陕西省淳化县农户生活垃圾处理方案的比选与分析

通过问卷调查和现场勘查对陕西省淳化县农村生活垃圾污染及处理现状进行分析,采用层次分析法对户用沼气池、户用堆肥池和小型焚烧炉3种主要处理方案进行经济效益、能源效益和资源环境效益的综合评价,结果表明户用沼气池的综合效益最高.选用成本效益分析、财务现金流分析和敏感度分析方法着重对户用沼气池推广的优势因素和限制因素进一步分析,结果表明,当农户有足够的资金、土地资本和垃圾产量时,应采用沼气池,同时应重视对沼气建设技术人员和维护管理沼气池农户的技术培训,以求保证建池质量;当农户资金、土地资本和垃圾产量有限时,也可以采用户用堆肥池,同时要注意堆肥池规格的设计,以求达到最高的综合效益.     

洞庭湖区不同农户经营规模的农业土地利用综合效应评价

农业适度规模经营是中国农业可持续发展的迫切需求。为合理确定农户适度经营规模,从社会、经济和环境3个方面选取9项指标,构建农业土地利用综合效应指标体系,并应用层次分析法(AHP)和熵权法确定指标权重,尝试对洞庭湖区不同农户农业用地经营规模的社会-经济-环境综合效应进行分析和比较,并以桃江县为例进行实证研究。结果表明,仅从社会、经济和环境的单一效应分析,农户经营规模在6.67~20.00 hm2时社会效应最佳,0.67~2.00 hm2时经济效应最大,20.00 hm2时环境效应最优;从社会-经济-环境综合效应分析,在政府视角下,经营规模在6.67~20.00 hm2之间的农户综合效应最高;而在农户和学者视角下,3.33~6.67 hm2时农户综合效应最佳;结合协调度分析,桃江县农户适度经营规模应在3.33~6.67 hm2之间,其不仅具有较高的综合效应,而且社会-经济-环境效应的协调度较好。开展不同农户经营规模的农业土地利用效应评价研究,有助于探寻社会-经济-环境效应均适宜的农户经营规模,以实现农业可持续发展。     

黄淮海平原盐渍化地区单元农业生态系统综合分析

本项研究选择了四个农户单元系统,试图通过对单元农业生态经济系统中的自然(能量、养分)—人(农民心理)的综合分析,寻求在目前情况下,农村进一步发展的途径。对不同系统的能量效益、土壤养分平衡分析及农民心理模糊评判表明,种—养结合系统从理论上及农民心理方面均优于单纯的种植系统。     

广州市平沙村十年生态农业建设效益分析与评价

根据广州市平沙村在十年（1986～1995）生态农业建设中取得的效益．在资源利用率、生态功能效益．社会效益和经济功能效益等方面．选取20个项目指标．以基础年（1985）的效益为相对评价标准，采用单项指数和综合指数的评价方法．分别对该村生态农业各功能效益和整体功能效益进行分析与评价．     

川中浅丘农区坡地林农复合系统作物复种方式的综合效益评价

从能量转换效益、价值转换效益方面，对坡地林农复会系统１０种农作物复种方式进行了研究，并用层次分析法（ＡＨＰ）对各复种方式进行综合效益评价。结果表明，１０种复种方式中，小麦一花生的综合效益最高，５种复种方式较高，其余则较低。据此，提出了系列改进措施，供生产中应用。     

川中浅丘农区坡地林农复合系统作物复种方式的综合效益评价

从能量转换效益、价值转换效益方面，对坡地林农复合系统１０种农作物复种方式进行了研究，并用层次分析法（ＡＨＰ）对各复种方式进行综合效益评价。结果表明，１０种复种方式中，小麦－花生的综合效益最高，５种复种方式较高，其余则较低。据此，提出了系列改进措施，供生产中应用。     

