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.     

Ionic imbalance due to hydrogen carbonate from Asian dust

In an attempt to identify the ionic imbalance, hydrogen carbonate, HCO₃⁻ (bicarbonate), was determined together with the commonly determined nine major ions because the imbalance was frequently encountered in the chemical analysis of samples with high pHs. Titration method was applied for the determination of the samples with pH higher than 5.6. These samples amounted to 102 of the 1536 samples collected in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, from April 1998 to December 2002. Of the 102 samples, 74 (Group A) showed an acceptable ion balance without including HCO₃⁻. In the other 28 (Group B), however, inclusion of HCO₃⁻ successfully improved the ion balance. These results suggested that hydrogen carbonate was a potential candidate for explaining the imbalance. The hydrogen carbonate concentrations showed a strong correlation with the corresponding non-sea salt calcium (nss-Ca²⁺) concentrations, which implied that hydrogen carbonate was derived from calcium carbonate particles incorporated into falling raindrops or cloud droplets. For Group A, the relationship between hydrogen carbonate and the nss-calcium ion concentration was very similar to that for commonly suspended particles in Hokkaido. On the other hand, Group B exhibited a stronger but significantly different correlation. To the samples of Group B, a back-trajectory analysis was applied to demonstrate that the samples were associated with aerosol travelling from Northern China or Mongolia, which indicated that alkaline aerosol affected the chemistry. In consideration of these findings, the current standard of the ion balance should be critically reviewed for modification in regard to the contribution of hydrogen carbonate not only in source areas but also in receptor areas of alkaline aerosol.     

论生态园林及其建设的基本原则

生态园林是城市绿地建设的新思维,也是生态学具体应用的实践.生态园林建设应遵循生态优先、物种多样性保护和重建、因地制宜、处理好种间关系、建立群落自维持机制、重视生态文化内涵等六要素.     

中国工业园区绿色发展政策对比分析及对策研究

为了提升我国工业园区绿色发展水平,对目前我国工业园区发展历程、现状特征进行了分析,对工业园区绿色发展政策进行了梳理和对比,并结合工业园区绿色发展中存在的问题提出了对策建议.研究表明:①我国工业园区经历了快速发展、调整发展和科学发展等阶段,在经济发展、资源与能源优化利用、污染减排等方面成效显著.②我国工业园区绿色发展的相关政策主要体现在国家生态工业示范园区创建、园区循环化改造、国家低碳工业园区试点、绿色园区建设和UNIDO绿色工业园区创建等工作中,这些政策在推动主体、实施路径、侧重方向上各不相同又各有特色,对推动工业园区节能减排绩效明显.③目前,我国工业园区绿色发展存在的问题主要表现在重视程度有待提升、风险防范意识有待加强、创新能力有待提高等方面.为此,提出了我国工业园区绿色发展对策建议:积极践行绿色发展理念,推进园区绿色化、生态化、低碳化建设,实现经济环境双赢;注意环境风险防控,确保环境安全;创新管理机制,强化监督管理.      

基于土壤重金属特征的绿色食品产地环境评价——以重庆(江津)现代农业园区为例

以重庆市江津区现代农业园区内4种农用地类型的653个表层土样为研究对象,测定土壤重金属元素含量.依据绿色食品产地环境相关标准,采用重金属污染指数法对标准中所涉及的Cu、Cr、Cd、Hg、As和Pb共6种重金属元素开展土壤环境质量评价和潜在生态风险评价,并结合用地类型确定绿色农产品生产的适宜性土壤分区.结果表明：除元素Cu、Cr和As外,其他元素的平均含量均高于重庆市土壤背景值;除元素As和Hg外,其他元素的平均含量均高于我国土壤背景值.土壤重金属元素Cu、Cr、Cd、Hg、As和Pb的平均浓度均达到《绿色食品产地环境质量》标准要求,但Cd污染已处于安全警戒线内,应高度警惕和严格监管园区内该元素的污染.水田、旱地和果园的土壤环境均以尚清洁为主,其他园地的土壤环境以轻度污染水平为主.部分水田存在一定程度的Pb污染（轻度）、Hg污染（中度）和Cd污染（中度）,旱地存在一定程度的Hg污染（中度）和Cd污染（中度）,果园和其他园地的土壤存在一定程度的Cd的轻、中度污染.全区符合《绿色食品产地环境质量》标准要求的土壤面积为12.47km²,占农用地总面积的63.64%,旱地、果园、水田和其他园地中符合该标准的面积分别占各自总面积的84.83%、68.07%、56.51%和42.09%.4种用地类型的土壤环境生态风险水平均以低等为主,共占研究区总面积的74.70%.Cd和Hg在园区表层土壤重金属生态风险评估中占有较大的贡献率,应列为优先控制污染元素并对其生态效应开展进一步研究.     

中国对流层二氧化硫光化学氧化过程的数值研究

利用一个三维非静力区域大气化学输送模式与中尺度气象模式MM5相连接构成一个数值模拟系统，模拟了中国地区对流层臭氧与其前体物的分布以及二氧化硫转化为硫酸盐的过程，模式扬地面源排放、大气输送和扩散、干沉积、气相化学反应和云雨过程。结果表明：日间，O3浓度主要由NOx和NMHC的源排放和光化学反应过程支配，大气辐射是光化学反应强弱的决定因子，其强度可使SO2、O3和SO4^2-的生成浓度呈现不同的日变化和季节变化，结果表明高浓度的O3对二氧化硫转化为硫酸盐的化学过程有很大的促进作用，然而，这种作用受NMHC浓度的影响很大，较高浓度的NMHC使O3浓度上升，但同时增加了对OH等自由基的消耗，使SO2的转化率降低。     

可持续发展概念指导下的化学--绿色化学

阐述了人类文明发展到绿色文明阶段时所产生的化学思想方法与传统化学思想方法的差别,分析了作为绿色文明积极实践者的绿色化学的产生背景以及从原材料、反应历程、分离技术、产品和包装方面与传统方法的差别,指山了今后绿色化学的发展趋势。     

东海海域春季降水的化学特征

根据１９９４年４月１７日－２７日东海海域的降水雨样化学组份分析，并将春与我国上海及日本西海岸的降水化学组分进行了地比。认为东海海域的降水经与陆地源污染的输送有关，在东南风系作用下，降水肥东南海上气闭影响，从上海以东到日本以西的广阔的海域中，降水呈弱酸或中性，其化学组份表现为海洋化学的特征；在东北风系作用下，东海海域的降水主要受朝鲜半岛和日本方面污染源的影响，降水中ＳＯ４＾２－非海盐浓度比东南风系时     

绿色化学浅议

绿色化学是更高层次的化学，其产生是为了避免或减少化学过程对人类健康和环境造成的危害，由此出现的技术是环境友好的技术。绿色化学的发展能节省资源、减少环境污染，并将成为可持续发展战略的核心内容之一。     

绿色饲料的地位及其生产与研究进展

分析了绿色饲料生产发展趋势及绿色饲料生产已经探索形成的若干有效模式 ,以黄淮海平原青刈黑麦研究为例 ,从青刈黑麦高产栽培技术体系研究、加工技术研究、生产系统评价等方面阐述了青刈黑麦的生产与研究进展 ,为我国绿色饲料产业化建设提供了思路。