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.     

厦门市生活垃圾的灰色预测与分析

运用灰色关联度分析法,定量分析了影响厦门市生活垃圾产生量的影响因子,发现其主要因子是城市国内生产总值(GDP);利用灰色系统理论建立了该市生活垃圾产生量的GM(1,1)预测模型,并进行预测分析。     

油品罐区安全隐患分析及防范

通过对炼油厂油品罐区消防、安全设施进行分析和改进，消除其对罐区的危害；对油罐主体腐蚀及加热器泄漏进行深入分析并提出实用的改进措施；完善生产与安全双重控制系统，为油品罐区标准化改造创造条件。     

论江西省农业可持续发展

本文在论述持续农业提出的背景及其内函和意义的前提下，分析了江西目前存在的主要农业生态环境问题，提出了江西农业持续发展的６条对策和措施，对江西持续农业的发展具有指导意义，同时对南方有关省市具参考价值。     

城市生活垃圾现状与治理动态

主要阐述了我国城市生活垃圾的现状、现有处理城市生活垃圾的几种方法,并就治理趋势进行探讨。     

生态农场的建设与可持续发展

黑龙江省庆阳农场位于延寿县东部,总土地面积为7640公顷,但由于连续多年不停息的耕种,农场良好的生态环境遭到破坏,直接影响到农场的持续发展.建设生态农场是恢复生态环境,实现农场持续发展的根本途径.     

废旧家用空调器的回收及关键技术研究

家用空调器等废旧家电的回收再利用，对全球的可持续发展具有重要意义，已受到国内外的高度重视。文章介绍了一般废旧家用电器的回收过程、回收方法，并对废旧家用空调器的回收过程做了具体介绍，最后提出了家用空调器等废旧家电的回收再利用过程中的关键技术。     

解析家庭消费模式——促进可持续发展

文章基于可持续发展的前提,提出当前影响经济可持续发展的消费行为已经逐步转变为家庭个体为主的消费模式;对家庭消费的重要性及其对环境所造成的压力进行分析;最后通过对国内三大城市消费情况研究了影响家庭消费模式驱动力,并在此基础上提出了构建中国可持续家庭消费模式的措施.     

养鸭场对环境影响的调查与评价

介绍了应用卫生学现场观察测量等方法，对滇池周边养鸭场周围大气及纳污水体滇池进行调查监测，并根据监测结果，对养鸭场周边受污染的空气环境质量和滇池水质进行环境健康评价，表明养鸭场对周边大气和水体的污染程度的范围，并提出相应的控制养鸭场污染的对策措施。