Profitability of intensification technologies among smallholder maize farmers in the forest-savanna transition zone of Nigeria

Sustaining the productive capacity of the land resource under the existing land-use system and increasing population pressure requires the use of appropriate technologies that will enhance farm productivity and income levels.This paper examines the effect on farm profitability of smallholder maize farmers’ use of intensification technologies in tropical agriculture. The survey was conducted in southwest Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 300 respondents from two major agroclimatic zones in Osun State. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire and complemented with focus group discussions (FGDs), while the State’s Ministry of Agriculture provided secondary data.Pressure on land was found high because farmland was continuously cropped for an average of 10 years with a mean fallow period of 2 years only. Technologies used to intensify agriculture included inorganic fertilizer, organic manure, alley cropping, and tree planting.Results from costs and returns analysis showed that average net returns to inorganic fertilizer use ranked highest in the two zones, while tree planting ranked lowest. There was a significant ecoregional difference on the average net returns/year earned by users of mineral fertilizer. While organic manure use earned higher net returns than alley cropping practice in the rain forest, the reverse was the case for the derived savanna. FGDs revealed that respondents’ preferred to use inorganic fertilizer despite its inadequate supply because, apart from enhancing higher returns and net gains, it also improved output level and provided an opportunity for the continuous use of the scarce land.These results imply that economic returns play a critical role in farmers’ use of intensification technologies and consequently affect their resource management decisions. Policy measures aimed at promoting research on appropriate technologies that are profitable on farmers’ fields will be more effective in enhancing farmers’ use of intensification technologies.     

重庆解放碑地区环境噪声十年变化及规律

通过对解放碑商业中心区1991－2000年环境噪声监测结果的分析评价，比较了十年均噪声的时间分布污染和1998－2000年的季平均噪声的时间分布污染状况，得出该商业地区噪声污染在昼间15：00－17：00最高，夜间在4：00左右最低；四季中，秋季的昼间噪声最高，冬季的夜间的噪声最低，其昼间噪声的波动幅度也较小，与人群的社会行为活动密切相关。     

Vocal acrobatics in a Chinese frog, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Amolops tormotus</Emphasis>

Although amphibians are highly vocal, they generally emit only a limited number of acoustic communication signals. We report here the extraordinarily rich vocal repertoire of Amolops tormotus, a ranid species in China. These frogs produce countless vocalizations, some of which share features of birdsong or primate calls, e.g., ultrasonic frequency components, multiple upward and downward FM sweeps, and sudden onset and offset of selective harmonic components within a call note. Frame-by-frame video analysis of the frog's calling behavior suggests the presence of two pairs of vocal sacs that may contribute to the remarkable call-note complexity in this species. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-002-0335-x.     

Influence of conservation tillage on winter bird use of arable fields in Hungary

Bird use of conservation tillage-established (CT—seedbed preparation without soil inversion) crops was assessed at two adjacent sites in western Hungary, in comparison with conventionally established (mouldboard ploughed—P) fields. Bird abundance was assessed in a typical rotation of spring-sown maize and winter wheat in three consecutive winters. In the first winter, several species and the guild of seed-eating passerines were significantly more abundant on CT established plots, in both crop types. In the second winter, only starlings were more abundant on CT plots. In the third winter, only skylarks favoured CT over P plots. In combination with agri-environment scheme measures designed to provide resources for biodiversity, conservation tillage could play a role in softening the impact of agriculture on farmland birds in Hungary and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, in addition to its potential for reducing soil erosion and diffuse pollution.     