江苏省吴江县桃源乡“粮、桑、牧、渔、工”生态农业社会经济效益初探

本文作者通过对江苏省吴江县桃源乡“粮、桑、牧、渔、工”系统的全面调查和效益分析,证明该系统具有较为显著的生态、经济、社会综合效益;单位面积粮食产量远远高于全县的平均水平;每投入一焦耳能量可产食物能的水平也高于全县,全市及全国的平均水平;鱼塘的立体化生产促进了农牧渔综合发展;工业的发展为这一系统的资金投入提供了主要保障。此外,文中对发展沼气所进行的技术经济分析表明:沼气开发利用的生态、经济、社会效益较高,并且对完善“粮、桑、牧、渔、工”系统具重要意义。因此,作者认为这一系统在人多地少的太湖流域具有很强的生命力。     

山地城市国土空间生态保护修复分区研究——以重庆为例

科学划定生态保护修复分区是国土空间生态保护修复规划的基础,是制定差别化的生态保护修复政策的主要依据。本文以重庆为例,围绕国土空间生态保护和生态修复及人类活动的现实需求,在全面分析国土空间生态现状和生态功能状况评估的基础上,遵循自然地理格局和生态系统完整性,探索国土空间生态保护修复分区方法及思路。研究表明：（1）山、水等自然资源天然地将全市划分为两大本底空间。一是大巴山、巫山—七曜山、武陵山、大娄山为主体的自然生态空间,自然资源丰富,生态功能突出;二是以平行岭谷、方山丘陵为主体的人类活动空间,地势平坦,耕作条件好,是主要的城镇建设区和农业发展区。（2）盆周山地和海拔较高的山脉人类活动强度低,生态敏感性高,服务功能水平较高,退化不明显,恢复力处于高位水平。中心城区、渝西地区人类活动强烈,生态系统退化明显,生态服务功能水平较低,恢复力不强。（3）根据生态现状和生态系统状况评估的差异性,综合自然、社会、经济复合需求,综合划定了“一核四片”生态保护修复分区,并提出分区生态保护修复治理方向建议。     

江苏省农户秸秆还田的影响因素分析

农户秸秆还田不仅有利于土壤有机质的增加,实现耕地的可持续利用,而且在发挥我国农田土壤固碳潜力,积极应对气候变化方面具有重要意义.文章以江苏省农户调查数据为基础,建立Logistic模型,对影响农户秸秆还田的因素进行分析,以期为制定促进农户秸秆还田的政策提供科学依据.结果表明,不同地区农户对于秸秆还田的决策存在差异:在较为发达地区,秸秆还田与否,农户更多的是从秸秆处理的边际成本出发;而略欠发达地区,则主要是基于秸秆的利用效益.此外,技术因素也影响农户秸秆还田的行为决策.在制定促进秸秆还田技术应用的激励政策时,要充分考虑地区农业生产以及农户生产经营的基本特征及差异,因地制宜,有效地促进秸秆还田在各地区最大限度地被应用和推广.     

西部典型矿业城市土地利用效益耦合协调度研究

基于社会、经济及生态层面实现城市土地利用效益的高度耦合协调,对于促进区域经济的可持续发展意义重大。以西部典型矿业地区36个地级市为例,从土地利用经济效益、社会效益、生态效益3个方面对中国西部典型矿业城市土地利用效益的耦合协调度进行分析。在前人研究的基础上,选取2000、2005、2010和2015年作为研究时点,通过构建土地利用效益指标体系,运用改进熵值法对中国西部典型矿业城市土地利用综合效益水平进行测度,弥补传统熵值法易出现极端值和负值的不足,借助耦合协调模型对其耦合协调度进行测算。结果表明,通过对西部典型矿业城市土地利用效益综合指数的测算得知,城市土地利用效益呈阶梯状分布特征且其土地利用效益综合水平呈逐渐上升趋势;耦合度分析可知,2000—2015年处于低水平耦合阶段的城市数是处于拮抗阶段城市数的3倍,西部典型矿业城市土地利用效益耦合程度总体不高,且以低水平耦合为主;协调度分析得知,2000—2015年协调度处于0～0.69之间,以濒临失调、轻度失调、中度失调和严重失调为主;土地利用效益的耦合协调均呈现出明显的由中心至外围空间递减的分布趋势。     

European Union agricultural policy scenarios' impacts on social sustainability of agricultural holdings

