Livelihood strategy change and land use change —Case of Danzam Village in upper Dadu River watershed, Tibetan Plateau of China

Land use change in rural China since the 1980s, induced by institution reforms, urbanization, industrialization and population increase, has received more attention. However, case studies on how institution reforms affect farmers’ livelihood strategies and drive land use change are scarce. By means of cropland plots investigations and interviews with farmers, this study examines livelihood strategy change and land use change in Danzam Village of Jinchuan County in the upper Dadu River watershed, eastern Tibetan Plateau, China. The results show that, during the collective system period, as surplus labor forces could not be transferred to the secondary and tertiary industries, they had to choose agricultural involution as their livelihood strategy, then the farmers had to produce more grains by land reclamation, increasing multiple cropping index, improving input of labor, fertilizer, pesticide and adopting advanced agricultural techniques. During the household responsibility system period, as labors being transferred to the secondary and tertiary industries, farmers chose livelihood diversification strategy. Therefore, labor input to grain planting was greatly reduced, which drove the transformation of grain to horticulture, vegetable or wasteland and decrease of multiple cropping index. This study provides a new insight into understanding linkages among institution reforms, livelihood strategy of smallholders and land use change in rural China. Foundation item: Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40601006, 40471009), National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2005CB422006)     

Systems of agriculture farming in the Uttranchal Himalaya,India

Agricultural practices are the main stay of the people of Uttranchal. Out of the total population,more than 75% people are engaged either with the main occupation of agriculture or its allied practices,dominated by traditional subsistence cereal farming.Among them, the main crops are rice, wheat, millet,barley, all types of pulses, all types of oilseeds and almost all types of fruits. The crops, vegetables and fruits of all varieties are grown in the different climatic zones such as tropical, temperate, and cold because, the region is characterized by the different altitudinal zones elevated from 200 m to more than 8000m. As a result, different climates are found from hot tropical to sub temperate and chilly cold. Pulses varieties are grown extensively. Among vegetables,potato, onion, carrot, all types of green leaf vegetables,brinzal, pumpkin, ladyfinger, pea, gram, radish,ginger, garlic, etc, are grown widely. All fruit varieties are grown in the different altitudinal zones. The mainfruits are orange, malta (a big size of orange),elephant citrus, lemon and all other types of citrus,apple, stone fruits including peach and pears, manykinds of nuts, and the fruits which are grown in the low lying areas. In spite of feasible climatic conditions,agricultural dominant society, and availability of all types of crops, the production and productivity of these crops are very low, even they are unable to meet the grain-need of the people in Uttaranchal. Agricultural crops are grown almost in all the altitudinal zones -- from the low-lying areas, which are called ‘Ga. ngarh‘, to the highly elevated region,where the legendary term is given as ‘Danda‘. The growing seasons vary according to the heights. The present paper aims to discuss the agricultural practices including cropping season, cropping pattern,land use, production of cropsagricultural system in thisand ecological aspect of Himalayan state and suggest some measures for developing farming system,which could lead the sustainability, in terms of meeting the food grain needs of the people on the one hand and restoring the ecological balance on the other.     

Impact of labor transfer on agricultural land use conversion at rural household level based on Logit model

Since land and labor force are primary resources to be used and controlled by rural households, the allocation of labor forces will influence land uses, and further lead to land use conversion. The present study used the Binary Logit model to investigate the influence of labor force transfer, characteristics of rural households, location, and land market on agricultural land use conversion at rural household level. This study was conducted based on 329 valid questionnaires, which were obtained in Changshu, Rudong, and Tongshan counties, respectively representing the southern, middle and northern areas of Jiangsu Province. The results showed that land market participation, location, zonal difference and labor transfer had strong influences on agricultural land use conversion. The participation of land market had a strong positive effect on land use conversion, especially for the farmland converted to the fishpond. The nearer to the county seat, the more conversion of land use occurred. Particularly, the labor force transfer caused by wage employment decreased this conversion probability, while the labor transfer caused by self-employment led to more conversion; and the increasing of income from labor transfer increased the conversion. Moreover, land use conversions demonstrated zonal difference, which were more in Rudong and Changshu counties than in Tongshan County, and the factors influencing this conversion were different in the three regions.     

