耕地集约利用影响因素的协整分析

耕地利用的集约度实质上是农户在其所面临的各种经济和制度环境约束条件下,所采取的不同耕种行为的直接结果和体现.本文试借助分析影响农户耕种行为的相关因素来探讨其对耕地集约利用的影响.利用Eviews 6.0统计软件,综合应用协整理论和误差修正模型,以湖北省为例,剖析耕地集约利用与其影响因素的长期均衡关系和短期波动效应.研究表明:在长期,户均农业劳动力人数、农业比较收入和耕地的产权保障对耕地利用的集约度存在正向影响,其增加1个百分点,将导致耕地利用的集约度分别提高0.166、0.430和0.035个百分点;农民家庭人均农业生产支出和农业生产资料价格指数对耕地利用的集约度存在负向影响,其增加1个百分点,将导致耕地利用的集约度分别下降0.004和0.008个百分点.而在短期,各影响因素对耕地利用集约度的作用方向相同而作用力大小不同.户均农业劳动力人数和农业比较收入对耕地集约利用的作用程度在短期与在长期是相似的;但耕地的产权保障和农业生产成本的变化对耕地集约利用的影响却更多体现在长期.因此,立足于稳定产权和降低农业生产成本的农业政策导向更有利于在长期保护耕地,提高耕地资源的配置和利用效率.     

农户从事生态循环农业意愿与行为的决定:市场收益还是政策激励?

发展生态循环农业是我国新时期转变农业发展方式的战略选择,农户是生态循环农业的经营主体和利益相关者,厘清农户参与生态循环农业的根本动机,对于制定有效的生态循环农业推广措施具有重要意义。文章基于湖北省391份农户调查数据,首先,在文献回顾的基础上提出市场收益、政策激励对农户生态循环农业从事意愿与行为影响路径的基本假设,并利用OLS方法分析市场收益和政策激励对农户从事生态循环农业意愿与行为的影响;其次,运用优势分析法评估市场收益类变量和政策激励类变量影响农户意愿与行为过程中的相对重要性;最后,通过交互效应检验市场收益类变量和政策激励类变量间的交互作用。结果表明:收入预期对农户从事生态循环农业的意愿与行为均有直接的积极影响,是促进农户从事生态循环农业的最重要的因素;焚烧秸秆惩罚政策和废弃物资源化补贴政策对农户从事生态循环农业的意愿有积极影响,沼气池建设补贴政策和废弃物资源化补贴政策对农户生态循环农业行为有促进作用;收入预期与废弃物资源化补贴政策在影响农户生态循环农业行为的过程中存在互补效应。本研究认为,市场收益是刺激农户采纳生态循环农业生产模式的首要因素,因此,要着力完善生态农业市场体系,增强生态农产品的市场竞争力,提升农户对生态循环农业的盈利信心;另外,政策激励对于农户采纳生态循环农业具有促进作用,应该做到约束与激励并行,同时注意加强农业政策的科学设计与落实执行。     

Climate Change and Population Growth in Timor Leste: Implications for Food Security

The climate in Timor Leste (East Timor) is predicted to become about 1.5 °C warmer and about 10 % wetter on average by 2050. By the same year, the population is expected to triple from 1 to 2.5–3 million. This article maps the predicted changes in temperature and rainfall and reviews the implications of climate change and population growth on agricultural systems. Improved cultivars of maize, rice, cassava, sweet potato and peanuts with high yield performance have been introduced, but these will need to be augmented in the future with better adapted cultivars and new crops, such as food and fodder legumes and new management practices. The requirements for fertilizers to boost yields and terracing and/or contour hedgerows to prevent soil erosion of steeply sloping terrain are discussed. Contour hedges can also be used for fodder for improved animal production to provide protein to reduce malnutrition.     

Oxidative stress,hematological and biochemical alterations in farmers exposed to pesticides

In this study, a cohort of farmers from the Mateur region in the North of Tunisia, were interviewed and examined for the biochemical effects of pesticides. We studied their haematological profile, lipid parameters, serum markers of nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity. We also evaluated the activities of Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and thiolactonase-paroxonase (PON). Moreover, lipid peroxidation and activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined. The duration of pesticide use and the farmers’ age were considered in the analysis. Our results revealed significant differences in some haematological parameters, in liver and kidney functions, in the lipidic status of the pesticide-exposed group. We also reported an increase in the index of incidence of cardiovascular risk in farmer populations. A significant decrease in AChE, BChE and PON levels was found among farmers. Lipid peroxidation, however, increased. The activities of SOD and CAT were remarkably elevated in farmer populations. There was a significant relation between changes in biological markers, the duration of pesticide use and the farmers’ age. This study indicates that a long-term exposure to pesticides may play an important role in the development of vascular diseases via metabolic disorders of lipoproteins, lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress, inhibition of BChE and decrease in thiolactonase-PON levels.     

