Sustainable agriculture in Canada and Cuba: a comparison

Agriculture-related discussions in climate change research have been largely focused on the effects of a changing environment on agriculture and the possible consequences for global and regional food security. However, from a policy standpoint, it is also essential to address the impact of agriculture and related activities on environmental change. Over the last 50 years, most of the world’s agriculture has transitioned into industrial agriculture that requires greater inputs of fossil-fuel energy, water, synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which have created substantial harmful effects on air, soil, water and biodiversity. Sustainable farming that uses less chemicals and fossil-fuel energy and emphasizes localized production and consumption has come to be viewed as an eco-friendly alternative to modern agriculture. This paper will examine the concept of sustainable agriculture and compare and contrast its practice in Canada and Cuba. The paper will conclude with lessons that the two countries can learn from each other.     

农业生态环境治理与可持续发展

我国是一个农业大国 ,由于长期的农业生产中忽视了对农业生态环境的保护 ,近年来 ,农业环境和农产品污染问题日趋严重 ,耕地环境质量不断下降 ,土地沙化形势十分严峻。农产品有毒有害物质残留问题突出 ,已成为制约农业和农村经济发展的重要因素。针对农业生态环境污染日益加剧的严峻形势 ,必须加大农业生态环境建设和保护力度 ,采取合理措施 ,在农业生产过程中降低化肥和农药的使用和环境造成的污染 ,推广清洁生产应当成为推动新世纪农业进步的发展新模式。与世界其它国家一样 ,合理利用资源和保护生态环境是农业可持续发展的基础。必须实施可持续发展战略 ,大力推广生态农业和生态农村建设 ,调整优化农业生产结构 ,从粗放型向集约型转变 ,以确保 2 1世纪我国农业的可持续发展。     

农业生态环境治理与可持续发展

我国是一个农业大国,由于长期的农业生产中忽视了对农业生态环境的保护,近年来,农业环境和农产品污染问题日趋严重,耕地环境质量不断下降,土地沙化形势十分严峻,农产品有毒有害物质残留问题突出,已成为制约农业和农村经济发展的重要因素,针对农业生态环境污染日益加剧的严峻形势,必须加大农业生态环境建设和保护力度,采取合理措施,在农业生产过程中降低化肥和农药的使用和环境造成的污染,推广清洁生产应当成为推动新世纪农业进步的发展新模式,与世界其它国家一样,合理利用资源和保护生态环境是农业可持续发展的基础。必须实施可持续发展战略,大力推广生态农业和生态农村建设,调整优化农业生产结构,从粗放型向集约型转变,以确保21世纪我国农业的可持续发展。     

稳定同位素识别水体硝酸盐污染来源的研究进展

水体硝酸盐污染已经成为一个世界性的水质问题。为了确保供水安全和有效治理水环境中硝酸盐污染,准确识别水体中硝酸盐的污染来源显得尤为重要。近年来,硝酸盐稳定氮(δ15 N)和氧(δ18 O)同位素示踪技术被广泛用于识别水环境中硝酸盐的污染来源。然而,水环境中硝酸盐污染来源的复杂性和同位素分馏的影响,致使该项技术的应用存在一定的局限性。概括了硝酸盐中的δ15 N和δ18 O的典型值域范围,阐述了多种同位素技术联合识别水体中硝酸盐污染来源的方法以及应用模型定量解析硝酸盐污染源贡献率,最后,对该领域未来的发展方向进行了阐述。     

有机无机肥料对农业环境影响述评

论述了有机肥在中国的使用情况和对农业生产的作用、化肥对农产品质量的影响、化肥对土壤肥力的贡献、有机肥和化肥对大气环境和水体的影响。目前人们在对化肥使用的认识上普遍存在误区,认为施用化肥一定会对环境产生污染,只有使用有机肥才能解决问题。中国是一个人口大国,今后在一个相当长的时间内,农业产品的生产在养分的投入上仍然需要以化肥为主,充分、合理、平衡的化肥投入不仅能满足人们对农产品数量上的需要,而且一定能满足人们对农产品品质的要求。化肥的合理施用可以改善和提高农产品品质,提高土壤有机质含量,改善土壤理化性质,减少温室气体的排放和水体污染。化肥本身是无害的,有害的是对化肥的不合理施用。在肥料问题上,今后需要关注 的应该是生产和使用更优质、更高效的化肥,推广科学合理的施肥技术,提高化肥的利用效率。     

