Impact of Agricultural Labor Transfer on Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution: A Case Study of Jiangxi,China

A large proportion of the rural labor force in China will continue to transfer to non-agricultural sectors in the near future, which will inevitably lead to the transformation of the agricultural production mode and the structure of the farmers’ livelihood. The Chinese government is making great efforts to govern agricultural nonpoint source pollution (ANSP), and farmers' environmental behavior is a key factor that must be considered in the formulation of agricultural environmental policies. Based on a set of micro survey data on farmers in the study area and econometric methods, this study investigates the impact of agricultural labor transfer on ANSP by considering the substitution effect of agricultural factors and the effect of agricultural economies of scale. The results show that the increase of the agricultural labor force will not be conducive to reducing ANSP, while the income increase brought by agricultural labor transfer will improve the input structure of agricultural factors and have a positive impact on ANSP reduction. Government departments should provide subsidies or incentive measures to help agricultural social service organizations to expand their coverage and increase the frequency of socialized agricultural services, in order to guide farmers in the use of environment-friendly agricultural technology to reduce the ANSP caused by agricultural factors at the source. Furthermore, it is necessary to facilitate the development of small-sized agricultural machinery suitable for small-area land cultivation.     

农户后顾生计来源及其居民点整合研究 ——基于重庆市西部郊区白林村471户农户调查

农户生计资产决定着农户生计方式选择与生计策略行为,作为当前农户主要消费性投资行为的农村居民点建设消费受制于农户所拥有的生计资产量,基于此引导农户的居民点建设消费行为、开展农村居民点整合已成为当前提高农村土地利用效率、改善农户生产生活条件的关键。研究选取重庆市沙坪坝区白林村为样点,采用“PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) +3S”相结合的方法,以地理坐标为标识码,建立农户属性数据与地块的空间数据相链接的“农户-土地”数据库。运用该数据库,构建农户生计资产量化指标体系,量化农户生计资产进行农户分化,剖析不同农户的后顾生计来源及其住居意愿,开展农村居民点整合。结果表明,农户生计资产的配置结构差异明显,8%的农户各项资产产值高于平均水平,23%的农户各项资产产值处于中等水平;以农户拥有的自然资产产值为主辅以其他各项资产产值,将农户划分为农业多样化发展型(16%)、农业专业化发展型(8%)、兼业化发展型(23%)、非农多样化发展型(31%) 和非农专业化发展型(22%) 5 类;根据不同生计来源农户的住居意愿并结合国家与地方发展战略,构建了社区型(非农多样化发展型与非农专业化发展型)、组团型(农业专业化发展型)、块状型(农业多样化发展型) 和带状型(兼业化发展型) 4 种农村居民点整合方式。     

全球化背景下国家乡村政策演变与乡村地方重组及其不确定性的理论分析

全球化是推动乡村地方重组的重要因素,但国家政策深刻影响乡村地方参与全球化的过程与景观。立足已有研究,围绕“全球化-国家乡村政策-乡村地方重组”之间的关联,通过梳理全球化与中国乡村政策演化的互动关系,分析乡村政策的地方实施过程,总结乡村地方工业化、休闲旅游化和农业现代化等典型重组类型及其面临的不确定性。认为早期农村改革耦合全球化引致的城镇化进程,解决了农村温饱和人口“过密化”问题,推动部分乡村工业化,参与国际分工;持续的深化改革与地方动员,加快了先进技术和生产要素的应用,促进了农业规模化与专业化,并嵌入国际市场;乡村旅游的兴起,促进部分乡村复兴和国际元素的进入。农业收益的增长与稳定、老年农民有序退出以及新业态的就业容量将是乡村振兴的潜在制约因素。     

Increasing China’s Agricultural Labor Productivity: Comparison and Policy Implications from Major Agrarian Countries

