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.     

Methodological Basis of Ecological Safety Standards for the Technogenic Impact of Mineral Resource Exploitation

A new methodological approach to the development of biological and technological safety standards for the impact of underground mining on the natural biota is proposed.     

世界能源百年变局与国家能源安全

在百年未有之大变局的背景下,我国当前所面临的能源形势日趋复杂,能源安全愈加成为攸关国家经济发展的重大战略。新形势下,无论是学科层面上世界能源地理与国家能源安全的科学问题、研究对象、研究方法等,还是国家现实需求上全球能源治理体系与国际能源合作等问题,都亟待专家学者们深入交流与讨论。通过“一问一答”的访谈方式,展示主持人与九位学界或业界访谈嘉宾基于不同视角的问答内容。分别围绕能源安全的内涵与全球能源治理模式、我国能源安全面临的挑战与对策、全球能源地缘政治形势的新变化、世界能源生产空间和消费空间不平等地理格局下的能源安全、全球能源低碳转型趋势下的中国能源高质量发展、重大突发公共卫生事件影响下的全球能源供需格局变化、未来能源地理学的研究前景与重要研究方向等一系列内容发表观点。以期达成一定共识,从而更好地研讨世界能源地理学的关键问题,并积极应对世界能源的百年变局,提出保障国家能源安全的应对措施等。     

环境监测业务管理系统的设计与开发

以郑州市环境监测中心站监测业务流程为例,从技术路线、系统结构设计、系统功能分析和技术实现等方面分析并介绍了环境监测业务管理系统的特点和开发时需解决的技术问题。探讨了建立基于B/S结构、J2EE技术架构、创新的组件装配方式、Oracle9i数据库、中间件和多层体系结构等多项先进技术进行系统实现的设计方案。     

Technological system for sustainable development of Chinese agriculture

ＴｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｓｙｓｔｅｍｆｏｒｓｕｓｔａｉｎａｂｌｅｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｏｆＣｈｉｎｅｓｅａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒｅＺｈａｎｇＲｅｎｗｕ；ＪｉＷｅｎｙｉｎｇ；ＺｈａｎｇＴｏｎｇ（Ａｇｒｏ－ＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＰｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｏｎＩｎ...     

农作物品种单一化的影响

绿色革命是人与自然关系的产物--集约型农业与高产农业的一大壮举.但绿色革命带来的负面影响也是巨大的,主要是农作物品种单一化引起的农业种质资源的减少和农业生态系统的脆弱.本文就绿色革命的这一负面影响进行阐述并提出对策.     

轮毂轴管热挤压新工艺

介绍了轮毂轴管原热挤压工艺存在的缺点与不足 ,指出了改进工艺的突出特点。生产实践表明 :新工艺可显著提高生产效率 ,降低材料消耗     

SR系统工艺设计的几个必备要素：石屏县城市污水土地处理工程例析

在ＳＲ污水土地处理系统工艺设计中，处理场地的环境特征、限制性设计参数、作物选型及预处理方式的选择等决定了该系统运动的成败，应合理分析各必备要素以指导设计中参数的选择，达到污水处理与资源化的有机结合。     

环境科学科技期刊的定位及发展方向

科技期刊发展方向确定了科技期刊的定位。社会定位是意识形态定位;经济定位是期刊走向问题;读者定位、编辑定位、管理定位是办刊的方法和手段。     

加压曝气生物反应器及其工艺设计

介绍了加压曝气生物反应器及其处理系统的工艺设计 ,包括反应器原理、工艺流程、运行参数 ,工艺设计特点等