Air concentrations of currently used herbicides and legacy compounds in the Canadian prairies,subarctic, and arctic

Passive air samplers were installed in the summers of 2005 and 2007 for 90 days at four locations in the agricultural region of the Canadian Prairies and at five locations in the Canadian Subarctic and Arctic. The presence and masses of ten currently used herbicides and three legacy compounds in the polyurethane foam disks were quantified. Herbicides 2,4-D, bromoxynil and MCPA were detected at all locations in the Canadian Prairies and in both years because these herbicides are widely applied to control broadleaf weeds in cereal crops that are an integral part of Prairie agricultural production systems. MCPA was also detected at one location in the Arctic in 2007. The detection of the other seven herbicides in the 2 years combined ranged from no detections (atrazine only) to five detections for the relatively volatile herbicides trifluralin and triallate. Triallate was the only other herbicide detected in the Arctic (2005). Legacy compounds were either not detected (alachlor) or at levels near their detection level (γ-HCH and α-HCH). γ-HCH and α-HCH were more frequently detected in 2005 than in 2007 indicating that their concentrations in Canadian air have decreased over time. γ-HCH, widely used as an insecticide in Prairie oilseed production until 2002, was detected at larger concentrations in the Canadian Prairies than in the Subarctic and Arctic. α-HCH, a manufacturing by-product in technical HCH prior to 1971 in Canada, was not detected in the Canadian Prairies but was at detectable levels in the Subarctic and Arctic as the Arctic Ocean is reported to be a major source of α-HCH to the atmosphere. We conclude that some of the most widely used herbicides in Canadian agriculture today are commonly present in the air in regions where they are applied and that a portion of these herbicides may be traveling as parent molecules to the Canadian Arctic. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first evidence of the presence of MCPA and triallate in Arctic air samples, perhaps because previous research has seldomly monitored for currently used herbicides in this region.     

低碳经济下的秦皇岛休闲农业发展研究

秦皇岛市作为休闲度假旅游胜地,在实施＂旅游立市＂发展战略中把休闲农业作为一个新的经济增长点,在应对低碳时代的发展要求、发展休闲农业方面做出积极实践。通过分析低碳经济下发展休闲农业的必要性和秦皇岛休闲农业的发展现状,提出秦皇岛休闲农业发展的对策和路径选择。     

Connecting environmental management and farm household livelihoods: The Rural Environment Protection Scheme in Ireland

This paper presents the relationship between an environmental protection scheme, established in Ireland in 1994 under EU Regulation No. 2078/92, and the livelihoods of Irish farm households. It explores this relationship within the framework of the new policy environment for EU agriculture and rural areas as set out in Agenda 2000. At the centre of this new policy environment is the European model for agriculture, embodying the concept of multifunctionality, which recognizes the pivotal position of an evolving agricultural sector in enhancing the viability of rural areas through broadening the assets of farm families. Research undertaken with farm households in the west of Ireland indicates a positive relationship between the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme and the economic and natural assets upon which they build their livelihoods. The case of a small-scale dairy farm household is presented, showing clearly the positive impact of the scheme, while also highlighting the vulnerability of these improvements. A major challenge facing policy-makers is the extent to which acceptable levels of income and an enhanced natural environment on such farms can be sustained. The position of advisory and research institutions in strengthening human capacities on farms is highlighted and their enhanced role is suggested in order to give meaning to multifunctional and sustainable agriculture within the context of rural area viability. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Farming the battlefield: the meanings of war, cattle and soil in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Prior to 1996 and the Congolese wars, exploitative land policies pushed farmers in the eastern highlands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into a vulnerable position, with cattle manure sustaining intensive cultivation. This exposed households to a complete breakdown in mixed farming as cattle became targets of war. This study of villages in South Kivu offers an inside understanding of continuity and change in farming practices in a region where there are no easy solutions, and it assesses how the province lost its present and where farmers look when they glance to the future. For farmers, who hold a broad view of soil fertility, the casualties of war were not only people and cattle but also the land itself, which has enduring scars. Perceiving a rupture in tradition, South Kivu farmers are searching desperately for new livelihoods that are built on education instead of livestock, setting aside old ethnic signifiers to seek a future beyond protracted conflict.     