Biotechnology is not compatible with sustainable agriculture

Biotechnology increases commercialization of food production, which competes with food for home use. Most people in the world grow their own food, and are more secure without the mediation of the market. To the extent that biotechnology enhances market competitiveness, world food security will decrease. This instability will result in a greater gap between rich and poor, increasing poverty of women and children, less ability and incentive to protect the environment, and greater need for militarization to maintain order. Therefore, biotechnology should be discouraged. An active program to protect and strengthen local food production and to decrease reliance on industrial agriculture should be promoted.     

Sustainable Agriculture: New Paradigms and Old Practices? Increased Production with Management of Organic Inputs in Senegal

Farmers in Sahelian countries are confronted with a variety of soil fertility and management problems. During the last two decades, NGOs have worked with farmers and research institutions to develop and test practices that will increase food production, while at the same time enhance the natural resource base.Since 1987, The Rodale Institute (RI) has worked closely with farmers' associations and government institutions to promote regenerative agriculture-farming systems that prioritize the use of local resources while improving them as they are used to grow food, using agro-ecological methods. The Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute has collaborated in this program as a partner of RI. The Senegal Regenerative Agriculture Resource Center model has been applied as a new and viable approach that builds on traditional knowledge and farmer-to-farmer exchange.Research results on soil conservation and improvement have shown that fields spread with amended animal manure or compost yield greater harvests than fields farmed with traditional methods.     

More Productivity with Fewer External Inputs: Central American Case Studies of Agroecological Development and their Broader Implications

A study of the impact of two agroecological development programs in central America was conducted in 1994, five years and fifteen years after the programmes had ended. Yields of maize and beans being achieved by those farmers involved in each program were, on the average, more than seven times the yields being achieved at the time of program initiation. Increases in yields and incomes were achieved through the use of a large number of innovations, involving especially soil retention measures, purchased organic matter, intercropped green manure/cover crops, natural pest control, crop diversification and crop rotations. Use of chemical fertilizer was reduced, herbicides avoided almost entirely, and several substitutes for pesticides are now used. These technologies, plus more recent innovations such as microscale water harvesting and precision planting, should enable small farmers around the world to increase productivity enough that the world can avoid major hunger over the next 30 years, without increasing substantially, if at all, the world's use of chemical inputs.     

Profitability of in-plant modifications in pollution control

This case study was developed in view of setting up a demonstration project on “revealing the profitability of clean technology in small-scale electroplating unit”. The research was conducted in a small-scale electroplating shop located in Bangkok. A set of simple in-plant control measures such as dragout recovery, spray rinsing technique and rinse water agitation were implemented. Quantitative data, obtained from the monitoring of wastewater before and after process modifications, have indicated a substantial reduction both in quantity and strength of wastewater generated. Water consumption was reduced by approx. 35% of total rinsing water, which is 19% of total process water consumption. Average metal concentrations in wastewater was reduced 73% for Cr-, 71% for Ni- and 54% for Cu-plating rinse water.     

Traditional Land-Use Systems and Patterns of Forest Fragmentation in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico

The influence of slash-and-burn agriculture and tree extraction on the spatial and temporal pattern of forest fragmentation in two municipalities in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico was analyzed. The data series were derived from two subsets of satellite images taken in 1974 and 1996. The analysis was based on area, edge, shape, core area, and neighbor indices. During the 22 years, the dense forest decreased by 8.9%/yr in Huistán and by 8.6%/yr in Chanal, while open/disturbed forest, secondary vegetation, and developed area increased in both municipalities. The total number of fragments increased by 1.4%/yr and 2.3%/yr in Huistán and Chanal, respectively. Dense forest showed the highest increase in the number of fragments (6%/yr in Huistán and 12%/yr in Chanal), while edge length, core area, and number of dense forest core areas decreased. The larger fragments of dense forest present in 1974 were divided into smaller fragments in 1996; at the same time, they experienced a process of degradation toward open/disturbed forest and secondary vegetation. Two different fragmentation patterns could be distinguished based on agricultural or forestry activities. Forest fragmentation did not occur as a continuous process; the pattern and degree of fragmentation were functions of land tenure, environmental conditions, and productive activities. The prevalence of rather poor soil conditions, small-holdings, growing human population densities, increasing poverty, and the absence of alternative economic options will maintain a high rate of deforestation and forest fragmentation in the studied region.     

Decision-making for fire use among farmers in savannas: an exploratory study in the Distrito Federal, central Brazil

Today, fire in the Braziliancerrado(savanna) is predominantly caused by farmers. They use fire during the dry season to promote fresh grass regrowth in pastures for their cattle and to clear areas of planting ready for cultivation in the wet season. This study researched fire use by farmers in thecerradoof the Distrito Federal, central Brazil, in order to investigate what influences their fire management decision-making. The results show that the two main factors limiting the choice of feasible options for farmers to meet their objectives are income and time. However, perceptions also play a major role in the decision-making process, and for many farmers this alone determines whether fire is used. Various fire practices involved with timing, frequency and size, as well as precautions taken before and during the burn, and the factors influencing these decisions are presented. This study shows that it is vital to understand factors determining fire use if effective fire management plans and policies are to be developed.1998 Academic Press