Sustainable Agriculture in the UK

Most agricultural assessments of global environmental change made to date have not focused explicitly on sustainability issues, and have neglected the considerable impacts of shifting agricultural zones, alterations in commercial fertiliser and pesticide use, and changes in the demand for water resources. The current crisis in agriculture, with its economic, political, social and ecological dimensions, has arisen because of the pursuit of a productivity technology/policy model. This broad policy of agricultural ‘modernisation’ and development through the application of agricultural science and technology has shaped the direction of technological change in agriculture and the evolution of a complex agro-industrial food system.¹ This paper focuses on England’s Rural Development Programme² as it contributes to sustainable agriculture alongside the control of pollution.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

中国农业生态效率测度与驱动因素

为适应我国进入高质量发展阶段,实现农业资源的高效率利用,本文以中国30个省、直辖市、自治区（不包括西藏、香港、澳门和台湾）的2003~2017年度面板数据,运用考虑生态非期望产出和期望产出两阶段网络EBM模型,构建资源环境投入—环境治理两阶段模型,测度各省（直辖市、自治区）的农业生态效率,并结合Malmquist指数进行动态分析.以测度的农业生态效率为被解释变量,在考虑农业劳动力素质的门限效应下对其驱动因素进行分析.结果显示：2007年以前中国各地区农业生态效率,呈西部到东部逐渐收敛趋势.2007年以后,呈东西部高,中部塌陷,东西部与中部地区发展失衡.农业劳动力素质存在门限效应,门限值为1012.62.当门限变量值≥1012.62时,农作物种植结构对农业生态效率的影响存在促进作用;反之,则有抑制作用.财政支农水平对提高农业生态效率有正向影响,农用机械投入强度、农业生态环境防护投资额对提高农业生态效率有负面影响.     

北方农牧交错带干旱脆弱性时空格局演变

干旱脆弱性研究为北方农牧交错带人地系统的“整合”研究提供了新思路与分析框架。论文运用VSD脆弱性评估框架,将系统脆弱性分解为暴露度、敏感性、适应能力3个维度,以北方农牧交错带112个县域为研究单元,以2000、2008、2015年社会经济统计数据、气象数据、遥感影像数据为研究基础,运用模糊层次分析、空间热点探测分析和变异系数分析等方法,对各县域干旱脆弱性时空演变特征进行分析与总结。研究结论：1）研究区干旱脆弱性指数逐步降低,整体呈现东北地区低脆弱、西南地区高脆弱的空间格局。2）研究区暴露度指数先上升、后下降,且由东北向西南逐渐增高;敏感性指数先下降、后上升,呈现空间碎片化特征;适应能力指数逐步提高,呈现中部高度适应、东部中度适应、西部低度适应的格局。3）研究区干旱脆弱性差异度先增大、后减小,且呈现西、南部差异度大,东、北部差异度小的格局。4）研究区干旱脆弱性冷、热点个数增加明显,2000—2008年冷热点个数增加最明显;空间上,热点先由中部向西部蔓延,冷点由东部边界区向西部、南部扩展,形成了东部边界冷点集聚带和中、西部热点集聚区。     

水资源危机与节水农业

论述了当今世界水资源危机的现状，引起水资源危机的主要原因；认为发展节水农业是缓解水资源危机的重要举措，并概述了节水农业的技术现状和节水农业今后的发展趋势．     

赤红壤水土流失区发展持续农业的存在问题及对策

本文以广东省赤红壤水土流失区为例，综合分析了赤红壤水土流失区发展持续农业的存在问题，在此基础上提出了该区发展持续农业的途径与对策．认为：水土流失区发展持续农业存在的突出问题主要是土壤退化；发展持续农业的根本途径在于走生态农业的道路，建立立体农业生态系统；侵蚀土壤上重建森林植被群落首先要建立先锋群落，然后建立稳定的南亚热带森林植被群落。     

农业开发的战略环境评价初探

阐述了在农业开发中实施战略环境评价(strategicenvironmentalassessment,SEA)的必要性。根据农业开发SEA的介入时机,将其划分为预测性SEA、监控性SEA和回顾性SEA3种类型。初步探讨了农业开发SEA的基本内容,即评价对象、评价原则、评价指标体系集和评价方法,并提出了农业开发SEA的基本工作程序。     

中国西北地区生态农业发展模式

本文以西北地区五个生态农业试点县为例，通过对这一地区的生态环境、社会经济基本情况与特点及生态农业建设情况的研究，探讨了在这一地区发展生态农业的模式与前景。     

Agricultural adaptation to climate change in China

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＡｄａｐｔａｔｉｏｎｒｅｆｅｒｓｔｏｅｆｆｏｒｔｓｔｏｒｅｄｕｃｅｓｙｓｔｅｍ’ｓｖｕｌｎｅｒａｂｉｌｉｔｉｅｓｔｏｃｌｉｍａｔｅ.Ａｍｏｎｇｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｆｒｅｑｕｅｎｔｌｙｃｉｔｅｄｈｕｍａｎｓｙｓｔｅｍｓｌｉｋｅｌｙｔｏｂｅａｆｆｅｃｔｅｄｂｙｃｌｉｍａｔｉｃｃｈａｎｇｅｉｓａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ.Ｉｔｉｓｅｓｐｅｃｉａｌｌｙｓｅｎｓｉｔｉｖｅｔｏｔｈｅｃｏｎｓｅｑｕｅｎｃｅｓｏｆｇｌｏｂａｌｗａｒｍｉｎｇａｓｉｔｒｅｌｉｅｓｈｅａｖｉｌｙｏｎｔｈｅｗｅａｔｈｅｒａｎ…     

江苏省沿江高沙土地区种植业可持续发展的技术途径研究

根据多年的生产实践经验和定位试验结果，提出了江苏省沿江高沙土地区多熟种植制、合理轮耕制、用养结合的培肥制和高产高效的栽培制相结合的种植业可持续发展的一体化技术体系，研究结果对我国中低产土壤地区种植业的持续发展具有重要意义。     

Losses of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural and forest areas in Finland during the 1980s and 1990s

The temporal changes and spatial variability of phosphorus andnitrogen losses and concentrations in Finland during the period1981–1997 were studied in 15 small agricultural and forestedcatchments. In addition, four coastal river basins with highagricultural land use located in southern Finland were includedin the study in order to assess the representativeness ofagricultural loss estimates from small agricultural catchments.The mean annual loss specific for agricultural land was estimatedto be on average 110 kg km^-2 a^-1 for total phosphorusand 1500 kg km^-2 a^-1 for total nitrogen. The resultsfrom small agricultural catchments were in agreement with thecorresponding loss estimates from rivers, with an average of137 kg km^-2 a^-1 for total phosphorus and 1800 kg km^-2a^-1 for total nitrogen. The results from the studiedagricultural catchments and rivers during the period 1981–1997suggest that weather-driven fluctuation in discharge was usuallythe main reason for changes in nutrient losses, and little or noimpact of changes in agricultural production or managementpractises can be observed. In forested areas the total phosphorusloss (average 9 kg km^-2 a^-1) and total nitrogen loss(average 250 kg km^-2 a^-1) were lower than inagricultural areas. In forested catchments the impact of forestryoperations, such as clear-cutting and fertilization, and theimpact of atmospheric nitrogen deposition can be seen in changesin nutrient losses.