China’s low agricultural labor productivity has become the key weakness of its agricultural competitiveness and sustainable development, and strategies for improving China’s agricultural labor productivity lack clear and consistent theory and empirical support. To address this issue, the current study uses the methods of convergence index, correlation coefficient, and nonparametric test, to analyze the characteristics and influencing factors of agricultural labor productivity among 32 major agrarian countries during 1961-2013. This analysis shows that the development gap among countries has been narrowing. The USA takes the leading position among all the countries, while some countries with scarce land like Japan have succeeded in achieving transcendence, and other countries like India have experienced relatively slow speed. The agricultural labor productivity is significantly driven by agricultural labor surplus, agricultural product processing, and agricultural industrial structure. The effects of land resource endowment, agricultural mechanization, and biochemical inputs have been declining and in some cases are no longer even significant. It is therefore necessary to shift attention to marketization, diversification, and high quality, instead of the former focus on agricultural intensification, concentration and large-scale operations, and this shift is probably more closely aligned with current practices. There are more people and less land in China, and the agricultural labor force in China still accounts for nearly 30% of the total population. Considering these national conditions, it is very important to simultaneously improve the efficiency of agricultural production of small farmers and promote the successful urbanization of the agricultural labor force. In the medium and long term, it is imperative to improve the competitiveness of Chinese agriculture by adopting related policy arrangements such as induced agricultural technological innovation, production factor substitution, and multifunctional agriculture development.     

关中平原典型村落农业转型对生态系统服务的影响研究

全球化和城市化驱动农产品市场需求的日益增长正在推动农村和农业的转变与重构,深刻影响着农村经济、社会和生态发展之间的关系。以关中平原典型村落—余家营和马家村为例,研究城市化影响下农业转型对农业生态系统服务产生了何种影响,对探索城乡互动机制、乡村特色农业发展以及生态景观建设等具有重要意义。通过问卷调查,半结构式访谈、野外填图等对余家营村和马家村的土地利用变化及农业生态系统服务进行测评,分析了关中平原农业转型变化及其对农业生态系统服务的影响与机制。结果表明：(1) “粮—粮”和“粮—果”转型使农业景观、种植结构、农户行为等都发生较大变化,在由传统粮食生产向水果、蔬菜、苗木花卉等现代型农业转变过程中,作物品种由低产量、低品质转为高产量、高品质,并更趋多样化;出现少许耕地转变为草地和林地的现象;农户积极性提高,科技水平有所提升。(2) “粮—粮”和“粮—果”转型的生态系统服务均以正服务为主,其中“粮—果”经济生产功能增长较大,增长了523.9%,但“粮—果”转型造成的负向生态系统服务也较高,因此在农业转型中生产经济价值增长越大对生态系统服务的负向影响就越大。（3） 农业转型主要受到城市化、国家政策的驱动,并通过影响农田的农业景观、农业结构、农户行为进而影响农业生态系统服务功能,反之,农业生态系统服务变化也会影响到国家政策以及农户行为。     

云南典型山地乡村农业扶贫的机制与效应研究——以特色经济作物种植为例

农业扶贫是乡村发展与贫困减缓最为关键且重要的研究内容之一。西南山区孕育着独特的自然生态与社会文化,承载了中国传统人地互动的经典实践,同时也是观测国家发展计划实施后人地关系变迁的关键地方。本文以云南丽江高寒山区的玛咖种植与西双版纳热带山地的普洱茶生产为案例,分析并回溯两种特色农业扶贫计划实施的机制与过程,力图呈现并比较特色产业扶贫带来的乡村发展效应。研究发现：① 农业扶贫项目的选择与确立,需要符合“国家—地方”这一对多元尺度层级的社会文化语境与政治经济管治框架。各类经济作物被引进成为山地乡村的产业扶贫项目,得益于中国地缘政治战略、“内地—边疆”的社会文化分异以及地方多元行动者之间的复杂互动;② 农业扶贫使得山地乡村实现了资本下乡、土地利用有效转型,从而达到不同程度的经济资本积累与文化再造,使所在地方农民经历了从市场竞争的被动接受者到主动的市场主体的身份转型;③ 农业扶贫中“扶贫”与“产业”所表征的政治逻辑与市场逻辑之间并非互相矛盾与掣肘,二者在中国乡村发展语境之下得到了有效、协调的互促与兼容。本文为产业扶贫研究提供了来自地理学的新兴视角与反思,对西南边疆地区立足特色产业提振乡村经济亦具有一定的参考价值。     

较发达地区农业产业化地域模式研究——以江苏省海安县为例

以江苏省海安县为例,依据实地调研获取的信息,追踪较发达地区农村经济从多种经营-支柱产业形成-农业产业化经营的演进历程,分析其农业产业化的特征,并以禽蛋和茧丝绸业为重点总结较发达地区农业大县农业产业化的地域模式。     

Converting Brazil's pastures to cropland: An alternative way to meet sugarcane demand and to spare forestlands

