Ethical issues concerning potential global climate change on food production

Burning fossil fuel in the North American continent contributes more to the CO₂ global warming problem than in any other continent. The resulting climate changes are expected to alter food production. The overall changes in temperature, moisture, carbon dioxide, insect pests, plant pathogens, and weeds associated with global warming are projected to reduce food production in North America. However, in Africa, the projected slight rise in rainfall is encouraging, especially since Africa already suffers from severe shortages of rainfall. For all regions, a reduction in fossil fuel burning is vital. Adoption of sound ecological resource management, especially soil and water conservation and the prevention of deforestation, is important. Together, these steps will benefit agriculture, the environment, farmers, and society as a whole.     

Process hazards review applied to the use of anhydrous ammonia in agriculture: an example of chemical process safety for small business

Process hazards review (PHR) techniques have generally been applied by large, sophisticated companies in the nuclear, aerospace, and chemical process industries. There remains, however, a large population of smaller distributors and consumers of hazardous materials which could benefit equally from the application of PHR. These consumers unfortunately are generally less sophisticated and individually lack the necessary resources required to apply such state-of-the-art safety techniques.

Where common processes can be identified, it is possible to conduct a more generic PHR that will provide a sound technical basis for recognizing and preventing the development of hazards wherever these processes are used. Some facility-specific issues will always need to be considered, but the existence of the generic PHR should make the conduct of a PHR by each facility considerably easier and less costly.

Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) contracted with DNV Technica Inc. to lead a hazard and operability study (HAZOP) of agricultural handling of anhydrous ammonia, from the receipt of ammonia at the retail distribution centre to the application of the ammonia by farmers to the fields. The multidisciplinary HAZOP team consisted of representatives from NIOSH, an agricultural chemical trade association, an ammonia producer, state ammonia facility inspectors, a retail distributor, and an equipment manufacturer. Several participants were part-time farmers with ammonia application experience.

Some specific aspects of applying the HAZOP technique in the context of this study, the findings obtained, and the plans to disseminate the important safety information developed during the course of the PHR are discussed. Finally, it is suggested that this approach could prove to be a useful addition to the product stewardship activities of chemical producers.     

安徽沿江地下水资源的开发与保护

本文对安徽沿江地下水资源的开发利用与保护进行了论述;把地下水分为地下热水、饮用矿泉水和一般地下水.该文进一步展示了开发利用地下水有利于开发性农业的发展,同时提出了保护地下水资源的对策.     

Uncertainty in Agricultural CH<Subscript>4</Subscript> AND N<Subscript>2</Subscript>O Emissions from Finland – Possibilities to Increase Accuracy in Emission Estimates

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol under it, industrial countries have to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions annually, and assess the uncertainties in these estimates. In Finland, agricultural methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N_2O) emissions represent 7% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and globally the share is much higher. Agriculture is one of the most uncertain emission categories (representing over 20% of greenhouse gas inventory uncertainty in Finland), due to both high natural variability of the emission sources and poor knowledge of the emission-generating processes. In this paper, we present an uncertainty estimate of agricultural CH₄ and N₂O emissions from Finland in 2002. Uncertainties were estimated based on measurement data, literature and expert judgement, and total uncertainty in agriculture was calculated using Monte Carlo simulation. According to the calculations, agricultural CH₄ and N₂O emissions from Finland were 3.7 to 7.8 Tg carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalents, 5.4 Tg being the mean value.Estimates of CH₄ emissions are more reliable than those of N₂O. N₂O from agricultural soils was the most uncertain emission category, and the uncertainty was not reduced by using available national measurement data of N₂O fluxes. Sensitivity study revealed that the uncertainty in total agricultural inventory could be 7% points lower, if more accurate emission estimation methods were used, including 1) improved data collection in area estimates of organic soils, 2) climate-specific methods for N₂O from agricultural soils as already presented in literature, and 3) more detailed CH₄ estimation methods for enteric fermentation which can be achieved by investigating national circumstances and digestible systems of animals in more detail.     

SB-A型系列造纸白水回收塔应用研究

介绍SB -A型系列造纸白水回收塔的结构、性能及适用的工艺条件 ,实践表明 ,SB -A型系列造纸白水回收塔回收浆料效率高 ,效益显著     

钛白生产副产硫酸亚铁的综合利用

对钛白粉生产中的副产物硫酸亚铁进行综合利用 ,以微生物为催化剂 ,在常温常压下用空气为氧化剂氧化硫酸亚铁 ,经水解、聚合反应生成聚合铁。制得的聚合铁酸度低 ,盐基度高 ,对低温低浊水有独特的处理效果     

开发有机食品促进我省农业可持续发展

该文通过分析我省发展有机食品的有利及不利因素，提出保证我省有机食品健康发展的对策。     

To enhance the reproduction of Phanerochaete chrysosporium by adding natural lixiviums in liquid medium

Great promotion to the reproduction of white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporlum by adding natural lixiviums such as from wood, maize core and potato in liquid medium was found in this research. Incubated in the liquid medium contained 10 mg/L glucose as carbon source with natural lixiviums for three days, the production of myeelium pellet reaches more than 80 g/L, which is 5 times more than that of without natural lixiviums. Incubated in the liquid medium contained 5 mg/L glucose as carbon source with natural lixiviums for three days, the production of myeelium pellet can reach 69.5 g/L, while the production in the medium without natural lixiviums is very low. When the liquid medium contained 1-20 g/L glucose as carbon source, the production of myeelium pellet in 3 d can only reach 12.5 g/L to 14.5 g/L. The fungus in the medium with potato lixiviums are easily contaminated by other microorganisms and in the medium with maize core lixiviums are easily bulking, while in the medium with wood lixiviums are neither easily contaminated nor bulking. Medium with wood lixiviums can produce more pellet than other medium, endure contamination and keep better sedimentation capacity. So that, wood lixivium is borer additive to the culture of white rot fungi in liquid medium. Addition of the mixture of wood, maize core and potato lixiviums is of advantage to the productian of mycelium pellet. The difference of the production in the medium with different amount of wood lixiviums showed little in the first 3 d, while it esnanded after 3 d. Wood lixiviums stimulate the growth of P. chrysosporium instead of supply organies which fungi need.     

河西走廊灌溉农业发展的水资源承载能力分析

论文采用模糊综合评判方法,对河西走廊灌溉农业发展的水资源承载能力进行了分析,建立了评价的数学模型。研究表明,该区水资源开发利用已近于其饱和容量,发展节水灌溉,充分提高水的利用效率,是保障和发展干旱区农业的根本出路。     

农药与未来农业的发展

评述现代农业生产中使用农药所带来的负面效果，对农作物，畜禽，人体及其他方面所造成的危害，阐明农业生产中减少农药用量，走持续发展道路的现实性和必要性。