Assessment of land degradation and its impact on crop production in the Dry Zone of Myanmar

Land degradation in terms of soil degradation is a major environmental issue posing threat to sustainable livelihood in the semi-arid region of Central Myanmar. However, the studies on soil degradation status and its impacts in this region are very scanty. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of land degradation on crop production both in terms of area and yield in the Dry Zone of Myanmar. Remote sensing and geographic information system-based modelling was utilized to assess and map soil erosion rates. Household survey was conducted to understand the causes of land degradation and its impacts on crop productivity and livelihoods. It has been found out that the current rate of soil erosion ranged from 0 to 114 t ha^–1 yr^–1, and that the average rate of soil erosion increased from 14.2 to 54.6 t ha^–1 yr^–1 over a period from 2000 to 2012. The major types of land degradation were physical and chemical soil degradation. Farmers identified topographic condition, soil types, improper crop management practices and climatic factors as the main causes of soil erosion. The observed crop yields of monsoon rice, groundnut, sesame and cotton in the highly degraded area were 3–12 times lower compared with the yields of these crops grown in less degraded area. Livelihoods of the farmers in the high-degraded area were affected by crop yield reduction, increased cultivation cost and increased uncultivable land area. The impact of land degradation on crop production was dependent on the severity of degradation. This suggests that advanced conservation measures are immediately required and the supportive policy strategies need to be implemented to educate farmers and to strengthen extension services for sustainable land management in the Dry Zone of Myanmar.     

不同轮作制度下施肥对冬小麦田间杂草群落及小麦生长的影响

为探讨不同轮作制度下长期施肥对冬小麦Triticum aestivum L.田间杂草及小麦生长的影响,我们在三个长期田间肥效试验定位点,研究3种轮作制度下(冬小麦-大豆Glycine max (L.) Merr.(WS)、冬小麦-夏玉米Zea Mays L.(WM)、冬小麦-中稻Oryza sativa(WR))长期不同施肥模式对冬小麦田间杂草群落及小麦生长的影响.研究表明,在3种轮作制度下,平衡施加N、P、K肥或者NPK肥配施有机肥均可以显著降低冬小麦田杂草密度、地上生物量和田间光照透过率,促进冬小麦生长,并提高冬小麦产量和地上生物量;而且在冬小麦-大豆轮作和冬小麦-中稻轮作的冬小麦田中平衡施加N、P和K肥可以在控制杂草密度的同时保持一个较均一的杂草群落.3种轮作制度下各指标相对值比较发现,3种轮作制度改变施肥对冬小麦田间光照透过率影响程度的顺序与3种轮作制度改变冬小麦田中施肥对杂草密度和地上生物量影响程度的顺序相同;另外,在冬小麦-大豆轮作和冬小麦-中稻轮作制度下杂草密度与冬小麦田间光照透过率之间的相关系数也很高(R≥0.7906),说明施肥对冬小麦田间光照透过率的改变可能是施肥影响冬小麦田间杂草群落的主要途径之一.轮作制度改变冬小麦田中施肥对优势杂草种类数和杂草生物多样性影响的程度差别不大,这可能是因为轮作改变施肥对田间杂草的影响并没有达到引起田间杂草物种消亡的程度.结果表明,在3种轮作制度中施肥对冬小麦田间杂草群落及小麦生长的影响虽有差异,但都显示出施肥在抑制田间杂草发生、维持杂草生物多样性和提高作物产量上的作用.     