Changes and effecting factors of grain production in China

Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper aims to examine the spatial and temporal change characteristics of total grain production and its affecting factors. The results show that: 1) During 1980 to 2007, total grain production increased from 3.20 × 10⁸ t to 5.02 × 10⁸ t in China, with annual increasing rate of 1.68%. From the regional disparities, most of the regions present increasing trend of total grain production except for several regions with higher level of economic development; 2) Grain sown area decreased from 1.17 × 10⁸ ha in 1980 to 1.06 × 10⁸ ha in 2007, which has negative effect on total grain production; 3) The increase of grain yield per unit area caused by land use intensity changes contributed to the increase of total grain yield greatly. However, as the land use intensity showed that farmers pay more attention to labor-saving input but not yield-increasing input, the less enthusiasm of farmers in grain production may become an important constraint on future grain production increase in China; 4) Based on the results, this paper proposed different land management policies in different regions, for example, the government should protect cultivated land, promote large scale production. As to the less developed regions, the government should pay more attention to agricultural subsidies to promote farmers’ enthusiasm in grain production.     

Spatial and temporal variability of farm size in China in context of rapid urbanization

During the last 30 years,China has witnessed rapid economic growth and dramatic urbanization,with about 1.2 × 107rural people migrating annually into urban areas.Meanwhile,especially since 1995,the rural population has been declining,which is closely linked to land circulation and the increase in farm size in many villages.Increasing scale of farming operations is often regarded as a key to avoiding the abandonment of farmland and to increasing the income of rural farmers.However,until now,there has been little research on the spatial and temporal variability of farm size at the national level in China.Using data from the national agricultural census and rural household surveys,this study examines the characteristics of land use circulation and the consequent changes in the area of farmland per household.The results show that: 1) 12.2% of rural households were involved in land circulation at the national level.The highest amounts of land circulation have occurred in those provinces where the farmland per capita is more than 0.2 ha or less than 0.1 ha;2) over 80% of households operate less than 0.6 ha of farmland;3) the proportion of mid-sized farms(between 0.2 ha and 0.6 ha per household) has decreased while the smallest and the largest farms have increased.This bears some similarity with the phenomenon known as the ′disappearing middle′,referring to the changes in farm size.This study establishes a framework for interpreting the factors affecting the changes in farm size in China,which include two promoting factors(urbanization and agriculture) and four hindering factors(agricultual land system,household registration,stable clan system,and farmland loss).     

Inter-provincial Differences in Rice Multi-cropping Changes in Main Double-cropping Rice Area in China: Evidence from Provinces and Households

Since the early 1980 s, the multi-cropping index for rice has decreased significantly in main double-cropping rice area in China, which is the primary double-cropping rice(DCR) production area. This decline may bring challenges to food security in China because rice is the staple food for more than 60% of the Chinese population. It has been generally recognized that rapidly rising labor costs due to economic growth and urbanization in China is the key driving force of the ‘double-to-single' rice cropping system adaption. However, not all provinces have shown a dramatic decline in DCR area, and labor costs alone cannot explain this difference. To elucidate the reasons for these inter-provincial distinctions and the dynamics of rice cropping system adaption, we evaluated the influencing factors using provincial panel data from 1980 to 2015. We also used household survey data for empirical analysis to explore the mechanisms driving differences in rice multi-cropping changes. Our results indicated that the eight provinces in the study can be divided into three spatial groups based on the extent of DCR area decline, the rapidly-declining marginal, core, and stable zones. Increasing labor cost due to rapid urbanization was the key driving force of rice cropping system adaption, but the land use dynamic vary hugely among different provinces. These differences between zones were due to the interaction between labor price and accumulated temperature conditions. Therefore, increasing labor costs had the greatest impact in Zhejiang, Anhui, and Hubei, where the accumulated temperature is relatively low and rice multi-cropping index declined dramaticly. However, labor costs had little impact in Guangdong and Guangxi. Differences in accumulated temperature conditions resulted in spatially different labor demands and pressure on households during the busy season. As a result, there have been different profits and rice multi-cropping changes between provinces and zones. Because of these spatial differences, regionally appropriate policies that provide appropriate subsidies for early rice in rapidly-declining marginal zone such as Zhejiang and Hubei should be implemented. In addition, agricultural mechanization and the number of agricultural workers have facilitated double-cropping; therefore, small machinery and agricultural infrastructure construction should be further supported.     