This paper aims to assess the impacts of household behaviour on social sustainability by simulating agricultural policy scenarios of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). For this purpose a multicriteria model was formulated, at farm household level, in order to study the social impacts of the CAPs using different scenarios. The scenarios were chosen on the basis of the main EU policies affecting farm households, such as the alternative crops scenario, the Water Framework Directive scenario and the agrienvironmental schemes scenario. The data for this analysis resulted from the CAP-IRE project, a European FP7-funded project. The model includes a utility function with several conflicting criteria such as maximization of gross margin and risk and labour minimization. The model is further used to simulate the impacts on social sustainability by estimating main social indicators. The model is applied in two different farm types in Greece. The results show that the CAP scenarios have multiple social impacts on agricultural holdings, and particularly on the farm labour structure. These impacts have negative effect on social sustainability.     

Impact of storm Xynthia in 2010 on coastal agricultural areas: the Saint Laurent de la Prée research farm’s experience

Storm Xynthia crossed France’s western coast between 28th February and 1st March 2010. It hit the Vendée and Charente-Maritime departments hardest, as storm surge flooded up to 23,000 ha of coastal agricultural areas (i.e. polders), causing severe damage to farming operations. However, farm-level damage in the aftermath of seawater flooding is an issue that has rarely been explored in the literature. Here we investigated the effects of storm Xynthia on agriculture at the farm scale. We focused on the case study of Saint Laurent de la Prée research farm, a mixed crop–livestock system that was severely hit. All damages were described and economic losses were quantified for the years 2010 and 2011. The results show numerous consequences of the storm in terms of crop and fodder production losses, but also farm infrastructure repairs, crop restoration and animal health problems. Economic damage costs were high, reaching €71,720 in 2010 (€500/ha flooded) and €56,195 (€390/ha) in 2011 for the case study farm. The discussion highlights the farm-level impacts of seawater flooding and the crucial factors that can explain the damage caused to agriculture by storm events in coastal areas. The results are also discussed in the wider context of global warming which is expected to cause sea level rise and more frequent storm events in the future. The vulnerability of coastal agricultural areas to storms thus exposes broader issues of coastal flooding risk management and specifically the allied protection–remediation–adaptation measures. The conclusions underline the need for future research to address prospective scenarios and subsequent adaptive strategies.     

Fostering food and energy security through by-product valorization within agricultural and agro-industrial networks: study of the province of Santiago de Cuba

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to investigate of how the concept of ‘integrated food and energy systems’ or IFES production networks could be applied – within the specific context of Eastern Cuba’s agricultural and agro-industrial sectors – as an innovative approach to improve food and energy security. The Province of Santiago de Cuba in southeast Cuba was the focus of this study; its existing operations, infrastructure, resource flows and scarcities, and actor relationships provide the basis of the data used for the evaluation.

The authors investigated the regional context, identify potential members of an agricultural and agro-industrial network in three municipalities of the province, and identify the main residuals and by-products of key facilities. Potential avenues for by-product valorization are investigated along with the possible influence/impacts on the sustainability of the surrounding systems and actors. A conceptual model for a regional network for integrated food and energy production is then provided based upon the development of three agricultural/agro-industrial scenarios: influence at the farm level, regional agro-industrial networks, and ‘anchor tenant’ eco-industrial systems. The main challenges and opportunities for the development of the networks are described with recommendations for addressing such where possible.     

The employment and earnings impacts of the regulation of stationary source air pollution

A model which analyzes the impacts of stationary source air pollution control regulations on the level and distribution of employment and earnings is presented. The model is an interindustry production model with endogenous price and wage determination. Consumer demand responses of households are determined by applying elasticity estimates to price and earnings changes. The model is applied to analyze the restrictions on levels of permissible emissions from stationary sources set by the 1970 Clean Air Act Amendments. The significant results found are (1) the policy has a dampening effect on the economy and (2) the expenditure, earnings, and disposable earning impacts are uniformly regressive.     

