Impacts of the Rising Opportunity Cost of Farm Labor on Agricultural Land Use Structure: Theory and Empirical Evidences

Abstract

Nowadays the rising of opportunity cost of farm labor comes to the forefront of attention in China. In order to understand its impact on agricultural land-use structure, a theoretical framework of household economics is formulated drawn on Low’s model. Under the theoretical framework, the impact of the rising opportunity cost of on-farm on cropping structure is deduced in theory. And then, using statistic and survey data, taking mountain area of southern Ningxia as an example, the theoretical assumes are verified. The results show that the rise of opportunity cost of farm labor leads to less diversified cropping structure.     

农用地土壤-作物系统对畜禽粪便养分消纳能力的评价

从土壤对养分消纳能力和作物养分需求角度出发,利用空间分析和地统计学方法,以北京市大兴区为例,进行了以地块为单元的农用地土壤-作物系统对畜禽粪便养分消纳能力评价.结果表明,大兴区农用地土壤-作物系统对畜禽粪便养分消纳能力整体一般,81.65%的农用地处于中下水平.除了因为大兴区的土壤保肥吸收能力整体不强外,还与大兴区的种植结构与种植面积有关,特别是高肥力的耕地与设施农业用地占地比例较小.     

Genetic Engineering in Agriculture: Who Stands to Benefit?

The use of genetic engineering inagriculture has been the source of much debate. Todate, arguments have focused most strongly on thepotential human health risks, the flow of geneticmaterial to related species, and ecologicalconsequences. Little attention appears to have beengiven to a more fundamental concern, namely, who willbe the beneficiaries of this technology? Given the prevalence of chronic hunger and thestark economics of farming, it is arguable thatfarmers and the hungry should be the mainbeneficiaries of agricultural research. However, theapplication of genetic engineering appears unlikely tobenefit either of these two groups. This technology islargely controlled by the private sector, and itscontinued development hinges on its profitability.Thus, the only likely beneficiaries of the applicationof genetic engineering in agriculture are companieswith the capacity to use it.     

农田生态系统管理与非点源污染控制

随着化肥和农药大量使用,农业非点源污染已经成为全球水污染的主要来源．不同农田管理措施,如免耕、少耕、传统耕作方式,化肥和农药的使用量、使用方式以及使用季节,灌溉的不同方式,如沟灌、淹灌和喷灌等与农业非点源污染形成之间均有密切的关系,通过农田景观设计来控制非点源污染,可望在控制农业非点源污染方面起到指导作用．     

退耕还林还草对土地利用变化影响程度研究——以延安生态建设示范区为例

文章在分析延安生态建设示范区2000-2003年间各土地利用类型的数量变化和空间特征的基础上,引入退耕指数、退耕影响系数等指标研究退耕还林草对示范区土地利用结构变化的影响。结果显示,示范区已退耕坡耕地36.07%,平均每年退耕12.02%,全区的退耕影响系数高达4.76,该结果表明大规模的退耕还林草活动对区域土地利用变化的影响很大,它推动了土地利用结构的优化。分乡镇的研究显示,退耕对示范区各乡镇土地利用变化的影响存在一定的差异,除2个乡镇的退耕影响系数远远低于全区平均水平外,其他7个乡镇都高于全区平均水平。     

Performance of a water hyacinth （Eichhornia crassipes） system in the treatment of wastewater from a duck farm and the effects of using water hyacinth as duck feed

Nowadays, intensive breeding of poultry and livestock of large scale has made the treatment of its waste and wastewater an urgent environmental issue, which motivated this study. A wetland of 688 m2 was constructed on an egg duck farm, and water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) was chosen as an aquatic plant for the wetland and used as food for duck production. The objectives of this study were to test the role of water hyacinth in purifying nutrient-rich wastewater and its effects on the ducks’ feed intake, egg laying performance and egg quality. This paper shows that the constructed wetland removed as much as 64.44% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), 21.78% of total nitrogen (TN) and 23.02% of total phosphorus (TP). Both dissolved oxygen (DO) and the transparency of the wastewater were remarkably improved, with its transparency 2.5 times higher than that of the untreated wastewater. After the ducks were fed with water hyacinth, the average daily feed intake and the egg-laying ratio in the test group were 5.86% and 9.79% higher, respectively, than in the control group; the di erences were both significant at the 0.01 probability level. The egg weight in the test group was 2.36% higher than in the control group (P < 0.05), but the feed conversion ratios were almost the same. The eggshell thickness and strength were among the egg qualities significantly increased in ducks fed with water hyacinth.We concluded that a water hyacinth system was e ective for purifying wastewater from an intensive duck farm during the water hyacinth growing season, as harvested water hyacinth had an excellent performance as duck feed. We also discussed the limitations of the experiment.     

