“Guardianship” and the “Rural Workshop”—The First Quarter-century of U.K. Experience in Nature Conservation

In the U.K., the Countryside Act of 1968 represented the first “updating” of the pioneering National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949. Through the archival material that survives for the Ministry of Agriculture and Nature Conservancy, the paper commemorates that first quarter-century of post-war adjustment to the needs of farming and wildlife conservation. It does so through a case study of the documented discussion, both inter-agency and within separate counsels, of whether agricultural improvement grants should be paid for land scheduled as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). The post-war assumptions of both parties were shattered by clashes over the SSSIs of Cavenham Heath (Suffolk) and Waddingham Common (Lincolnshire). Characterized as a “cold” war, there was a point beyond which antipathy served no one's interests. Fully aware of the options available to policy-makers, both parties recognized the Countryside Bill as an opportunity to obtain greater protection for SSSIs without prejudicing the larger notions of guardianship of the rural resource and the importance that continued to be given to the countryside as the farmer's “workshop”.     

A PROCEDURE FOR ESTIMATING OFF-SITE SEDIMENT DAMAGE COSTS AND AN EMPIRICAL TEST1

ABSTRACT This paper reports on research to develop a methodology for estimating agricultural off-site sediment damage costs and includes an empirical estimate of such damages for a watershed. The economics of off-site sediment damage costs are discussed as a theoretical basis for the procedures developed. A detailed methodology is described for estimating five different types of off-site sediment damages commonly associated with rural watersheds. The methodology is then applied to a central Illinois watershed and estimates of individual types of damage are made. The estimates are combined into an off-site sediment damage function for the watershed, and the usefulness of the damage function for analyzing off-site sediment damages and achieving a reduction in those costs is discussed.     

DROUGHT EFFECTS ON WATER QUALITY IN THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER BASIN,COLORADO1

ABSTRACT: Twenty‐three stream sites representing a range of forested, agricultural, and urban land uses were sampled in the South Platte River Basin of Colorado from July through September 2002 to characterize water quality during drought conditions. With a few exceptions, dissolved ammonia, Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus, and dissolved orthophosphate concentrations were similar to seasonal historical levels in all land use areas during the drought. At some agricultural sites, decreased dilution of irrigation return flow may have contributed to higher concentrations of some nutrient species, increased primary productivity, and higher dissolved oxygen concentrations. At some urban sites, decreased dilution of base flow and wastewater treatment plant effluent may have contributed to higher dissolved nitrite‐plus‐nitrate concentrations, increased primary productivity, and higher dissolved oxygen concentrations. Total pesticide concentrations in urban and agricultural areas were not consistently higher or lower during the drought. At most forested sites, decreased dilution of ground water‐derived calcium bicarbonate type base flow likely led to elevated pH and specific‐conductance values. Water temperatures at many of the forested sites also were higher, contributing to lower dissolved oxygen concentrations during the drought.     

农业旱灾形成过程中的承灾体脆弱性分析--以湖南鼎城为例

农业旱灾的形成是降水不足或不均与农业生产系统脆弱性共同作用的结果,承灾体脆弱性的高低会起到“放大“或“缩小“灾情的作用,因此降低承灾体的脆弱性是抗灾减灾的主要和有效途径.选择湖南省鼎城区为研究区,通过分析灾前期-灾中期旱灾的形成过程及其与承灾体脆弱性的关系,分别针对轻度干旱和中重度干旱建立了评价指标体系,采用加权求和法对水田-水稻农业生产系统的脆弱性进行了评价.结果表明,该区的承灾体脆弱性分布存在一定的区域差异,脆弱度由高至低排序为西北岗地区、南部低山/丘陵区、中部平原/岗地区、东北湖/平原区,这一分析结果与实际灾情的分布规律基本一致.通过分析脆弱性分布规律和变化原因,发现地形和灌溉分别是影响灾前期和灾中期承灾体脆弱性的最重要因素,进而提出了具体的减灾防灾建议.     

基于农户尺度的农业旱灾成灾风险评价与可持续发展

在对雨养和灌溉农业典型区农户问卷调查的基础上,提出了成灾风险的概念和评价思路,构建了农户尺度农业旱灾成灾风险的评价指标体系和模型;基于国家农村调查队的统计数据,对典型区农业旱灾成灾风险进行了评价,确定了人均纯收入2500和2750元,以及人均粮食产量200和800kg为几个影响农业旱灾成灾风险变化的临界值.最后,提出了雨养/灌溉农业典型区降低成灾风险的可持续发展策略,如波动的农牧业政策、提高自然降水利用率等.     

