The Geography of Education and the Education of Geography: Agricultural Extension and the Political Ecology of Education

The spatial nature of learning is increasingly a focus of geographic inquiry. I argue that the spatiality of education, which is where formal learning occurs, has the potential to shape students’ spatial imaginaries. I analyze the role the spatiality of agronomic education plays in the historical construction of the social and physical landscape in southeastern Pará, Brazil. In opposing ways, the first Green Revolution, and agrarian social movements’ more recent agroecological Green Revolution are found to structure agronomic education and spatial imaginaries. The perspectives of agricultural extension agents trained in traditional agronomic programs are compared with teachers from an agroecological school located in an Amazonian agrarian reform settlement of Brazil's Landless Workers’ Movement. I collected these data over 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork. To analyze these data, I employ a political ecology of education perspective, which highlights how education and political economy interact to mediate relations with, access to, and contestations over natural resources. The geography of education and the education of geography exist in a complicated feedback cycle: Education is not neutral but ideologically charged and affects conceptions of productive landscapes, providing students intellectual and economic power to put their visions of landscape into effect.     

Extension 3.0: Managing Agricultural Knowledge Systems in the Network Age

This article develops the idea of “Extension 3.0” as an approach to agricultural extension that capitalizes on the network structure of local agricultural knowledge systems. Over the last century, agricultural knowledge systems have evolved into networks of widely distributed actors with a diversity of specializations and expertise. Agricultural extension programs need to manage these networks in ways that maximize the synergy between experiential, technical, and social learning. Using empirical research from California farmers, we highlight the structure of these networks within and across contexts, and the importance of boundary-spanning relationships. We provide some initial recommendations about actions needed to realize the goal of Extension 3.0, which is to deliver relevant agricultural knowledge to the right people, at the right time and place.     

典型农区农用地承包经营权流转价格及对策研究(英文)

河南既是农业大省又是中国重要的粮食主产区,农用地流转顺畅及适度规模经营对区域经济发展和国家粮食安全产生重要影响。借助于土地使用权评估的基本方法,并使用土地承包经营权的权属特性进行修正,构建了土地承包经营权流转价格模型,并对典型区域沁阳市西万村进行了实证分析。结果表明,土地承包经营权流转价格应该包括经济价格、社会价格和修正价格。价格模型的应用,应甄别理论价格和实际流转费用的区分,农用地流转后经营项目没有转变,流转价格为经济价格和社会保障价格是总和。农用地流转后经营项目发生转变,比如耕地改种经济作物,流转价格则是经济价格、社会价格与修正价格三者的总和。收益分配格局存在复杂性,流转收益应在流出方、流入方、管理者和所有者之间合理、公平分配。政府应建立合理有序的农用地承包经营权流转市场,并以农用地流转市场为载体,构建农用地流转价格体系。     

南方丘陵区农业生态环境脆弱性的驱动力分析--以衡阳盆地为例

生态脆弱性已成为当前全球变化与可持续发展研究的热点问题。南方丘陵区是典型的生态脆弱区,因此,首先,本文给出了农业生态环境脆弱性的概念,并分析了其脆弱性的内涵。然后,以衡阳盆地为例构建南方丘陵区农业生态环境脆弱性的评价指标体系,包括自然、社会、经济因素3个方面13个具体指标,以县域为评价单元,采用主成分分析法进行研究。最后,在主成分分析基础上,分析了南方丘陵区农业生态环境脆弱性的驱动力。结果表明：研究区脆弱性有4大驱动力,自然环境背景和经济发展状况是首要驱动力,农民生活水平和农业水利设施状况次之;从驱动力类型来看,胁迫型脆弱性驱动力为主要驱动力,结构型脆弱性驱动力为次要驱动力,落后的社会、经济生产方式是农业生态环境脆弱性的强大驱动力。     

‘Committing to Place’ at the Local Scale: the potential of youth education programs for promoting community participation in regional natural resource management