施肥对不同肥力水平春玉米农田土壤有机碳及其组分的影响

选取辽河灌区不同肥力水平春玉米(Zea mays ssp. mays L.)农田土壤为研究对象,通过连续3年田间定位试验研究施肥对不同层次土壤有机碳组分(TOC、ASOC、LFOC、DOC和MBC)的影响,分析土壤有机碳组分的产量效应.结果表明,连续种植春玉米能够显著增加低产田土壤w(TOC),增加各产田土壤w(ASOC)和w(MBC),降低各产田土壤w(LFOC),土壤w(DOC)变化较小.施肥使土壤w(TOC)增加了-13.41%~7.54%,平均增加了0.16%;使高产田表层(0~10 cm)土壤w(TOC)显著增加,低产田犁底层(20~40 cm)土壤w(TOC)显著降低.施肥使土壤w(ASOC)增加了-13.98%~72.22%,平均增加了15.82%;使低产田犁底层和高产田耕层(10~20 cm)土壤w(ASOC)显著增加,中产田耕层土壤w(ASOC)显著降低.施肥使土壤w(LFOC)增加了-42.60%~168.57%,平均增加了48.83%;使中产田表层和犁底层、高产田表层和耕层土壤w(LFOC)显著增加,高产田犁底层土壤 w(LFOC)显著降低.施肥使土壤 w(DOC)增加了-42.74%~51.29%,平均增加了9.36%;使中产田耕层和犁底层、高产田表层和耕层土壤 w(DOC)显著增加,低产田耕层土壤 w(DOC)显著降低.施肥使土壤 w(MBC)增加了-1.16%~19.97%,平均增加了9.32%,除中产田耕层土壤之外其他土层土壤w(MBC)均有所增加.施肥主要提高土壤ASOC和LFOC含量,促进土壤DOC的变化.施肥显著增加低产田土壤有机碳组分含量,促进中产田土壤有机碳组分变化,增加高产田土壤有机碳耗损.施肥主要增加表层(0~10 cm)土壤有机碳组分含量,耗损犁底层(20~40 cm)土壤有机碳,调解耕层(10~20 cm)土壤活性有机碳组分.施肥对微生物可利用性及结构不同的活性有机碳组分影响不同;高、中、低产田因其土壤理化性状及有机碳本底值不同,对施肥的响应存在差异.施肥总体增加土壤活性有机碳各组分含量,同时通过改变微生物及玉米根系活力影响活性有机碳含量及组分.土壤中有机碳组分与产量的回归方程为(产量)=-4665.61-0.008×w(SOC)-0.421×w (ASOC)-0.777×w (LFOC)+5.370×w (DOC)+33.408×w (MBC).ASOC和MBC具有土壤肥力指示作用,施肥主要通过调控土壤ASOC提高玉米产量.     

加拿大最佳管理措施流域评价项目评述

可持续农业的目的是在保持良好环境质量的同时获得较高的农业生产率。最佳管理措施(BMPs)在世界范围内已得到广泛应用,以减少农业污染物对水环境的影响。自2004年以来,加拿大农业部实施了最佳管理措施流域评价(WEBs)项目,在全国各地选择了有代表性的9个小流域,对BMPs的环境和经济效益进行评价。笔者对过去几年来WEBs项目的进展、研究方法及主要成果进行简要的回顾,并对在中国开展类似项目的必要性和启示进行了探讨。     

黄土高原水蚀风蚀交错区施肥对黑麦草农田土壤水溶性有机碳、氮的影响

为阐明施肥通过增加植物同化能力,是否可影响土壤可溶性有机碳(DOC)、氮(DON)为目的,采用田间试验,研究了施肥对黄土高原水蚀风蚀交错区黑麦草生长农田DOC及DON含量及累积量的影响。结果表明,不论施氮或施磷,均能提高黑麦草冠层和根系生物量,且施氮水平与黑麦草冠层和根系生物量之间均呈极显著正相关关系。施磷对土壤DOC含量影响相对较小;土壤DOC含量随施氮水平增加呈现减少趋势,0~20 cm土层土壤DOC含量下降幅度最高达25.9%;施氮后不同土层土壤DON含量及累积量增加,0~100 cm土层DON累积量与施氮量呈显著正相关关系;单施磷时0~60 cm土层土壤DON含量较不施肥对照减少,但差异不显著。以上结果表明,在黄土高原水蚀风蚀交错区,高量无机氮肥投入可增加该区植物产量及土壤DON,但不利于土壤DOC累积,说明氮肥投入对改善该地区土壤供氮能力有积极意义。     

Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loans and Landowner Investments in Agricultural Best Management Practices in Iowa1