Brazil seeks to rapidly increase its agricultural production to meet future demands, especially for sugarcane, which is an agricultural commodity and a biofuel source. In this paper, we explore how to achieve this increase without compromising existing forestlands. We propose that it is possible to substantially expand sugarcane production in Brazil while avoiding further environmental losses and the indirect land use changes often associated with them, such as deforestation. This task could be accomplished by converting existing pasturelands with agricultural potential into cropland. A great deal of pastureland exists in Brazil. Thus, we addressed the following questions in this study: (1) where are the most suitable pasturelands for sugarcane located geographically and (2) what potential do these pasturelands have for sugarcane production regarding their physical suitability and other significant factors, such as infrastructure availability and socioeconomic factors. We conducted a land suitability analysis using a spatial location model based on multicriteria decision-making and geographic information systems (GIS) to identify the cultivated pasturelands most suitable for conversion to sugarcane production in Brazil. “What if” scenarios were built to determine how changes in the subjectively derived weights of the priority criteria would modify the spatial distribution of the suitability classes relative to the MCDA model and demonstrate the robustness of the crop suitability assessment. The most suitable pastureland areas for conversion to sugarcane production were predominantly located in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso and Pará. These zones have large contiguous areas of pasture with moderate and high agricultural potentials for sugarcane production. The total estimated area of cultivated pasturelands with moderate or high suitability for sugarcane production was 50 million hectares, which is much larger than the area currently used for sugarcane production in Brazil.     

Land suitability evaluation for changing spatial organization in Urmia County towards conservation of Urmia Lake

One of the most effective ways to reverse the decline of Iran's iconic Urmia Lake is to directly confront the development patterns that have contributed to the current crisis. This study's objective is to create a model for conservation of Urmia Lake that identifies suitable lands for agricultural and residential development in Urmia County that are distant from Urmia Lake. This was accomplished through a Geographic Information System-based multi-stage process. The first step involved production of maps based on an initial assessment of the region's geography, geomorphology, landforms, and hazards potential. In the next step, all of the parameters were overlaid and land suitability maps were generated by using determinant maps. In developing the final map, the lands were divided into four classes for future development potential: highly suitable, suitable, marginally suitable and not suitable. The results showed that well away from highly populated regions adjacent to Urmia Lake, there are highly suitable and suitable lands that presently contain 14 and 8 percent of total settlements, respectively. The highly suitable and suitable lands, which cover 5.6 and 6.7% of the total area, may serve as appropriate axes for changing the traditional spatial organization of the region, redirecting future development and consequently decreasing ecological pressure on lands close to Urmia Lake as well as preventing further excessive usage of water resources in the region.     

农业生产转型类型诊断及其对乡村振兴的启示——以黄淮海地区为例

城乡转型发展背景下,农业生产转型成为解析区域乡村人地关系演变的重要窗口。科学诊断中国传统农区农业生产转型的类型及其存在的核心问题,可为调控农业生产政策和完善乡村发展战略提供参考。论文以中国传统农区黄淮海地区为例,以农业生产转型的类型划分为突破口,系统诊断不同农业生产转型类型面临的困境及其破解方案。研究发现：“自上而下”和“自下而上”相结合的多尺度分析法是分析农业生产转型阶段差异的有效手段;空间弹性视角下,黄淮海地区农业生产转型类型可以划分为传统农耕型、现代市场型和城郊休闲型3类;传统农耕型地区耕地利用转型与农业劳动力转型的失调、缺乏核心产业支撑及实际城镇化率较低是限制乡村有序转型的关键问题;现代市场型地区不合理的土地利用状态和小农户的有效组织是当前亟需突破的难题;城郊休闲型地区完善农户的市场参与方式和降低资本风险是当前必须考虑的问题;针对各转型类型的差异化问题因地制宜科学施策,有利于推动乡村振兴战略的落实。     

Context and contingency: the coffee crisis for conventional small-scale coffee farmers in Brazil

Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and the world's leading producer and exporter of coffee. Smallholders are the predominant producers of Brazilian coffee and have been significantly impacted by post-ISI (import substitution industrialisation) neoliberal reforms that swept the nation's agricultural sector beginning in the 1980s. These reforms stimulated increased coffee production while simultaneously diminishing state interventions, including agricultural subsidies, farmer credits, research and development programmes, extension services, and rural development initiatives. These changes were closely followed by major restructuring of the global coffee market and the elimination of international coffee export quotas. Our research joins a growing body of recent literature exploring how changes related to market liberalisation and globalisation affect localities and regions where producers supply coffee for conventional markets. Through a case study, we describe the impacts of neoliberal globalisation on the lives, livelihoods, and environment of small-scale coffee producers in Minas Gerais, Brazil. We explore how neoliberal reform, reflected in the specific historical, geographical, and environmental context of Brazilian coffee production, has resulted in the increased marginalisation of small-scale farmers, the degradation of soils, and overall rural decline.     