Assessing strategies to reconcile agriculture and bird conservation in the temperate grasslands of South America

Globally, agriculture is the greatest source of threat to biodiversity, through both ongoing conversion of natural habitat and intensification of existing farmland. Land sparing and land sharing have been suggested as alternative approaches to reconcile this threat with the need for land to produce food. To examine which approach holds most promise for grassland species, we examined how bird population densities changed with farm yield (production per unit area) in the Campos of Brazil and Uruguay. We obtained information on biodiversity and crop yields from 24 sites that differed in agricultural yield. Density–yield functions were fitted for 121 bird species to describe the response of population densities to increasing farm yield, measured in terms of both food energy and profit. We categorized individual species according to how their population changed across the yield gradient as being positively or negatively affected by farming and according to whether the species’ total population size was greater under land‐sparing, land‐sharing, or an intermediate strategy. Irrespective of the yield, most species were negatively affected by farming. Increasing yields reduced densities of approximately 80% of bird species. We estimated land sparing would result in larger populations than other sorts of strategies for 67% to 70% of negatively affected species, given current production levels, including three threatened species. This suggests that increasing yields in some areas while reducing grazing to low levels elsewhere may be the best option for bird conservation in these grasslands. Implementing such an approach would require conservation and production policies to be explicitly linked to support yield increases in farmed areas and concurrently guarantee that larger areas of lightly grazed natural grasslands are set aside for conservation.     

Farmer's perception and response towards land policy and eco-environment based on participatory rural appraisal: A case study in the Loess hilly area,China

Based on a survey of 107 farm households by means of participatory rural appraisal, this paper presents a region-level analysis of farmer's perception and response towards land policies and eco-environment in the Loess hilly area, China. The surveyed farmers are divided into two groups, farmers on non-irrigated farmland and farmers on irrigated farmland. The results indicate that most farmers mainly depend on cropland, especially the farmers on non-irrigated farmland. Farmers believe that stability and persistence of land policies are important, and most hold a positive attitude towards the Grain-for-Green Programme. The farmers on irrigated farmland have a more favourable attitude to environmental conservation than the farmers of non-irrigated farmland. Nearly 80% of interviewees consider that the local eco-environment has improved in the last ten years. About 45% never consider the environmental impact of their agriculture practices. About 55% think drought is the most important reason for eco-environment deterioration, overgrazing and serious soil erosion. Soil and water conservation is not conscious and voluntary behaviour for farmers, it is only a measure to guarantee their basic agricultural production and to improve their living conditions. Results indicate that farmers on nonirrigated land find engineering approaches more beneficial to agronomic methods. However, the farmers on irrigated farmland pay more attention to improving farmland quality.     

Survey of nitrogen use pattern in rice in the irrigated rice-wheat cropping system of Haryana, India

Seeing the sustainability of rice-wheat cropping system (RWCS) of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, adequate crop nutrition in general and nitrogen (N) in particular holds the key to sound crop management. The excessive application or insufficient management of N means an economic loss to the farmer and may lead to yield penalties and environmental problems. Improving N management in consonance with other nutrients is much important to break yield plateaus as breeding for high yielding is not happening in recent years. Findings from farm survey are used to evaluate the on-farm N management practices in rice crop of the study area. The crop management practices (especially time of sowing/transplanting and irrigation requirement) and resource base of the farmers decided the N use pattern of the farmers. The N(Physical optimum) and N(economic optimum) exceeding the recommended levels revealed the apparent need for the revalidation of the existing recommendations. Paddy yield increased significantly within different rice types. This study generated comprehensive data on N use pattern in rice in the study area.     

Indirect land use change from ethanol production: the case of sugarcane expansion at the farm level on the Brazilian Cerrado

The expansion of sugarcane production in the Brazilian Cerrado has resulted in indirect land use change (ILUC), occurring when displaced land uses in one location are reallocated to another. Studies, however, usually identify ILUC at the regional or national level far from the original area of a displaced land use. This study examines the occurrence of ILUC due to sugarcane expansion for ethanol production at the farm level in the Brazilian Cerrado. It fills a gap in the literature by examining socioeconomic, policy and farm-level factors that influence ILUC at the farm level in the Brazilian Cerrado using face-to-face enumerated surveys. Results indicate that ILUC did occur at the farm (producer) scale and farmers who undertook ILUC intensified agricultural production on their farms. Results inform policymakers on how the intensification of agricultural practices may make it potentially difficult to keep protected lands out of production, reducing the environmental benefits from sugarcane-based biofuel production.