Gradient effect on farmers’ income in the mountain areas and its implication for poverty alleviation strategies: Empirical analysis from the upper reach of Minjiang River, China

Using four types of settlements in the upper reach of Minjiang River as case,we establish structural models in farmers’ income of different settlement patterns based on rural household panel data to reveal the gradient effect on farmers’ income and determinants.The results indicate that:(1) except the resettlement area,the incomes for farmers living in river valley,semi-mountain,and high-mountain settlements present a decreasing trend with the elevation increasing;on the contrary,their nonfarm earnings show an increasing trend with the elevation decreasing;(2) from the effect on farmers’ income,there is a common feature that the nonfarm earnings and farming incomes have significant positive effects,and family size and productive expenditure have significant negative effects.One exception to this is the productive expenditure,which becomes insignificant in the model of resettlement area;(3) from the way of increasing farmers’ income and alleviating poverty,there are great differences for four types of settlements in mountain areas,however,the improvement of agricultural product sales,agricultural production subsidies,the expansion for nonfarm employment,and the control of the family’s size are the most effective approaches for poverty alleviation.     

Analysis on the Status of Farmers, Agriculture and Countryside, and Development Strategies and Measures in Tibet Autonomous Region

Coordinated and sustainable development of farmers, agriculture and countryside (FAC) is key to realize the national objective of comprehensively developed well-off society. Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet, outstanding achievements have been made in FAC work. However, compared with East and Middle China, there still exists a big gap. The farmers‘ net income per capita in 2001 was 1,404 yuan, 962 yuan lower than the nation‘s average. In late 90‘s the farmers‘ income growth slowed down. Agricultural industrialization is at low level, technologies play a small role in agricultural development, rural infrastructure is weak, the rural grass root organization is much underdeveloped, and construction of towns is behind the other regions of China. Based on the problems of FAC development there, this paper proposes FAC development strategies and measures for accelerating rural development in Tibet.     

福州土地利用变化及其驱动力多元综合分析

运用地球信息技术对福州土地利用变化特征和驱动力进行了深入分析。主要以TM数据作为信息源获取两时相土地利用状况及其变化信息:用GPS快速提供变化区准确的空间位置信息和野外调查时的快速定位;并利用GIS对多种数据进行处理、集成管理、空间统计和相关分析;对土地利用变化驱动力进一步研究。     

莱芜市土地开发整理成效与问题初探

通过实施土地开发整理,从根本上改善了农村生态环境,不仅增加了农村耕地面积,促进了农业生产水平的提高和农民增产增收,更有力地促进了农村经济发展。农业生产条件的改善,使生产成本得到有效降低,规模效益普遍提高,壮大了村集体经济实力,加快了社会主义新农村建设步伐。但工作中仍存在领导重视不够、工程质量不够高、后期管护不到位等问题,今后应进一步强化领导、规范运作、跟踪管理,以保证开发整理成效。     

Geography and Rural Household Income： A Village Level Study in Henan Province, China

This study uses the data from a sample survey conducted in April 2007 on 1 251 rural households in 11 villages of Henan Province, the largest less developed agricultural province in China, to examine how geography affects rural household income (RHI). The quantitative analysis indicates following results. 1) The significance of the traditional geographical factors reduces as RHI rank increases. 2) The landform does not affect the RHI significantly. The per capita income of rural household in a plain area is lower than that in a mountainous area. And 3) the capital endowment and status of non-farm economic activities contribute to the increase of RHI. But the probability and intensity of non-farm economic activities of rural households in urban outskirts villages are higher than that in non-urban outskirts villages. Based on the results, the paper further concludes that geography still plays a significant role in rural development, but it is changing over time. The agricultural resources (such as per capita arable land) significantly affect RHI with the relatively lower income level, while the geographical location shows a more significant impact on RHI with the relatively high income level. Along with economic development, the proximity replaces the traditional geographical factors such as landform and physical resources as the major determining factor in RHI.     

