Geographical differences and influencing factors of rural energy consumption in Southwest mountain areas in China: A case study of Zhaotong City

China is a mountainous country,and Southwest mountain areas cover the most mountain areas in China and have the most serious problems.Taking Zhaotong city as the study area,based on 902 rural household questionnaires of 11 villages in 2 counties and Tobit model,this paper analyzes the geographical differences and influencing factors of energy consumption for non-production purposes of rural households living in different terrain conditions.This research finds that:(1) Coal takes up the main part of energy consumption in valley areas and coal consumption is mainly affected by per capita cultivated land area,household income,proportion of rural household energy expenditure in total expenditure,coal price,and family population size.Firewood takes up the main part of energy consumption in high mountain areas and firewood consumption is mainly affected by per capita firewood forest area,distance to purchase coal,household income,electricity price,and coal price.(2) Only when the distance is greater than 20 kilometers,that is the average distance of rural households living in middle mountain areas(1,600m~1,800m) to purchase coal,the transportation condition has a significant impact on coal consumption.(3) In high mountain areas,prices of coal and electricity are the main factors influencing energy consumption choice of rural households.Too high prices of coal and electricity would to some extent lead rural households to choose firewood as the main energy consumption type.Compared to coal,rural households prefer to choose electricity.     

New technologies and systems for high quality citrus fruit production,labor-saving and orchard construction in mountain areas of Japan

Novel technologies have been necessary for improving fruit quality and productivity of citrus,labor-saving and orchard conservation on steep slope lands since aging of growers and decrease in the number of successors is remarkable in mountain areas of southwestern Japan. The purpose of this paper is to introduce new technologies for improving citrus production that have been developed in recent years. A new fruit quality control system using drip irrigation and liquid fertilization technique combined with year-round plastic mulching was developed, and it enables high quality and stable citrus fruit production. Water and/or nutrient solution is automatically supplied through drip tubes that are laid under the mulching sheets to give adequate water stress, so as to improve sugar and acid content of fruit. A new transportation system for steep sloping citrus orchards, which is a combination of the monorail system and contour narrow paths, was suggested. A small walking cultivator was developed to explain the procedure of narrow path excavation. After introducing the narrow path, working hours for fertilizer and chemicalherbicide application were reduced. Disasterpr evention mapping of citrus orchards on slope landswas developed based on computer-aided seepage estimation and topographic data. The mapping can show zones of both ascending flow and descendingflow of underground water during heavy rains incitrus orchards. The mapping is considered to be effective for the management of orchards andprevention of erosion on slope lands.     

Landslide risk perception and communication for disaster risk management in mountain areas of developing countries: a Mexican foretaste

The increasing impact of disasters at local,national,regional and global scales in recent decades has provided enough evidence to urgently direct attention towards the necessity of disaster risk reduction and management,and this requires knowledge.Knowledge without communication is barren,and to communicate the risk of disaster it is necessary to understand the perception of the people at risk.In particular,this paper deals with the necessity to delineate strategies of risk communication in pursuance of risk knowledge as a core of disaster risk reduction and management,especially in mountain areas of developing countries.To portray this issue,an analysis of landslide risk perception in terms of experience,landslide risk awareness,exposure,preparedness,and risk communication and trust was undertaken in the municipality of Teziutlán,Puebla,Mexico,an area that has been affected for several decades by episodes of mass movement.Analysis of the responses to a risk perception questionnaire has offered valuable insights in terms of the information and knowledge most required by the people living in the area of interest,in order to devise a realistic and functional strategy to communicate the risk of a landslide disaster.This includes better understanding of controlling factorsand drivers of this risk,and the establishment of potential trusted sources of risk communication.Beyond considering practical matters of risk assessment and management,risk perception and communication can increase the resilience of vulnerable people,and can enhance capacity building for present and future generations.     

THE BALANCE BETWEEN SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF WATER RESOURCES AND THE WATER—SAVING POTENTIAL FOR AGRICULTURE IN THE HEXI CORRIDOR

The Hexi Corridor is an important base of agriculture development in Northwest China. According to recent statistics, there are 65.94×10⁸m³ of water resources available in the Hexi Corridor. At present, net consumption in development and utilization is 43.33×10⁸m³. Water supply and demand reach a balance on the recent level of production, but loss of evaporation and evapotranspiration is as much as 25.69×10⁸m³. So net use efficiency of water resources is 59%. Based on analyzing balance between water and land considering ecological environment at present, there exists the serious water shortage in the Shiyang River system where irrigation lands have overloaded. There is a comparative balance between supply and demand of water resource in the Heihe River system; and the Sule River system has some surplus water to extend irrigation land. Use of agriculture water accounts for 83.3% and ecological forest and grass for 6.9%. The Hexi Corridor still has a great potential for water saving in agriculture production. Water-saving efficiency of irrigation is about 10% by using such traditional technologies as furrow and border-dike irrigation and small check irrigation, and water-saving with plastic film cover and techniques of advanced sprinkler and drip/micro irrigation etc. cansave more than 60% of irrigated water. Incremental irrigation area for water-saving potential in the Hexi Corridor has been estimated as 56% – 197% to original irrigation area. So the second water sources can be developed from water saving agriculture in the Hexi Corridor under Development of the Western Part of China in large scale. This potential can be realized step by step through developing the water-saving measures, improving the ecological condition of oasis agriculture, and optimizing allocation of water resources in three river systems. Foundation item: Under the auspices of the Key innovation Project Engineering of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZcx-1-10-03) Biography: GAO Qian-zhao (1942 –), male, a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu, Professor and supervisor of Ph. D students. His research interests include hydrology and rational utilization of water resources in the arid zone.