经济发达地区水环境约束分区与产业准入研究——以无锡市区为例

随着发达地区经济社会的快速发展,水污染物排放量急剧增加,致使区域水环境不断恶化,并成为制约区域经济社会发展的重要因素。为了协调水环境与经济发展间的关系,许多国家开展水环境功能区划研究,为流域管理和调控提供科学依据,但是这些研究大多以水体为对象,较少关注水陆空间联系以及水环境承载能力对区域产业布局的限制,忽视了经济社会发展对水环境胁迫作用。为此,综合考虑水环境容量和压力两方面要素,提出水环境约束分区方法,并以无锡市区为例讨论了分区评价单元划分、指标选择与处理等技术方法,通过水环境容量和水环境压力的矩阵分析,将研究区划分为高压高容区、高压低容区、低压高容区和低压低容区等4种类型区,据此提出产业准入与布局调整导向。研究结果可为协调区域产业发展与水环境关系、制定差别化的产业准入政策提供科学依据。     

关于我国21世纪农业清洁生产的思考

现代工业的出现和工业化进程的不断发展,使生态环境受到污染和破坏。清洁生产因突破了传统的终端污染控制的被动局面,在工业领域得到推广应用。然而,以高度集约化和大量化学物质投入为重要特征的现代农业,所导致的环境污染问题也日益严峻。因此,为达到农业生产与生态环境协调发展的目的,农业清洁生产应成为２１世纪农业发展模式和农业环保策略,其关键是开发绿色农用品,改进农业生产技术。     

Thailand’s economic growth and structural development projections in the context of environmental control

Projections for 20 years of economic growth and change in the structure of the Thai economy were made for 180 sectors using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to compare the following four scenarios: (1) standard growth with infinite supply of factors, (2) finite land supply, (3) fixed use of agricultural chemicals, and (4) combined finite land supply with fixed use of agricultural chemicals. The computable projections suggest that the economic cost of hypothetical environmental control in agriculture is small and further weakened by urbanization. The computed structural development points to efficiency improvements specific to sectors to return the economy to balanced growth.     

Factors influencing farmers’ decisions on nitrogen fertilizer application in the Liangzihu Lake basin,Central China

Overuse of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in agriculture activities has caused severe water pollution in China. The lack of data at producer level hampers decision makers in the development and implementation of efficient policies to curb excessive N-fertilizer use. In a survey of 300 farm households in the Liangzihu Lake basin, we identified factors associated with farmers’ decisions on N-fertilizer use and application rate. Household survey and multiple linear regression models indicate that the average application rate in the study region is 229 kg N ha^?1, which exceeds the recommended rate for maximum profit for cereal crops (maize, wheat, and rice) in China of 150–180 kg N ha^?1. High N-application rates are associated with low farmland productivity (coefficient = ?15.66, p = 0.02), a high share of off-farm income (coefficient = 27.14, p = 0.003), and a low education level of the household head (coefficient = ?10.83, p = 0.039). Neither physical infrastructure nor access to input markets appears to be related to N-application rates. It may be concluded that excessive use of N in agriculture of Central China is mainly a problem of insufficient awareness and high share of off-farm income.     

China-Indian Silk Trade: Current Production and Future Prospects

Abstract

As an important traditional labor-intensive industry of both India and China, the cocoon silk industry has long made great contributions to the ecological environment protection, rural economic development and the increase in export income of both countries. India is not only a very important cocoon silk trading partner, but an important production competitor of China. In recent years, there has been a large increase in the production and trade of the cocoon silk between China and India; however, China relies heavily on Indian market, which leads to a tendency of further deterioration in the silk trade environment between both countries. The present article makes an empirical study of the cocoon silk resources of the two countries and the scale, product mix and market structure of China–Indian silk trade from 2001 to 2007. Overall silk trading volumes from China to India and market concentration rate are on the increase because of the superiority of Chinese cocoon silk production over that of India. Owing to scattered market share and export that mainly focused on raw materials product, there has been a phenomenon of price reduction and quantity increase. India carries out fierce competition with China in the international market and even imposes antidumping sanction on Chinese silk, which are key factors restricting further increase between China–India trade. Based on the abovementioned facts, the authors aim to put forward suggestions for steadily developing the production and trade of China’s silk.     

乡镇工业企业发展与环境,资源协调问题初探

我国乡镇工业企业的发展与环境、资源的协调问题已经成为我国发展与环境、资源关系方面的大问题。实行工农相对分离,组建乡村工业区,是提高乡镇工业企业素质、效益,强化乡镇工业企业优化组合、规模经营的有效途径;是保护环境,实现资源有效利用的基础工作之一;是提高农业劳动生产率,实现农业规模经营的基础工作之一。     

Estimation of internal radiation dose to the adult Asian population from the dietary intakes of two long-lived radionuclides