Emerging approaches to environmental governance require a greater level of community participation than did previous approaches in which these responsibilities largely rested with government agencies. There is consequently a need for increased engagement with NRM among a broad community sector. This paper examines initiatives by two prominent government agencies, the Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) and the National Museum of Australia (NMA), to engage school children from regional communities using education programs that focus on place and environmental health. We focus on the MDBC's International Riverhealth Conference held in Mildura in 2003 and the associated Murray–Darling Basin TalkBack Classroom sponsored by the NMA and the Parliamentary Education Office (PEO). We explore how key themes of local scale, place-based identities, youth voice and critical engagement are developed in these programs and consider how they relate to the environmental agency of children. We then reflect on the potential for the kinds of environmental agency promoted through these programs to help build the capacity of local communities to progress larger goals of environmental restoration and sustainability in the Murray–Darling Basin. The evaluation research reported here forms part of the Committing to Place research project, an Australian Research Council Linkage grant involving the University of Tasmania, the National Museum of Australia and the Murray–Darling Basin Commission.     

长三角典型农业区农业现代化水平分区研究——以江苏省兴化市为例

采用因子分析方法,按照兴化市农业现代化水平评价指标体系,以乡镇为评价单元,分析各主因子的空间分布特征及影响因素。根据各主因子得分系数矩阵,采用分层聚类法把兴化市35个乡镇划分为5个农业现代化水平类型区,并对各类型区提出相应的农业发展策略。结果表明:兴化市农业现代化水平具有明显的空间集聚分布特征,以西部的昭阳镇为中心和以东南部戴南镇为中心的区域农业现代化水平程度最高;较高农业现代化水平的地区主要位于南部和东北部的安丰镇、永丰镇和戴窑镇;中等农业现代化水平的区域主要是兴化市区的卫星城镇;较低和低农业现代化水平的区域主要位于兴化市西北和东部,其中,位于西北部的周奋乡和缸顾乡农业现代化水平最低。     

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.     

南方山区县域森林可持续经营对策--以福建省永安市为例

以福建省永安市为例,探讨南方山区以集体林为主的县域森林可持续经营对策,旨在为相类似区域森林可持续经营对策研究提供借鉴。根据区域可持续发展的要求和森林可持续经营标准与指标的启示,从林业可持续发展环境辨识体系、林业可持续发展目标决策体系、森林可持续经营的保障体系、森林可持续经营技术体系、森林可持续经营信息支撑体系和森林可持续经营能力建设体系等六个方面,构建福建省永安市森林可持续经营对策的总体框架,并在这个总体框架下,分别从发展条件、发展目标、发展保障、发展技术、发展信息支撑、发展能力建设等六方面阐述其森林可持续经营对策。     

唐代西北边疆经略与农牧业开发

唐王朝针对西北边疆民族地区的实际情况,恩威并重,采取设置羁縻府州、绥纳内徙民族、移民屯田、和籴、互市、监牧养马等一系列经营措施,保持边疆的稳定和安宁,协调民族关系,西北地区的农牧业开发更为广阔和深入,形成继汉代以来的又一次农牧业开发高潮.唐朝西北边疆经略与农牧业开发的经验教训值得今天借鉴和利用.     

Implications of Nontraditional Housing Arrangements for Urban Water Management in the United States Intermountain West

Homeowners living in single-family detached housing have dominated the literature exploring drivers of residential water use. Meanwhile, rentals, multiunit buildings, and residences governed by private associations are an increasingly important component of the American residential landscape. We used data from a large sample of households in northern Utah cities to explore the effects of these nontraditional housing arrangements on water use decision-making, attitudes and behaviors, and their implications for urban water management. After accounting for the sociodemographic characteristics of respondent households, we found that residents of nontraditional housing arrangements are much less likely to have authority over key water use decisions, and differ significantly from residents of traditional housing in regards to water use perceptions and concerns, self-reported water behaviors, and support for various local water policy options. Traditional approaches to urban residential water management should be adapted to renters, residents in multiunit buildings, and members of community associations.     