内蒙古自治区农牧业自然灾害特征分析

本文采用近50年的农牧业气象灾害数据资料和近15年的农牧业病虫害及灾情数据资料,结合实地调查,对内蒙古自治区主要农牧业自然灾害的发生特征和平均状况进行了分析.研究表明:近50年本区农业自然灾害有加重趋势;从年际来看,旱灾、病虫鼠害、风灾较稳定频发,水灾、冻灾、火灾年际变率大;旱灾、冻灾、火灾、风灾冬春多发;多种灾害链发等.在此基础上结合自然条件探究原因,提出了一些防灾减灾的建议.     

江西省近年来的农业自然灾害及其防治对策

本文在调查研究的基础上,依据大量的资料,对近年来江西省农业自然灾害发生的情况进行了分析,重点研究了干旱、洪涝等气象灾害以及农业生物灾害的特点、发生面积及其造成的损失,提出了对这些灾害的防治对策.     

农业利用有机废弃物的生态工程

本文运用生态工程将农业利用有机废弃的主要用途划分为作饲料，肥料，能源，培养料和多层次循环利用５种方式，论述了中国农业利用有机废弃物的历史，现状与水平，对农业利用作秸秆，畜禽粪便，沼气发酵余物和机的主要秣工程技术。     

PREDICTIVE ASSESSMENT OF SEVERITY OF AGRICULTURAL DROUGHTS BASED ON AGRO-CLIMATIC FACTORS1

ABSTRACT: Past historical evidence indicates that droughts have had great impacts on human life. Drought (or scarcity of water) is assessed based on two key factors, namely, the estimated water demand, and the expected water supply. The formulation of these key factors for a region largely depends on the agro-climatic and economic conditions. Consideration of one such key factor is the relationship between the crop yield and water deficit in the assessment and prediction of agricultural droughts. The varying nature of this relationship from crop to crop adds to the complexity of agricultural drought analysis. To overcome this difficulty in analyzing agricultural droughts of a region, it is adequate to consider and place emphasis on a single crop (i.e., an index crop) grown homogeneously over the major area of the region. From one year to another year, the pattern of water requirement during the growing season of an index crop is rather stationary, and the water supply in arid and semi-arid area is mainly from seasonal random precipitation. In a region, grain yield of the index crop and, in turn, assessment of the severity of drought can reasonably be predicted as a function of the time of crop sowing and the distribution of rainfall, provided that temporal and spatial effects of other contributing factors (crop variety, soil fertility status, crop disease, pest control, cultivation practices etc.) on grain yield are considered to be uniformly distributed (i.e., stable). A predictive method of assessing agricultural droughts in an arid area of western India is presented. The major crop (Pearl Millet) of this region is grown from. July through September. The formulation of the proposed predictive method inherently implies that the grain yield of the main crop is a reliable indicator of agricultural drought. In the development of this predictive relationship (i.e., a regression type model) a number of potential yet simple variables affecting the grain yield in the region were investigated. The soil moisture index, although generally considered significant compared to the simple variables, has been found to account for insignificant variation in the grain yield. Results of our investigations suggest that it would be advisable to exclude the soil moisture index variable from the model. The proposed regression model can be used in the prediction of grain yield of the main crop several months ahead of crop harvesting operations and, in turn, the assessment of agricultural drought severity as mild, moderate, or severe. Such an assessment is expected to be helpful to planners for arranging appropriate measures to effectively combat agricultural drought situations.     

DRAINAGE GENERATION AND WATER USE IN THE EVERGLADES AGRICULTURAL AREA BASIN1

ABSTRACT: The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) covers 2,850 km² in area and is characterized by high water table and organic soil. The area is actively irrigated and drained as a function of weather conditions and crop status. Anthropogenic activities in the basin have resulted in nutrient-enriched drainage water that is discharged to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades ecosystem. Water quantity and quality issues of the basin have become of increasing interest at local, state, and federal levels, so legislative and regulatory measures have been taken to improve water quality in discharges from the basin. In this study, simulation of hydrologic conditions and soil moisture were conducted using 100 years of daily synthetic rainfall data. From the simulations, the statistical distribution of half-month drainage discharge and supplemental water use in the basin was developed. The mean annual drainage/runoff was 49 cm, the mean supplemental water was 30 cm, and the mean annual a real rainfall was 122 cm. On the average, drainage exceeded supplemental water use in the months of June to September while from December to March drainage and supplemental water use were equivalent. Supplemental water use exceeded drainage in the months of October, November, April, and May. High drainage occurred in June and September; smallest drainage was in February. On the average, the highest supplemental water use occurred in May and November. The 10-year return period of annual drainage during wet and dry cycles were 60 cm and 38 cm per year, respectively. The semi-monthly drainage coefficient of variation (cv) is above 100 percent for the period from the second half of October to end of April. The cv is lower than 100 percent for the remaining season (wet season). The purpose of this paper is to present the magnitude, temporal, and frequency distribution of drainage runoff generation and supplemental water use in the EAA basin. Information on statistics of drainage will contribute to the optimization of the design and operation of drainage water treatment systems.