Daily dietary intakes of two naturally occurring long-lived radionuclides, 232Th and 238U, were estimated for the adult population living in a number of Asian countries, using highly sensitive analytical methods such as instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analysis (INAA and RNAA), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The Asian countries that participated in the study were Bangladesh (BGD), China (CPR), India (IND), Japan (JPN), Pakistan (PAK), Philippines (PHI), Republic of Korea (ROK) and Vietnam (VIE). Altogether, these countries represent more than 50% of the world population. The median daily intakes of 232Th ranged between 0.6 and 14.4 mBq, the lowest being for Philippines and the highest for Bangladesh, and daily intakes of 238U ranged between 6.7 and 62.5 mBq, lowest and the highest being for India and China, respectively. The Asian median intakes were obtained as 4.2 mBq for 232Th and 12.7 mBq for 238U. Although the Asian intakes were lower than intakes of 12.3 mBq (3.0 ug) 232Th and 23.6 mBq (1.9 ug) 238U proposed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for the ICRP Reference Man, they were comparable to the global intake values of 4.6 mBq 232Th and 15.6 mBq 238U proposed by the United Nation Scientific Commission on Effects of Radiation (UNSCEAR). The annual committed effective doses to Asian population from the dietary intake of 232Th and 238U were calculated to be 0.34 and 0.20 microSv, respectively, which are three orders of magnitude lower than the global average annual radiation dose of 2400 microSv to man from the natural radiation sources as proposed by UNSCEAR.     

长江中下游稻-麦轮作系统生命周期环境影响评价——以江苏南京为例

长江中下游地区是我国稻麦主产区,辨析该区农业生产过程的环境效应,可为实现农业绿色发展提供理论指导。以稻麦轮作典型生产区江苏南京为例,应用生命周期评价方法对该系统生命周期的资源消耗和污染物排放清单进行分析和评价。结果表明:在该稻-麦轮作体系中,水稻生命周期的环境影响主要是富营养化、水体毒性、环境酸化和土壤毒性,环境影响指数分别为2.32、0.76、0.33和0.27;而小麦生命周期的环境影响主要为富营养化、水体毒性、土壤毒性和环境酸化,环境影响指数分别为2.50、2.09、0.32和0.23。肥料、农药、柴油的生产和使用是引起能源消耗和气候变暖的主要因素;农户超量施用氮肥是造成潜在环境酸化和富营养化的关键;农药的使用是造成水体毒素和土壤毒素的最主要原因;而氮肥和农药投入对人类毒性均有较大影响。因此,在工业领域加快新型能源开发,实施清洁生产;在农业领域优化田间管理措施(如减少氮肥施用、研发多功能一体化农机及推广低毒高效农药)能有效控制长江中下游地区稻麦生产负面环境影响,提高该区农业可持续发展能力。     

Indoor air pollution

As national trends accelerate towards the reduction of ventilation and infiltration rates in buildings, coupled with an increased use of synthetic chemicals in the indoor environment, a new phenomenon has arisen: the “sick building” syndrome. Traditional approaches to environmental health developed for the outdoor air, or for the industrial occupational setting, are inadequate to deal with this problem. It is argued that a comprehensive approach to the problem of indoor air pollution is necessary to protect public health.     

China-Indian Silk Trade： Current Production and Future Prospects

As an important traditional labor-intensive industry of both India and China, the cocoon silk industry has long made great contributions to the ecological environment protection, rural economic development and the increase in export income of both countries. India is not only a very important cocoon silk trading partner, but an important production competitor of China. In recent years, there has been a large increase in the production and trade of the cocoon silk between China and India; however, China relies heavily on Indian market, which leads to a tendency of further deterioration in the silk trade environment between both countries. The present article makes an empirical study of the cocoon silk resources of the two countries and the scale, product mix and market structure of China-Indian silk trade from 2001 to 2007. Overall silk trading volumes from China to India and market concentration rate are on the increase because of the superiority of Chinese cocoon silk production over that of India. Owing to scattered market share and export that mainly focused on raw materials product, there has been a phenomenon of price reduction and quantity increase. India carries out fierce competition with China in the international market and even imposes antidumping sanction on Chinese silk, which are key factors restricting further increase between China-India trade. Based on the abovementioned facts, the authors aim to put forward suggestions for steadily developing the production and trade of China＇s silk.     

Impact of Growing Income Inequality on Sustainable Development in China： A Provincial-level Analysis

A growing body of literature has documented the rapidly increasing income disparities that accompanied China＇s economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and the driving factors behind this. Growing income inequality in its turn may have important implications for the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital and as a consequence for sustainable economic development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of income inequality on savings, human resources and the environment in China. It starts with an overview of the different causal mechanisms through which income inequality may affect the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital, and discusses to what extent these causal relationships may be relevant in the case of China. Next, provincial data for the year 2002 are used to explore the relationship between income inequality and different elements of sustainable development in China. It is found that income inequality does not affect aggregate savings levels. Rising inequality, however, contributes to lower health and possibly also to higher fertility levels. It also lowers the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and therefore is likely to reduce water pollution. Other types of environmental degradation are not affected.     