基于农业节水的干旱区绿洲可持续发展研究——以渭干河流域为例

建立节水型社会是中国的一项基本政策,也是解决渭干河流域水资源可持续利用问题的战略选择。渭干河流域是典型的灌溉农业区,农业灌溉大部分仍采用粗放型的土渠输水、大水漫灌方式,水资源流失严重,灌溉定额偏高,渠系入渗量高达14.01亿m3,农业节水潜力很大。在现有水量不可能增加的情况下,调整农业内部种植结构,发展节水农业是解决区域水资源短缺的有力措施。通过对2015年和2020年工业、城市化和生态用水进行预测,确定农田灌溉可用水量。选取渭干河流域9种种植面积最大的农作物,参考作物蒸散量及作物系数,得出各类农作物的实际需水量,并与现有灌溉量比较,发现现有灌溉量远大于作物的实际需水量,通过节水灌溉和水渠改造,可节约用水10.59亿m3。而且研究区的粮食种植面积亦远大于需求,即使未来10年不再扩大粮食种植面积,也比需求面积多出近2万hm2,如根据实际需求去调整,可节约1.05亿m3的水量,能极大缓解水资源紧缺的局面,将灌溉量控制在可用水量范围内,为加快城市化和工业化进程,保护区域生态提供充足的水资源保证。     

农业文化遗产社区角色认同对旅游参与的影响研究——以浙江省青田县龙现村为例

探究居民作为农业文化遗产传承者的角色认同是否影响其参与旅游,是农业文化遗产地可持续旅游研究的重要问题。基于角色认同理论,以全球重要农业文化遗产保护试点项目浙江青田稻鱼共生系统为例,利用时间日志法和半结构式访谈法获取当地居民时间利用数据,并从时间利用视角出发就居民角色认同对其旅游参与的影响进行质性探讨,以期深度挖掘居民的态度和心理感知。结果表明:居民作为农业文化遗产传承者,其角色认同对旅游参与具有一定的影响。以居民角色认同程度和旅游参与程度作为分类变量加以交互组合,形成4种常见的旅游社区参与类型,即高角色认同-深度参与旅游型居民、高角色认同-浅度(未)参与旅游型居民、低角色认同-浅度(未)参与旅游型居民、低角色认同-深度参与旅游型居民。从而针对不同类型居民,提出农业文化遗产旅游参与和遗产保护的可行性建议。     

Sacred cows in coastal management: the need for a 'cheap and transitory' model

The participative, 'bottom-up' approaches of contemporary European ICZM (integrated coastal zone management) are ineffectual and unsustainable. The approach lacks the authority and resources to deliver ICZM and should be abandoned. A new model of ICZM in a predominantly sectoral administrative framework is presented. It requires that capacity be built in existing statutory authorities and in-house ICZM groups be established. Time-limited participatory projects would be used to gain information on conflicts and issues that transcend existing sectoral boundaries, but this information would be passed to the established statutory authorities for action. A sound statutory and legislative basis is the essential prerequisite for effective coastal management – not voluntary partnerships.     

The Role of Local Knowledge in the Risk Management of Extreme Climates in Local Communities: A Case Study in a Nomadic NIAHS Site

In the context of climate change, research on extreme climates and disaster risk management has become a crucial component of climate change adaptation. Local communities, which have been facing extreme climates for a long time in their production and daily life, have developed some locally applicable traditional knowledge that has played an important role in their adaptation to extreme climate and disaster risk management. Therefore, this research aims to link Local knowledge (LK) to community extreme climate disaster risk management in order to construct a conceptual model. It then takes the extreme climate adaptation strategy of traditional nomads in a temperate grassland of China as an example to analyze the role of LK in extreme climate adaptation using the proposed theoretical framework. The main research objectives of this study are: (1) To construct a conceptual model to illustrate the relations among extreme climate events, risk management, LK, and farmers' adaptation strategies; (2) To apply the theoretical framework to a field case to reveal context-specific extreme climate adaptation mechanisms with LK as a critical component; (3) To test the framework and provide suggestions for the extreme climates adaptation, and the conservation of LK related to climate change adaptation. The results show that from the perspective of disaster risk management, local communities could manage extreme climates as a disaster risk through adaptation strategies formed from LK, because as a knowledge system, LK contains relevant knowledge covering the whole process of disaster risk management.     