Analyzing the agricultural transition in Mato Grosso, Brazil, using satellite-derived indices

The Amazonian state of Mato Grosso is the main production area for soybeans in Brazil and contains 31.3% of the national production as of 2009. The rapid evolution of the agricultural systems in this area shows that the region is experiencing a rapid agricultural transition. In this paper, we broke down this transition process into three steps: crop expansion, agricultural intensification and ecological intensification. We used remote sensing products to develop and compute satellite-derived indices describing the main agricultural dynamics during the cropping years from 2000-2001 to 2006-2007. Our results indicated that Mato Grosso is continuing to expand its agricultural sector, with a 43% increase in the net cropped area during the study period. Although this expansion mainly occurred in the cerrado ecoregion until the early 2000s, the forest ecoregion is experiencing expansion at this time. We observed that 65% of the crop expansion in Mato Grosso from 2000 to 2006 occurred in this ecoregion. However, we did not identify this crop expansion as the major driver of deforestation in Mato Grosso because only 12.6% of the cleared areas were directly converted into croplands. Agricultural intensification also evolved rapidly, as the proportion of the net cropped area cultivated with double cropping systems harvesting two successive commercial crops (i.e., soybean and corn or soybean and cotton) increased from 6% to 30% during the study period. Finally, we found that ecological intensification occurred because the region’s farmers planted a non-commercial crop (i.e., millet or sorghum) after the soybean harvest to prevent soil erosion, improve soil quality, break pest cycles, maintain soil moisture and set the conditions for high-quality no-tillage operations. In 2006-2007, 62% of the net cropped area was permanently covered by crops during the entire rainy season. This practice allowed the farmers to diversify their production, as shown by the positive evolution of the Area Diversity Index. Future scholars can use the method proposed in this paper to improve their understanding of the forces driving the agricultural dynamics in Mato Grosso.     

小农户融入农业产业链的选择偏好及异质性研究——以河南省为例

为更好地揭示小农户融入农业产业链的行为逻辑,基于河南省463户小农户的调查数据,运用选择实验法和混合Logit模型分析小农户融入农业产业链的选择偏好。结果表明:相对于龙头企业,小农户更倾向于以加入农民专业合作社的方式融入农业产业链,紧密的利益联结机制和政策扶持会显著提升小农户对农业产业链的融入意愿。小农户对龙头企业、农资供应服务、农业信贷服务、农业补贴的行为存在异质性。兼业情况、家庭年纯收入以及收入在村中所处水平是小农户行为异质性的重要来源,对小农户融入农业产业链具有显著的负向影响。     

近年来我国普通劳动者工资变化及其对农地利用的影响

利用农村固定观察点数据、《全国农产品成本收益资料汇编》、全国农业统计数据等,对近年来我国普通劳动者工资的变化特征及其对我国农地利用的影响进行了分析。结果表明：近年来我国普通劳动者工资的增长速度和幅度明显要快于农产品和农业生产资料价格的增长速度。我国东部发达地区的部分省份,其复种指数已经出现了明显的下降趋势,物质和服务投...     

Rural Development and Social Exclusion: A case study of sustainability and distributive issues in Brazil

Rural modernisation based on the concept of the Green Revolution has changed the social and ecological landscape in Brazil, particularly since the late 1960s. The expansion of extensive cattle ranching and mechanised agriculture have been major driving forces in this transformation process. In the Midwest, one of the last frontier regions in Brazil, extensive savanna land has recently been cleared for cash-crop production and pastureland. After the displacement of indigenous people during early confrontations with Portuguese explorers in the eighteenth century, we are now witnessing the dispossession of traditional small-scale farmers who had settled in the region two centuries ago. Rural communities have remained marginalised and powerless in the face of pressure and impact from recent development of agribusiness and cattle ranching. The agricultural activity of the smallholders is subsistence-oriented with little market integration, and their production system (shifting cultivation) is based on local knowledge, which seems to be well adapted to the savanna environment. The system is no longer sustainable. Due to capitalist expansion and prevailing conditions of unsecured land tenure, lack of access to basic assets, and high population pressure on scarce resources, the peasants have had to intensify production. This research focuses on the consequences of recent social, economic and environmental change in traditional rural communities.     