快腐剂对畜禽粪便堆肥过程中腐熟度的影响

以牛粪、菌糠和鸡粪等为材料按照两种比例调配为混合基质,在添加或不添加快腐剂的条件下在发酵桶中进行为期38 d的堆肥发酵实验,通过对发酵产物的温度、pH值、总有机碳、C/N、硝铵态氮含量和种子发芽指数等指标变化的研究,揭示了快腐剂对发酵过程的影响。结果表明,虽然快腐剂对有机物料的温度、C/N比无显著的影响,但可以促进铵态氮向硝态氮的转化,在16 d时使发酵产物NH4+-N/NO3--N比值降为0.15,达到腐熟标准(0.16);提升种子发芽指数,在腐解29 d时使种子发芽指数达到82.76%,达到完全腐熟指标(0.8),比不添加快腐剂的处理提前了4 d左右。快腐剂的作用效果受腐解物料配比的影响。     

京津冀地区畜禽养殖业抗生素污染现状分析

为了解京津冀地区畜禽养殖业的抗生素污染情况,对京津冀地区畜禽养殖粪便产生量和抗生素使用量进行估算,结果表明:京津冀地区畜禽养殖粪便产生量在空间上呈西北低、东南高的趋势,这主要由地理原因与地区发展规划造成的;京津冀地区畜禽养殖抗生素使用总量为四环素类>大环内酯类>双萜烯类>磺胺类>β-内酰胺类>氨基糖苷类>氟喹诺酮类,其中四环素类用量远高于其他几类抗生素。通过文献调研分析了京津冀地区畜禽养殖粪便及农田土壤中抗生素的暴露水平,发现畜禽粪便及废水中抗生素的检出率及检出浓度均较高,特别是四环素类检出浓度明显高于磺胺类和β-内酰胺类。在京津冀地区使用畜禽粪肥的农田土壤中已检出抗生素,并且浓度明显高于其他未施用畜禽粪肥的农田。鉴于京津冀地区的抗生素污染状况,建议通过控制抗生素使用,推广堆肥技术提高抗生素的去除率;通过优化京津冀地区畜禽养殖场规划布局等措施,实现畜禽养殖行业抗生素污染的有效控制。     

西北生态脆弱区畜禽粪污处理技术综合评价

畜禽粪污处理技术在不同地区适用性有较大差异。为全面、客观、科学地筛选出适宜西北地区的畜禽粪污处理技术,将生命周期评价、费用效益评价与层次分析法耦合,从技术、经济、气候、直接环境影响与间接环境影响5个方面,建立了包含18项指标的西北生态脆弱区畜禽粪污处理技术评价体系;以兰州市畜禽粪污处理技术为例,分析好氧堆肥、厌氧发酵、垫料利用3种处理技术的适用性。结果表明：兰州市畜禽粪污处理技术适用性综合排序为垫料利用（72.21分）>好氧堆肥（71.55分）>厌氧发酵（68.79分）,垫料利用技术更适宜在西北地区推广;垫料利用技术环境友好性明显优于厌氧发酵和好氧堆肥技术;使用好氧堆肥和厌氧发酵技术处理畜禽粪污可为养殖场增加额外收益。该研究可为西北地区畜禽粪污处理技术模式构建和优化提供指导。

     

Traditional agriculture in transition: examining the impacts of agricultural modernization on smallholder farming in Ghana under the new Green Revolution

Following the renewed effort at achieving a new green revolution for Africa, emphasis has been placed on modernizing smallholder agriculture through the deployment of improved inputs especially mechanized technologies. In Ghana, the government has in the last decade emphasized the provision of subsidized mechanized ploughing services to farmers alongside a rapidly growing private sector tractor service market. While mechanized technology adoption rates have increased rapidly, the deployment of these technologies has been without critical analysis of the impacts on production patterns and local agrarian systems. This paper examines the distributional impacts of agriculture mechanization on cropping patterns and farm sizes of smallholder farmers in northern Ghana using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques, and semi-structured interviews with smallholder farmers (n=60). Specifically, comparative analysis of the field sizes and cropping patterns of participant farmers prior to and after the adoption of mechanized technologies was conducted. In-depth interviews were used to contextualize the experiences of smallholder farmers toward understanding how mechanization may be impacting traditional agriculture. Our findings reveal a mechanization paradox in which farm sizes are expanding, while cropping patterns are shifting away from traditional staple crops (pearl millet and sorghum bicolor) to market-oriented crops (maize, rice and groundnuts). This transition we argue, has adverse implications on the cultural dimension of food security, the organization of social life, and climate change adaptation. We recommend a retooling of the current agricultural policy focus to ensure context sensitivity for a more robust battle against food insecurity.