testing floral volatiles individually, only geraniol, eugenol and methyl anthranilate but not PEP was attractive. Response of garden chafer to (Z)- 3-hexen-1-ol was strongly male-biassed. Both the response to floral volatiles and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol was increased by using funnel traps with yellow instead of grey vanes. Traps positioned at 50 and 125 cm above ground captured significantly more garden chafers than those at 200 cm. The strongly male-biassed response to (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol suggests that in P. horticola (subfamily Rutelinae) orientation towards plant volatiles emitted upon mechanical damage of plants is part of the male mate finding strategy as recently demonstrated for cockchafers of the genus Melolontha (subfamily Melolonthinae). Possible application of plant volatiles for control of P. horticola is discussed.     

水雾荷电净化空气飘尘与细菌的研究

研究一种高压静电水雾场产生的荷电净化空气中飘尘与细菌的方法。实验结果表明:在静电电压15kV、通风量540m~3/h的工况下,实验装置的一次性除尘效率高于80%、除菌效率达到88%以上;实验装置可以连续运行,能耗低、出风无二次污染。     

Plant communities in the zone of gas field development and heavy metal accumulation by them

Heavy metal accumulation by plant communities has been studied in different zones of impact of gas field development. The contents of heavy metals in different blocks of plant communities has proved to depend not only on the location of phytocenosis but also on its species composition. Communities dominated by species of the family Poaceae contain smaller amounts of heavy metals than those dominated by species of the family Asteraceae, especially of the genus Artemisia. The order of precedence in the accumulation of heavy metals in different blocks of plant communities has been revealed.     

社会和谐与可持续发展

本文运用系统科学原理阐释了社会和谐的内涵,指出社会和谐须以人与自然和谐为基础,以人与人之间的平等、友爱和同合作为表征,其构建与实现应遵从人类社会的演化规律,依赖予在把握人类社会需求演绎、协同人与自然关系的基础上推动生产力的高效有序发展和自然资源、生态环境的可持续支持.进而从可持续发展角度,提出了人与自然和谐的"双剩余理论",以揭示其间的供瓣枧理和协同准则;推导出了社会收益分配的相对公平系数,以衡量人与人公平要求下的社会和谐.针对国情和战略目标要求,提出了以加强小城镇建设为轴心的城市、小城镇与农村人流、物流、财流和信息流合理聚散的"三元结构"发展模式,以促进我国和谐社会的建设和可持续发展战略的有序实践.     

面向国土空间规划的“双评价”：挑战与应对

面向国土空间规划的科学性、可操作性、层级性等内涵,探讨了资源环境承载能力评价和国土空间开发适宜性评价（“双评价”）与国土空间规划之间的基本逻辑问题、应用挑战与应对方法。通过系统梳理“双评价”的理论发展和相关政策响应,剖析了“双评价”在应用探索、内涵扩充、系统支撑三个阶段的研究重点和服务目标,阐明了承载力评价与适宜性评价之间关联逻辑的演进历程。总结了当前“双评价”在应用上的几个关键挑战：一是“双评价”应用于“三区三线”划定的逻辑尚未明确;二是当前承载能力评价与未来规划决策之间存在逻辑悖论;三是“双评价”在不同层级国土空间规划中传导失灵;四是两个评价之间的关联逻辑仍存在争议。为此,提出了应对“双评价”挑战的四点建议：深化理论认知、拓展评价维度、建立传导机制、厘清内在关系,以提升“双评价”对国土空间规划决策的支撑能力。     

生态文明视角下的国土空间底线管控：“双评价”与国土空间规划监测评估预警

生态文明新时代下的空间规划体系对国土空间底线管控提出了明确要求,“双评价”与国土空间规划监测评估预警是底线思维的体现。研究“双评价”与国土空间规划监测评估预警在国土空间底线管控中的作用和地位,通过国土空间规划“一张图”实施监督信息系统的建设,对二者的联系及其相互作用进行体现,构建二者的联动方式,服务于国土空间底线管控及治理的全过程。“双评价”与国土空间规划监测评估预警共同组成底线管控的两个阶段,前者是开展底线管控的基础,后者是底线管控的路径和手段,两者皆是生态文明新时代下国土空间规划底线管控的重要工具,需以国土空间规划“一张图”实施监督信息系统为基础加强两者的有机结合。     

电场与MnxCey催化剂在苯氧化反应中的协同效应及机理探究

挥发性有机物（VOCs）大量排放已成为日益严重的环境问题,为了实现VOCs的高效去除,本文采用自蔓延燃烧合成法制备了一系列锰铈复合氧化物催化剂,将稳恒直流电场引入典型VOCs气体苯的催化氧化过程,并基于不同电场条件下催化剂的理化性质表征结果进行机理分析.实验结果表明,Mn_xCe_y催化剂对含苯废气的去除有良好的效果,稳恒直流电场显著促进了催化剂的活性,其中Mn₁Ce₃的催化性能最佳,电流为5 mA时,Mn₁Ce₃催化剂在155℃可达到50%的苯转化率,在202.4℃可达到90%的苯转化率,对应的转化温度T₅₀和T₉₀比传统方法分别降低了62.4℃和48.3℃,且电场中的反应活化能由52.32 kJ·mol^-1降低至32.31 kJ·mol^-1.根据实验现象及表征结果,发现协同效应与活性位点的快速持续再生及活性氧物种的转化有关,由此提出苯在Mn_xCe_y催化剂上的氧化机理及电场协同催化的反应模型.     

Removal and desorption of chromium in synthetic effluent by a mixed culture in a bioreactor with a magnetic field

Two chromium removal experiments were performed in bioreactors with and without a magnetic field under the same conditions.The release of the chromium present in the biomass was tested in two experiments one with the initial pH of the medium and one with pH 4.0.The objective was to remove Cr(Ⅵ) and total Cr from the effluent,this was carried out by placing biological treatments of synthetic effluent contaminated with 100 mg/L of Cr(Ⅵ) in a bioreactor with neodymium magnets that applied a magnetic field(intensity85.4 mT) to the mixed culture.The removal of Cr(Ⅵ) was approximately 100.0% for the bioreactor with a magnetic field and 93,3% for the bioreactor without a magnetic field for9 hr of recirculation of the synthetic effluent by the bioreactor.The removal of total Cr was61.6% and 48.4%,with and without a magnetic field,respectively;for 24 hr.The desorption of Cr(VI) in the synthetic effluent was 0.05 mg/L,which is below the limit established by Brazilian legislation(0.1 mg/L) for the discharge of effluent containing Cr(Ⅵ) into bodies of water.The results obtained for the removal of chromium in synthetic effluent suggested that there was no significant influence on the viable cell count of the mixed culture.The desorption of Cr(Ⅵ) in synthetic effluent after bioadsorption of chromium by the mixed culture in the process of removal of chromium in bioreactors with and without a magnetic field was not significant in either of the experiments with different initial pHs.