惠民县城乡建设用地增减挂钩工作探析

为统筹城乡发展,促进土地节约集约利用,惠民县在城乡建设用地增减挂钩工作方面进行了探索和实践,有效缓解了建设用地供求矛盾,改善了农民生活居住环境,促进了农业发展、农民增收,取得初步成效。但同时也存在农村社区建设规划缺乏、增减挂钩建设资金不足、拆迁补偿安置难度大、基层认识不到位等问题。该文围绕促进城乡建设用地增减挂钩工作,在建立农村社区规划、拓宽多元化融资渠道、完善安置补偿机制、加大宣传力度等方面进行了论述,并提出了建议。     

北京市房山区农村经济发展空间格局分析

我国农村经济在城乡统筹规划的进一步实施中迅速发展起来。大城市周边远郊区县农村在大城市的影响下,其经济发展具有其不同于一般农村的规律特性。本文采用北京市房山区2004-2009年农村人均纯收入(人均劳动所得)为变量提取出相对经济发达指数指标,以经济分级和空间相关性分析为方法,对房山区453个村的经济发展空间分布状况进行了...     

Characteristics and mechanism of agricultural transformation in typical rural areas of eastern China: A case study of Yucheng City,Shandong Province

Rural off-farm employment, rapid loss of agricultural land, and advanced technology popularization had led agricultural production in Chinese typical rural areas come at a critical transformation and upgrade stage. Based on sample survey data gathered from 401 households in Yucheng City, Shandong Province, this paper focuses on the characteristics and mechanism of agricultural transformation in typical rural areas of the eastern China. It was found that 74.3% of households surveyed kept at least one member engaging in off-farm employment, and 57.1% looked forward to expanding the operational scale of arable land, while just 13.7% had actually transferred their agricultural land. Since growing off-farm employment does not result in the collapse of traditional subsistence agriculture, therefore, agricultural production in Yucheng City is at an incomplete transformation phase from traditional small-holder farming to modern scale economy. It is caused by both macro environments and family characteristics, while urban-rural dual structure, imperfect rural development policy and agricultural technology popularization make peasant economy strengthen upon maintenance, and small-holder farming becomes peasant’s natural response owing to pluriactivity, local off-farm employment, reverse elimination, etc. In order to achieve smooth agricultural transformation of typical rural areas in the eastern China, it needs to promote professional differentiation among peasants, under clear policies adopted by central government. Providing comprehensive services for agricultural production and improving production skills and knowledge of farmers who are still living in the countryside will effectively stimulate the process of agricultural transformation.     

Effect of agricultural land use changes on soil nutrient use efficiency in an agricultural area,Beijing, China

Agricultural land use and management practices may affect soil properties,which play a critical role in sustaining crop production.Since the late 1970s,several new agricultural land use types had been introduced in the rural areas of China.The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of these land use changes on the soil properties,nu-trient absorption rate,and nutrient use economic efficiency ratio in an agricultural area of Beijing.Specifically,the cropland,the orchard and the vegetable field were examined.Results of this study suggest that land use and farming management practices significantly affect the content of soil organic carbon (SOC),total nitrogen (TN),total phos-phorus (TP),and available phosphorus in the surface layer of 0-25 cm (p<0.05) in the Yanqing Basin,northwestern Beijing.Soil nutrients in each agricultural land use type decrease rapidly with the increasing soil depth.Orchard and vegetable field tend to have higher soil nutrients than the cropland does.However,the soil nutrient-absorption rate (NAR) of the orchard and vegetable field is lower than that of the cropland,even though orchard and vegetable field may provide much higher economic benefit.While increasing SOC,TN,and TP in the orchard and vegetable field by intensive farming may be a valuable option to improve soil quality,potential increase in the risk of nutrient loss,or agricultural non-point source pollution can be a tradeoff if the intensive practices are not managed appropriately.     

