Toward an Ecological Explanation of Agricultural Unemployment in Bangladesh

Cultural ecology theoretical framework was found suitable to explain unemployment in agriculture in three villages in Bangladesh. Path analysis and multiple regression statistics were used to examine the direct, indirect, and total effects of eight independent human, social, environmental, and technology variables as well as their aggregate contribution on agricultural unemployment. The multiple regression model explains 86.2% of the total variation in unemployment in agriculture; they were followed by environmental constraints and labor saving technology variables.     

Mitigating Agricultural Emissions of Methane

Agricultural crop and animal production systems are important sources and sinks for atmospheric methane (CH4). The major CH4 sources from this sector are ruminant animals, flooded rice fields, animal waste and biomass burning which total about one third of all global emissions. This paper discusses the factors that influence CH4 production and emission from these sources and the aerobic soil sink for atmospheric CH4 and assesses the magnitude of each source. Potential methods of mitigating CH4 emissions from the major sources could lead to improved crop and animal productivity. The global impact of using the mitigation options suggested could potentially decrease agricultural CH4 emissions by about 30%.     

湖南农业抗旱能力综合评价

利用灰色系统理论中的关联分析建立了湖南农业抗旱能力评价的指标体系，运用密切值法对湖南14个地州市的抗旱能力进行了综合排序。其结果表明湖南省各州市的农业抗旱能力差异较大，其中：衡阳（0．03）、常德（0．32）密切值小，抗旱能力强，株洲（3．14）、张家界（3．34）密切值大，抗旱能力弱。并根据湖南的实际为其抗旱减灾、提高抗旱能力提出了合理的建议与对策。     

The economic impact of climate change on Kenyan crop agriculture: A Ricardian approach

This paper measures the economic impact of climate on crops in Kenya. We use cross-sectional data on climate, hydrological, soil and household level data for a sample of 816 households. We estimate a seasonal Ricardian model to assess the impact of climate on net crop revenue per acre. The results show that climate affects crop productivity. There is a non-linear relationship between temperature and revenue on one hand and between precipitation and revenue on the other. Estimated marginal impacts suggest that global warming is harmful for crop productivity. Predictions from global circulation models confirm that global warming will have a substantial impact on net crop revenue in Kenya. The results also show that the temperature component of global warming is much more important than precipitation. Findings call for monitoring of climate change and dissemination of information to farmers to encourage adaptations to climate change. Improved management and conservation of available water resources, water harvesting and recycling of wastewater could generate water for irrigation purposes especially in the arid and semi-arid areas.     

Improving Indigenous Technologies for Sustainable Land Use in Northern Mountainous Areas of Vietnam

More than 30 ethnic groups are now living in northern mountainous regions, Vietnam, mainly relying on shifting cultivation with the fallow period being shortened from time to time. Naturally, soil fertility reduces from cycle to cycle, entailing the reduction of productivity. Large areas of moderately sloping lands suitable for upland agriculture have become bare after many cultivation-fallow cycles. The soils there have been severely degraded with more toxicity, low porosity, low water retention capacity and poor floral diversity. Normally, these lands cannot be used for food crop cultivation. So farmers in uplands have to rely on slash-and-burn practices for their livelihood. As there is no more forest with good soil in medium slopes, farmers go to cut forests in watershed, high slope lands and old forests up to the mountains‘ top. There are ecologically and environmentally very sensitive areas, so their destruction will inevitably cause hazardous consequences in the whole basin. Meanwhile,cultivation in these areas has low economic efficiency and sustainability because the crop yield may decrease very fast due to severe erosion as the higher the slope, the more serious erosion. Consequently living standards of highland farmers remain low and unstable. Sustainable farming on these lands in the perspective of a seriously deteriorated ecology and environmental is not an easy task. There have been many projects trying to help mountainous farmers get out of their vicious circle. However, due to different reasons, the results gained are low, and in some cases,things ceased to move after the projects phased out. During past few years, based on the farmer experiences, the Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute has cooperated with local and international partners to implement different projects in order to solve the problems by developing simple, easy and cheap cultivation technologies, which can be accepted and applied by local poor farmers for sustainable agricultural production. The first results of our activities offered good opportunities for sustain food production, improve soil health, recharge of aquifers,and enhanced household income for better rural lively hoods in the upland eco-regions of northern Vietnam.     