Development without Intervention: A Successful Self‐Reliance Initiative of Rural Development and Urban Growth in The Sudan

We investigate the complex relationship between small‐scale farming, urban‐rural remittances and rural development. We highlight a successful, innovative self‐reliance approach in which traditional farmers changed their mode of production, improved their income, and enhanced rural development, including urbanization, in Shubbola village of western Sudan. The major initial driver was investment from remittances by family members who had migrated to urban centers, thus overcoming the problem of access to credit/capital. Consequently, the increased use of tractor technology helped farmers overcome agricultural labor shortages, and increase their farm size and productivity. Increased income from remittances and farming broadened economic and social improvements, including lifestyle and the built environment. In the process, Shubbola has grown into a viable and vibrant town, providing its residents with diverse socioeconomic services and modern infrastructure. This case illustrates the potential of development from within with minimal direct input from the government, nongovernmental organizations, and international donors.     

帮扶措施对山区脱贫农户生计策略选择的影响——以陇南山区为例

帮扶措施不仅是构建稳定脱贫长效机制的关键举措,更是推进脱贫攻坚与乡村振兴有效衔接的客观要求。论文构建了帮扶措施对农户生计策略选择的影响分析框架,利用入户调查数据,在辨明帮扶措施及生计策略选择特征的基础上,探讨了影响陇南山区脱贫户生计策略选择的关键因素。结果表明：(1)陇南山区有59.84%的脱贫户享受了多元帮扶措施,其中,享受最多的多元帮扶措施为产业扶贫+生态补偿扶贫,享受最多的单一帮扶措施为生态补偿扶贫;(2)陇南山区脱贫户的生计策略以务工主导型为主,呈农业特色化、非农化和多样化的特点;(3)陇南山区脱贫户生计策略选择的路径依赖性整体呈中等水平,其中,川坝河谷区农户、老年农户和低生计资本禀赋的农户生计策略选择的路径依赖性较强,且帮扶措施对其有调节作用;(4)社会资本、人力资本、金融资本和区位条件对农户的生计策略选择有显著影响;产业扶贫和电商扶贫对农户的特色务农型生计策略选择有正向影响,生态补偿扶贫和就业扶贫对农户的非农化生计策略选择有正向影响。最后,提出了优化农户生计策略的政策建议。     

Establishing an Agro-ecological Compensation Mechanism to Promote Agricultural Green Development in China

In recent years, grain production has been rising steadily, and the income of farmers has been increasing dramatically, thanks in part to the central government’s policy support for agriculture, rural areas and farmers. However, the conventional production mode leads to overconsumption of agricultural resources, increasingly challenging ecological environment impacts, and higher costs of agricultural products whose quality falls short of public expectations. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council both put extra emphasis on agricultural supply-side reform, restructuring of the sector, and a shift in the production mode. This paper explains the significance of the agro-ecological compensation mechanism, analyzes the efficacy of China’s current agricultural subsidy policies, introduces related experience from developed countries, elaborates options to establish the mechanism, and proposes policy recommendations to accelerate its development. This analysis concludes that one of the most important approaches to agricultural green development is to shift the existing subsidy policy from one which aims to ensure the yield by purchasing at a protective price, to a green subsidy which focuses on agro-ecological compensation.     

农业市场化对农户种植效益的影响——基于沪苏皖农户调查的实证研究

通过沪苏皖3省16个村的分层抽样农户调查发现,农业市场化的发育程度决定着农户种植经济收益的高低,不同农产品基本遵循高投入、高产出的规律,地区差异明显。根据定量分析和CD扩展模型检验表明,生产要素市场和农产品市场共同影响农户土地种植效益。为提高土地产出,农户更重视种子、化肥、农药等农资的增产性投入,劳工和机械投入随家庭非农活动情况而变化。农产品市场销售行为对农户种植效益的提高呈较明显的正向刺激作用,市场价格是关键要素,销售率和销售成本对商品型农产品影响更显著。另外农户素质及收入结构对种植效益也产生显著影响,人力资本水平与种植效益成正相关关系。     

乡村产业发展对农户生计的影响研究——以宁夏红寺堡区为例

梳理产业选择与培育的经验,分析产业发展对农户生计的影响,对于促进生态移民区的乡村产业振兴、农户生计恢复与可持续发展具有重要意义.论文以中国最大单体移民迁入区宁夏吴忠市红寺堡区为研究区,针对4大乡村产业各选1个样本村,采用问卷调查法和半结构访谈法获取数据,在比较不同产业投入产出效益的基础上,探究不同产业发展对移民生计产出...