Arbuckle, Jr., J. Gordon, 2012. Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loans and Landowner Investments in Agricultural Best Management Practices in Iowa. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1‐9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00688.x Abstract: Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan programs for water quality have traditionally funded infrastructure projects at the community, municipality, or state level. They are increasingly being used to support individual landowner adoption of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) for nonpoint source pollution abatement. In 2005, the Iowa CWSRF initiated the Local Water Protection Program (LWPP) to increase the scope, scale, and rate of agricultural BMP establishment. This research examines the effectiveness of that program through a comparison of survey data from LWPP participants and state cost‐share recipients who were eligible for loans, but did not take them. Loan recipients’ assessments of the program were overwhelmingly positive, with near‐universal satisfaction with both the loan product and process. Results of statistical analyses indicate that loan recipients invested substantially more in conservation than nonrecipients. Evidence suggests that by helping program participants to overcome financial constraints, loans are facilitating larger and accelerated investments in conservation. Although findings indicate that conservation loans can play an important role in funding conservation, loan recipients also still depend on cost‐share. Loans are not necessarily a substitute for traditional forms of conservation funding, but rather another tool that landowners and conservation professionals can employ to facilitate investments in BMPs.     

Transformative climate change adaptation: bridging existing approaches with post-foundational insights on justice

ABSTRACT

Climate adaptation is a complex policy domain, spanning multiple sectors, scales and actors, and wherein those most at risk have the least power. The influence of linear positivist models of science uptake are proving ineffective in a world with increasingly concentrated wealth and power, institutional barriers, and rapidly growing risks facing the many. A plurality of approaches is needed to better examine those dynamics of climate adaptation which are often invisible in models of science uptake – equity, the value of contestation, path dependency – and to consider how to empower communities to find solutions. In this conceptual paper, we argue that bridging existing positivist and interpretivist methods with insights from post-foundational theory so as to underpin pluralism and re-orient ethical principles of justice, strengthens the capacity of social research to support transformative climate adaptation. Principles are proposed to facilitate such bridging.     

Sustainable development and participatory practices in community forestry: the case of FUNDECOR in Costa Rica

This paper studies the emergence of one particular ‘new’ environmental policy instrument: disclosure of emission and pollution data. Disclosure is part of a relatively new sub‐set of regulatory measures, based on monitoring, transparency, citizen‐empowerment and accountability. It originated in the United States but has recently attracted international attention. The attractiveness of disclosure is obvious; it promises environmental improvement combined with strengthened environmental democracy and community empowerment. By analysing the experiences in the US, and the developments in the Netherlands, this paper seeks to assess the functioning and effectiveness of disclosure. The available empirical evidence suggests that disclosure has a positive impact on the environmental performance of industrial facilities as well as a democratising effect. It is argued that Dutch policy makers wrongfully assume that disclosure cannot work in the Netherlands. The consequence is that citizens are provided with little specific information that cannot be used to put pressure on polluters.     

Impacts of climate change and CO2 increase on agricultural production and adaptation options for Southern Québec, Canada

This study involves the assessment of the potential impacts of greenhouse gas climate change and changing ambient carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels on crop yields in Quebec, Canada. The methodology involves coupling the transient diagnostics of two Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Models, namely the Canadian CGCM1 and the British HadCM3, to the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) 3.5 crop models to simulate current (1961–1990) and future (2040–2069) crop yields and changes. This is done for four different crop species, namely spring wheat, maize, soybean, and potato, and for seven agricultural regions of Southern Quebec. The results of this study focus on the main causative factors influencing crop yields, namely the direct CO₂ fertilization effect, the influence of the increase in growing season temperature, including optimal thermal conditions and acceleration in crop maturation, soil moisture availability, as influenced by precipitation and evapotranspiration, and nitrogen uptake by crops. Our results show that crop yield changes may vary according to climate scenario, crop species, and agricultural region. Consistent with other similar research, it would seem that these multiple causative factors very often seem to cancel each other out and dilute the impacts of climate change on crop yields.