Capturing temporal variability for estimates of annual hydrochemical export from a first‐order agricultural catchment in southern Ontario,Canada

This 2‐year study (2000, 2001) reports annual nutrient (phosphorus, nitrate) export from a first‐order agricultural watershed in southern Ontario based on an intensive monitoring programme. The importance of storm and melt events in annual export estimates is demonstrated and the temporal variability in nutrient loading during events is related to processes occurring within the catchment. The feasibility of predicting event‐related nutrient export from hydrometric data is explored. The importance of sampling frequency throughout events is also shown. Export of total phosphorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and nitrate ( ) for 2000 and 2001 averaged 0·35 kg ha^?1 year^?1, 0·09 kg ha^?1 year^?1, and 35 kg ha^?1 year^?1 (as N) respectively. Approximately 75% of annual TP export, 80% of annual SRP export and 70% of annual export occurred during 28 events per year. A small number of large‐magnitude events (>34 mm) accounted for 18–42% of annual TP export, 0–61% of annual SRP export and 13–33% of annual NO export. Our results show that temporal variability in nutrient export is largely governed by discharge in this basin, and export can be predicted from discharge. SRP and TP export can also be predicted from discharge, but only for events that are not large in magnitude. The sampling interval throughout events is important in obtaining precise estimates of nutrient export, as infrequent sampling intervals may over‐ or under‐estimate nutrient export by ± 45% per event for P. This study improves our understanding of and P export patterns and our ability to predict or model them by relating temporal variability in event nutrient export to discharge and processes occurring within the basin, and also by exploring the significance of sampling interval in the context of the importance of individual events, season and temporal variability during events. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative Research Performing other Worlds: lessons from sustainable agriculture in the Philippines

For those interested in ethical research, quantitative methods are often dismissed as apolitical; as unreflective exercises in ‘mere counting’. If, however, in doing research, we bring into being the very worlds we purport to describe, the question begs: what kinds of worlds might quantitative methods bring into being? Is there space for a reflexive, quantitative research agenda? In this paper, I will discuss an action-based predominantly quantitative research project that aimed to investigate the diverse impacts of sustainable agriculture on small-scale farmers in the Philippines. The study, one of the largest ever undertaken on organic rice production, was consciously designed, not merely to describe, but to perform organic agriculture differently. While most quantitative, and indeed much qualitative, research ignores its performativity, this research was intended to enact a reality of sustainable agriculture as a viable and vital alternative to mainstream, capitalist agriculture.     

Patterns of Irrigated Agricultural Land Conversion in a Western U.S. Watershed: Implications for Landscape-Level Water Management and Land-Use Planning

In irrigated agricultural landscapes, land-use conversion may have landscape-level social, hydrological, and ecological effects. We used geographic information systems (GIS) and interviews to analyze development effects on irrigation in the Henry's Fork Watershed, Idaho. Farmers developed irrigation there in the 19th century, and incidental recharge from canal seepage and flood irrigation raised groundwater levels and expanded wetlands. Cohesive culture in agricultural communities sustained irrigation systems until amenity-driven demographic shifts beginning in the 1970s led to development approved by local governments with land-use planning but no water-management authority. Although only 5% of irrigated land has been converted, development has fragmented irrigated landscapes and made canal-system operation more difficult, potentially reducing groundwater levels, wetland extent, and return flows critical to downstream irrigators and fish and wildlife. We discuss future scenarios, highlighting the need for increased communication among local and state governments regarding land use and water management in irrigated landscapes across the West.     

浅谈如何做好为农服务类气象节目

文章通过分析农村受众对电视气象节目的心理需求,结合近几年内蒙古气象影视所开展的为农气象服务和自身工作体会,对如何利用影视平台做好为农气象服务进行探讨。     

Effects of corridor networks on plant species composition and diversity in an intensive agriculture landscape

The development of modern agriculture has resulted in much homogenization of the landscape consisting of large patches of farmland,so small remnant non-crop habitats especially linear corridors play an important role in the conservation of species and the maintenance of ecosystem functions.However,little attention has been paid to the effects of corridors structural characteristics on the plant species restricted to such habitats.In this study,we selected three types of corridors including ditch,hedgerow and road,and ana-lyzed their structural characteristics.The plant species presented in these corridors were investigated,and the species diversity,abun-dance and frequency were estimated.Moreover,spatial arrangements of corridors were classified into different types to discuss whether there were significant effects of corridor network on plant distribution.The results show that three types of corridors have different ef-fects on plant species composition and diversity.The one-one combined corridor networks and total network associated by three corri-dors have more complex structural features than each single type of corridor.However,there is no strong correlation between the corri-dor networks with their plant species.We suggest that carrying out a pointed vegetation survey at corridor intersections to further test the relationships between structural features of corridor and plants is necessary.