中国绿色经济发展和机制政策创新研究

通过绿色转型创造新的发展和就业机会对于摆脱经济危机、提升国家竞争力并占据全球制高点和领先地位已经成为全球共识。中国的绿色经济发展将对其未来经济繁荣乃至全球经济发展产生深远影响。转变经济发展方式,实现绿色发展,这不仅是中华民族长远发展的战略性选择和必然需要,也是对全球可持续发展的积极贡献,将对人类发展产生的重要影响。中国正逐步走向绿色发展之路,建设资源节约型社会和环境友好型社会,发展循环经济和低碳经济已经为中国的绿色发展奠定了较为坚实的基础。但是在全球化大背景下,中国正面临各种规模庞大、情况复杂的经济发展、社会转变与环境保护的挑战与机遇,尤其是在宏观层面,绿色发展的体制机制保障尚不健全,制约了中国绿色转型的成效。如何通过恰当的制度创新,进一步推进转型成本效率的提高和体制机制与政策法规质量的改善,加快并深化中国的绿色转型是目前面临的主要问题。本文针对上述问题,系统归纳总结了国际上发展绿色经济的普遍经验以及中国发展绿色经济面临的主要问题和挑战,认为发展绿色经济目前并没有一种通用的模式,解决中国发展绿色经济发展过程中所面临的资源环境制约,必须调整现行以GDP为导向的政府和官员绩效考核体系,平衡目前财政分权体系中财权和事权不对应问题,进一步明确政府和市场的作用及各自起作用的领域,同时,综合应用法律、财政、税收和价格等工具,重视不同手段的综合和协同运用,在不同的发展领域,提出具有适应性和包容性的发展策略,具体来说:①实施"差异化"区域绿色发展战略,针对不同的经济发展和资源环境基础,提出不同的发展重点,同时,建立分区域的绿色发展监测和评估体系;②通过技术进步和管理创新发展绿色农业,以保障农产品安全、生态安全和资源安全为重点,推动农业发展政策、农业生产组织、农业技术服务和农业管理体系的转型;③以资源节约和环境友好为基本原则,实施绿色创新战略,引导和推动工业结构的优化升级;④创建绿色服务业体系;⑤推行绿色消费模式,以绿色消费倒逼绿色经济转型。     

Risk assessment and pathway study of arsenic in industrially contaminated sites of Hyderabad: a case study

Different areas in the industrial region of Patancheru near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (A.P), India are contaminated with high concentration of arsenic, which is attributed to industrial source like veterinary chemicals, pharmaceuticals, pesticide industries, etc. Fourteen villages of this area of Patancheru were assessed for arsenic contamination by collecting samples of water (surface and ground), soil, fodder, milk, and vegetables. The total arsenic content in the whole blood, urine, hair, and nails of the residents showing arsenical skin lesions and other clinical manifestations were also studied. To understand the bioavailability of arsenic in this environment and its possible entry into human food chain, speciation studies of arsenic was carried out and the results are presented in this paper.     

Impact of Growing Income Inequality on Sustainable Development in China: A Provincial-level Analysis

Abstract

A growing body of literature has documented the rapidly increasing income disparities that accompanied China's economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and the driving factors behind this. Growing income inequality in its turn may have important implications for the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital and as a consequence for sustainable economic development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of income inequality on savings, human resources and the environment in China. It starts with an overview of the different causal mechanisms through which income inequality may affect the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital, and discusses to what extent these causal relationships may be relevant in the case of China. Next, provincial data for the year 2002 are used to explore the relationship between income inequality and different elements of sustainable development in China. It is found that income inequality does not affect aggregate savings levels. Rising inequality, however, contributes to lower health and possibly also to higher fertility levels. It also lowers the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and therefore is likely to reduce water pollution. Other types of environmental degradation are not affected.     

氮素形态及浓度对互花米草生长的影响

近年来，由于人类生产生活的影响，以化肥农药使用为主的面源污染和以工业排放为主的点源污染日益加剧，全球尤其是海岸带氮含量逐渐升高，对滨海植被的生长产生了巨大的影响。在这个背景下，通过温室模拟实验研究不同供氮水平对互花米草的影响，对研究氮对入侵植物的影响作用机制有重大意义。互花米草在两种氮肥不同氮水平处理下，株高、叶面积、生物量等生长指标以及根冠比、根长/株高等指标的变化情况不同。结果表明：随着氮量增加，米草株高、叶面积、总生物量和地上部分生物量呈先上升后下降的趋势，地下部分生物量、根冠比和根长/株高比则呈下降趋势；各项指标在无机氮肥不同氮水平处理之间存在显著差异，但在有机氮肥的各处理间差异无显著性。这说明适当的供氮水平有利于互花米草的生长，而高氮则抑制其生长