基于农村收入调查的中国农村贫困与收入不平等测度

通过估计中国农村居民收入分配的lorenz曲线测算了2006、2007年中国农村贫困和收入不平等的状况,并运用shapley分解法对贫困指数的变动进行分解,分析物价水平、经济增长、收入分配对贫困变化的影响。研究结果表明：（1）2007年农村贫困发生率较2006年有所下降,但下降速度比较缓慢;（2）农村居民的收入差距逐渐在拉大,收入不平等程度有所加重;（3）经济增长减缓了农村贫困,但由于物价水平的上涨和收入分配的恶化,贫困人口整体的贫困状况不轻反重。     

Rural landscape types and recreational value spatial analysis of valley area of Loess Plateau: A case of Hulu Watershed,Gansu Province,China

Rural landscape is a complex of natural landscape and human landscape, with various values. The recreational value of rural landscape is a kind of comprehensive benefit with economic, social and ecological, which is provided by the rural landscape as a recreational resource. Loess Plateau is located at the junction of northern and northwestern of China, with serious water and soil erosion and fragile ecological environment. Jingning County is the national poor county, belonging to Liupanshan concentrated poverty areas. Hulu Watershed in Jingning is the typical valley area of Loess Plateau. In the past few decades, Jingning facing the fragile ecology and poverty, has been focusing on apple industry, forming unique rural landscape, exploring an ecological development path, and making much progress in green industrialization and urbanization. The author, according to the apple tree's growing stages, divided the rural landscape of Hulu Watershed into 15 types and analyzed its spatial patterns. The recreational value of Hulu Watershed was evaluated at 1.8 × 10~8–3.6 × 10~8 yuan(RMB) in 2014, by Travel Cost Method and Contingent Valuation Method. The territorial differentiational features of recreational value were that the higher value landscape types concentrated in the surrounding areas of towns and central villages, and the areas along the traffic and river had more development potentiality. The main influence factors were the construction of rural landscape and the development of recreation industry. And the development paths of different landscape types were also proposed. The research conclusions can provide reference for the landscape exploration and recreation industry development in the similar underdeveloped areas in the valley area of Loess Plateau with fragile ecology and poverty.     

乡村内源式发展动力机制研究——以临沂市兰陵县代村社区为例

某些地区,片面强调政府主导、资源下乡的乡村治理往往内源动力不足,村民增收乏力。在乡村内源发展的理论渊源分析基础上,从本土化的社会动员、依托本土可持续资源、发挥农民主体地位等方面挖掘乡村发展的内生动力,构建内源式乡村发展理论框架,总结了内源式发展的4个关键要素,即社区组织、乡土资源与文化、村民参与、利益分配机制。结合临沂市代村社区的发展实例,对乡村内源式发展的理论框架和动力机制进行实证研究。     

STUDY ON THE SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS IN CHINA

ＳＴＵＤＹＯＮＴＨＥＳＰＡＴＩＡＬＤＥＶＥＬＯＰＭＥＮＴＯＦＲＵＲＡＬＡＲＥＡＳＩＮＣＨＩＮＡ￥ＺｅｎｇＪｕｘｉｎ（曾菊新）（ＤｅｐｏｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＧｅｏｇｒａｐｈｙ，ＨｕａｚｈｏｎｇＮｏｒｍａｌＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔｙ，Ｗｕｈａｎ４３００７０，ＰＲＣ...     

Livelihood differentiation between two villages in Yesanpo Tourism District in China

The rapidly developing rural tourism industry in China has deeply influenced the livelihoods of rural households. This study compares the impact of rural tourism development in poor areas on the farmers’ livelihoods, based on the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework proposed by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. Gougezhuang, a tourist village, and Jiaojiekou, a non-tourist village, both located in Yesanpo Tourism District in the state-level povertystricken Laishui County, Hebei Province, were selected as case studies. The livelihood models of the two villages show great differentiation after 20 years of tourism development. Gougezhuang Village has been driven by the tourism industry and farmers are employed locally, enjoying a relatively higher-income life, with a developmental livelihood model. In contrast, farmers in Jiaojiekou Village earn their living mainly by leaving home to work in the city. They have a low income, with a survival livelihood model, supported by part-time business. Considering that the two villages are adjacent and have similar development backgrounds, the analysis results indicate that rural tourism has an apparent locationspecific effect on poverty alleviation and socioeconomic development, but the development of rural tourism is limited regarding large-scale poverty alleviation efforts in poor areas. To implement a propoor- tourism strategy and achieve sustainable development, it is necessary to implement comprehensive management measures to change the local conditions of rural settlements and make full use of the spillover effect of tourist consumption.