19种动植物粗提物对锦鲤诱食活性的研究

以16种植物和3种动物提取物作为实验材料,以体长为3—5cm的锦鲤为实验对象,采用触球法进行诱食活性研究,5次重复试验,并利用SPSS软件进行分析。结果表明,大蒜、浒苔、洋葱、西红柿、江蓠、陈皮、橙子、山楂、紫菜提取物和海星、海蜇、牡蛎提取物对锦鲤显示出诱食反应。其中,大蒜P=0.0010.05、浒苔P=0.0020.05、江蓠P=0.0040.05、陈皮P=0.0370.05、海星P=0.0030.05,说明大蒜、浒苔、江蓠、陈皮、海星对锦鲤的诱食反应有显著意义。     

山西太原都市型现代农业主导产业选择分析

都市型现代农业是我国现代农业的重要表现形式.积极发展都市型现代农业,是大城市现代农业发展的战略取向.然而,在都市农业发展的进程中,主导产业具有极其重要的作用.本文简要回顾了以往的主导产业理论与选择基准,运用区位商法与显示性对称比较优势指数法分析了太原市农业结构内部各行业的比较优势.结果表明:农业的优势区域是尖草坪区、清徐县和小店区;林业在迎泽区、杏花岭区和娄烦县的比较优势明显;种植业在杏花岭区、阳曲县、迎泽区等区县比较优势明显;渔业的生产优势区域为娄烦县、晋源区和迎泽区.籍此,结合太原市的资源禀赋、区位条件等优势,积极选择与识别能够带动太原都市农业快速发展的主导产业,并且结合太原农业发展的现实情况,按照观光休闲农业圈、特色种养农业圈、科技示范农业圈及合作辐射农业圈四个圈层进行合理布局,这是新时期该地区进行产业结构调整与优化、制定产业发展政策及区域经济发展战略规划的重要任务.     

农业信息资源可持续开发利用的国际比较及启示

随着全球经济一体化趋势的增强和知识经济时代的来临,农业信息资源对于农业和农村经济的可持续发展起着至关重要的作用,这在发达国家已经得到实践印证.本文分析了发达国家农业信息资源开发的现状、特征和发展趋势,结合美国、欧盟、德国、法国、澳大利亚、日本、韩国、印度等国家和地区的实际情况,比较分析了国外农业信息资源开发的共性经验和个性差异.在此基础上,针对中国农业信息资源开发利用的现状,提出了国外农业信息资源开发利用对中国的重要启示:突出国家在农业信息资源开发的主体地位,鼓励社会力量积极参与农业信息资源的开发,加强农业基础设施的信息化建设和应用水平,注重农业信息资源科研、教育和推广的结合.为了提高中国农业信息资源开发利用的水平,本文给出了以下政策建议:加强农业信息资源开发利用的重视程度,强化农业信息资源开发队伍的建设力度,提高现有农业信息资源的共事程度,增强农业信意资源的社会服务水平.     

阜康市休闲农业资源定量评价初探

休闲农业资源评价是休闲农业规划与设计的基础工作。本文采用层次分析法,构建了包括资源条件、开发条件、旅游条件三方面的休闲农业资源定量评价模型并计算分析相应权重,最后选取同属乌鲁木齐都市圈中间层的呼图壁县、昌吉市和五家渠市进行评价研究。通过分析和计算得出:资源条件因素权重最大为0.7306,其次是开发条件因素为0.1884,最后是旅游条件因素为0.0810;呼图壁县、昌吉市、五家渠市和阜康市休闲农业开发总得分分别为67.8、84.7、78.4、82.4,阜康市居第二位,开发潜力大。阜康市农业资源丰富,交通便捷,区位条件优良,经济和旅游业发展较快,具备发展休闲观光农业的优势。     

The Role of Ethnobotanical Skills and Agricultural Labor in Forest Clearance: Evidence from the Bolivian Amazon

Research on the benefits of local ecological knowledge for conservation lacks empirical data on the pathways through which local knowledge might affect natural resources management. We test whether ethnobotanical skills, a proxy for local ecological knowledge, are associated to the clearance of forest through their interaction with agricultural labor. We collected information from men in a society of gatherers–horticulturalist, the Tsimane’ (Bolivia). Data included a baseline survey, a survey of ethnobotanical skills (n = 190 men), and two surveys on agricultural labor inputs (n = 466 plots). We find a direct effect of ethnobotanical skills in lowering the extent of forest cleared in fallow but not in old-growth forest. We also find that the interaction between ethnobotanical skills and labor invested in shifting cultivation has opposite effects depending on whether the clearing is done in old-growth or fallow forest. We explain the finding in the context of Tsimane’ increasing integration to the market economy.     

Trace metal uptake by tropical vegetables grown on soil amended with urban sewage sludge

Trace metal uptake was measured for tropical and temperate leafy vegetables grown on soil from an urban sewage disposal farm in the UK. Twenty-four leafy vegetables from East Africa and the UK were assessed and the five vegetable types that showed the greatest Cd concentrations were grown on eight soils differing in the severity of contamination, pH and other physico-chemical properties. The range of Cd concentrations in the edible shoots was greater for tropical vegetables than for temperate types. Metal uptake was modelled as a function of (i) total soil metal concentration, (ii) CaCl₂-soluble metal, (iii) soil solution concentration and (iv) the activity of metal ions in soil pore water. Tropical vegetables were not satisfactorily modelled as a single generic ‘green vegetable’, suggesting that more sophisticated approaches to risk assessment may be required to assess hazard from peri-urban agriculture in developing countries.