Block and Debris Deposits in the High Drakensberg, Lesotho, Southern Africa: Implications for High Altitude Slope Processes

Past evaluation of high altitude slope development in Lesotho, southern Africa, is largely based on hypothetical or macro-scale geomorphic approaches. Consequently, the information pertaining to high altitude southern African Quaternary slope environments has remained rather rudimentary. The present study describes the morphology and discusses the likely palaeogeomorphic processes of blockstreams and debris deposits on the Popple Peak and Njesuthi-Mafadi south-facing-slopes in the Drakensberg. The geomorphic evidence provides much needed information to help improve the understanding of south-facing slope processes during past colder periods. A model for high altitude Drakensberg south facing slopes is presented and used to challenge and expand on recent models and ideas on southern African valley asymmetry. It is found that solifluction and debris flows/avalanches were operative on south-facing slopes during past cold periods and thereby contributed to past slope development at some high altitude sites in Lesotho. However, the geomorphological observations do not support the valley asymmetry hypothesis and it is suggested that greater caution be exercised in valley-form interpretations, particularly where geomorphological ground-truthing has been absent.     

Remote sensing mapping of the regeneration of coastal natural habitats in Singapore: Implications for marine conservation in tropical cities

Rapid urbanization has resulted in the loss of coastal and marine habitats in cities worldwide. The effective conservation of urban coastal ecosystems requires detailed knowledge of their spatial distribution, necessitating high-resolution mapping. Our study produces a high-resolution coastal and marine habitat map and shoreline map for the tropical city-state of Singapore created through pixel-based supervised classification of satellite imagery, bathymetry data and expert ground knowledge. These maps can be used as a base reference for multiple applications including ecological research, conservation and urban planning. They also help identifiy trends in the extent of key coastal habitats, providing insight into their differing levels of vulnerability to loss and potential for restoration to ensure long-term resilience. The method used for mapping shoreline typologies and resulting insights gained, can guide other rapidly urbanizing coastal cities on strategies to assemble useful spatial knowledge for effective conservation of their urban coastal ecosystems.     

Soil fertility management strategies on the Jos Plateau: the need for integrating 'empirical' and 'scientific' knowledge in agricultural development

Tin mining carried out on the Jos Plateau since the beginning of the last century has disturbed some 320 km² of agricultural land. Formal attempts at reclamation of this land failed, but local farmers have developed a successful informal strategy for reclamation. This paper reports on a study undertaken to comprehend the farmers'informal' approach to soil fertility management. Their soil fertility management practices centre on the use of a complex combination of traditional organic manures and 'modern' inorganic fertilizers that they have developed entirely on the basis of experimentation. A central focus of this paper is therefore the empirical knowledge base of the farmers and an assessment of any underlying scientific explanations for their strategies, including an analysis of their assertion that different brands of NPK fertilizers differ in their nutrient value. This discussion is followed by a consideration of the difficulties in accessing and understanding empirical knowledge. It is concluded that farmers' knowledge and understanding of the values of different fertilizers and manures does have a scientific basis. It is argued that for further agricultural development to take place on the Jos Plateau, there must be synergy between farmers' empirical knowledge (which has led to the development of successful and effective soil fertility management strategies, unlike the attempts of the local 'scientific' communities) and scientific knowledge (which can identify health and environmental hazards which may not be immediately visible to farmers).     

Assessment and Management Strategies for Ungulate Population in Jiangxi Matoushan National Nature Reserve: Predicting the Prey-base from Empirical Field Data

In order to investigate the feasibility of reintroducing the South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) in the Jiangxi Matoushan National Nature Reserve, field surveys were conducted to assess prey distribution in the reserve. Twelve permanent transects were set in three distinct functional zones from February to April 2012 and May to July 2013. A total of 112 ungulate signs were recorded on these transects. In addition, 20 camera traps were used to survey ungulates and predators in 2012, while the following year we extended the survey site by using 30 cameras. Overall, 6641 capture events on 2930 camera days were obtained, presenting a variety of ungulate species: muntjak (Muntiacus muntjak), tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus), serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). Population structure and composition of ungulates was compared in different functional zones using a single factor of variance analysis in SPSS software. Significant differences in the distribution of ungulates were recognized between the core zone and experimental zone, but not in other zones due to differences in habitat types and management practices of the nature reserve. Using ArcGIS analysis and Salford Predictive Modeler software, we ran several predictive models to understand which areas are most suitable for ungulates. We conclude that muntjac and wild boar are mainly distributed in the experimental zone, serow are more common in the core zone, while tufted deer are located evenly in the three functional zones. Finally, suggestions for effective and feasible management strategies and techniques for Matoushan National Nature Reserve were recommended based on the results and analysis in this study.