Climate anomalies, Indonesian vegetation fires and terrestrial carbon emissions

There was a widespread misconception about the causes of vegetation and land fires in Indonesia. At a certain point, the public perceived that fires and the associated haze pollution were primarily caused by smallholders' agricultural activities. In fact, there was a variety of land-use activities including large-scale land clearing following deforestation for further land development. El Niño events and the associated dry weather were sometimes quoted by officials and the media as the cause of fires. The fire episodes from 1980 to 2000 were analysed in connection with climate anomalies and the implementation of land-use policies related to forest conversions. The analysis employs long-term climatic and sea surface temperature data to reconstruct climate distributions and anomalies including Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Outgoing Long-wave Radiation (OLR). In this study, the terrestrial carbon emissions from vegetation fires were estimated based on official statistical data on area burnt. The possible incentives for sustainable land management were discussed in the light of fire prevention. The underlying cause neglected in the discussion of Indonesian vegetation fires was forest and land development policy. Legitimated in the early 1980s, it drove massive forest conversions and the use of fires for land clearing. El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) provided dry weather suitable for biomass burning and widespread fire, but it was hardly the cause of fires. The estimate of area burnt in the big fires in 1997 was about 11.6 Mha, resulting in carbon release of 1.45 Gt, equivalent to 0.73 ppmv of CO₂, or almost half the annual global atmospheric CO₂ growth. Based on the current carbon market price such emissions by the 1997 fire episode were worth around US$ 3.6 billion.     

浅谈化工装置灾害事故的处置

化工生产一般采用温控分离、氧化还原、催化裂解、压力聚合等工艺方法,而化工产品特别是中间产品一般都具有易燃、易爆、有毒、有害和腐蚀等特点.在化工生产的过程中可能发生的各类灾害事故已经成为各级政府和应急救援单位研究的重要课题.下面结合工作实践谈谈化工装置灾害事故的处置思路.     

丁基锡化合物在水体悬浮颗粒物上的吸附行为研究

将海河河口表层底泥制成悬浮颗粒物（ＳＰＭ），采用批量平衡法首次研究了模拟河口条件下三丁基锡（ＴＢＴ）和二丁基锡（ＤＢＴ）在该ＳＰＭ上的吸附行为．结果表明，ＴＢＴ和ＤＢＴ均能在ＳＰＭ上发生吸附，尤以ＴＢＴ更为显著．吸附速率可用Ｋｕｏ和Ｌａｋｅ的经验公式描述；吸附过程受ＳＰＭ的浓度及ＴＯＣ含量、ｐＨ值、温度、腐殖酸浓度和盐度影响．实际河口水样中的ＳＰＭ对ＴＢＴ和ＤＢＴ的吸附百分率也较高，因此ＳＰＭ是ＴＢＴ和ＤＢＴ归趋的重要场所，去除ＳＰＭ可使水体得到一定净化．     

无剩余污泥接触氧化法处理漂染废水的探讨

对漂染废水的处理，虽能做到达标排放，但其剩余污泥的生成量也过多，该文以上海信泰纺织品有限公司无剩余污泥接触氧化法处理漂染废水的实例，表明了既可提高污染物去除率，又能节省投资和运转费用，通过两年的运行实践，证明效果良好，在对酸化反应器的设计和有效控制方面，以及氧化反应器与酸化反应器的运行管理等方面也进行了探讨。     

治理油类污染军港的一种新型处理系统

本文概述了设计集油污水接纳，分离处理，分析监控于一体的军港舰船油污水处理系统。该系统能全方位，快速安全地解决舰船油污水的接纳难题。该系统分离技术可靠，工艺设计合理，实用性好，适用性强，运用费用低，处理效果佳，达到了防止军港污染，保护海洋环境这一目的，收到了较好的环境，社会和经济效益。     

柴油机排放碳颗粒物的催化燃烧

在热天平装置上考察了柴油机和碳颗粒物燃烧催化剂的活性，讨论了样品制备因素对样品失重的影响，这些因素包括碳颗粒物组成、催化剂栽体、催化剂与碳颗粒物质量比，着重筛选了催化剂的组份，得到了组份催化剂ＣｕＣｌ２－ＫＣｏ－ＮＨ４ＶＯ３其５５０℃焙烧后能使样品的Ｔｍ和Ｔｆ值都降低１８０℃以上，并对催化剂的热稳定性进行了研究。