利用夜间热红外遥感影像研究玉米冠层孔隙率分布

为了测量高覆盖条件下(LAI=5)玉米冠层的方向孔隙率,利用一台基于工业用吊车平台的窄视角热红外成像仪开展测量。在此基础上建立了一个几何光学和辐射传输混合模型模拟半球空间的孔隙率分布。测量结果表明,大多数的孔隙出现在邻近的植株行之间,这导致了在热红外图像中,冠层还保持着垄行结构的特征。基于已经得到的几何参数,本研究发展的模型具有垄行作物孔隙率分布特征,模拟的孔隙率与被观测的孔隙率保持很好的一致。更进一步的改进,需通过计算机模拟以建立更加真实的作物结构描述,这也是以后的一个研究方向。     

From the kitchen and the field: Gender and maize diversity in the Bajío region of Mexico

The conservation of crop genetic diversity in farmers' fields is important for future food security. Recent research on women and biodiversity has emphasized the importance of women's knowledge in plant domestication and biodiversity conservation. This paper presents a case study of the differences in women's and men's knowledge of maize landraces in four different environments in the Bajío region of Mexico. We argue that research on crop diversity and conservation needs to include both men and women farmers' knowledge. Gendered knowledge results from men and women in a household being responsible for different tasks and sometimes for farming separate plots. In addition, as economic pressures increasingly force men to work away from their communities for extended periods, women become the primary agricultural decision-makers.     

Accounting for phenology in maize yield prediction using remotely sensed dry dekads

Rain-fed agriculture is threatened by an increased frequency of droughts worldwide thereby putting millions of livelihoods at risk especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This makes drought preparedness critical. In this study, we sought to establish whether maize yield can be predicted using the number of dry dekads that occur at specific maize growth stages for purposes of yield early warning. The dry dekads were derived from remotely sensed Vegetation Condition Index calculated from the SPOT NDVI time series ranging from 1998 to 2013. Regression between dry dekads and maize yield show a negative linear relationship for four growing seasons (2010–2013) and indicates that dry dekads at both the vegetative and reproductive stages are important for predicting maize yield. Results suggest that early warning alert could be given using dry dekads that occur at the vegetative stage, while those at the reproductive stage can be used to give better yield estimate later on.     

气象干旱指数在东北春玉米干旱监测中的改进

利用土壤相对湿度数据和县级春玉米单产数据,在气象干旱指数SWAP（standardized weighted average of precipitation）的基础上,研究我国东北地区春玉米受干旱影响的界限指标,结果表明:SWAP在春玉米播种-出苗期低于-0.9,出苗-拔节期低于-1.0,拔节-抽穗期低于-1.2,抽穗-乳熟期低于-0.7时,土壤相对湿度偏低,即气象干旱一般为中旱时,不利于春玉米生长。以此构建春玉米干旱指数,对比我国东北地区春玉米干旱指数与省级农作物干旱受灾面积的关系,发现两者相关关系显著,尤其在典型干旱年份,两者对应关系更好,说明构建的东北地区春玉米干旱指数能够较好地反映干旱对春玉米的实际影响。利用东北地区县级春玉米单产数据对春玉米干旱指数进行等级划分,划分结果可为东北地区春玉米防旱减灾和安全生产提供参考。     

Maize diversity, rural development policy, and farmers' practices: lessons from Chiapas, Mexico

Maize diversity is important to the livelihoods of millions of farmers in Mexico, the crop's centre of origin; to maize breeders seeking new genetic material; and to producers and consumers worldwide. Key social processes that determine maize diversity include historic and cultural emphases on maize as a primary crop; land-use practices encompassing heterogeneous agro-ecological conditions; farmers' seed-saving practices; farmer selection of useful traits; and farmer seed exchange and purchasing networks. We consider the impacts of recent agricultural and rural development policies on these processes. We focus on La Frailesca, a commercial and semi-subsistence maize-growing region in southern Mexico. Qualitative data were collected via focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation in four villages at intervals over a 2-year period. These techniques were complemented with semi-structured interviews with local and state policymakers. Observations suggest that policies promoting market liberalisation, agricultural modernisation, and rural education have contributed to significant changes in the social processes which have historically generated maize diversity. Increasing numbers of smallholder maize producers are diversifying into alternative livelihood options, including temporary or permanent migration, and cultural and economic emphases on maize production are changing. Changes in La Frailesca raise important questions about the fate of maize genetic diversity as the Mexican agricultural sector is further realigned with the global agricultural economy.     

Multiple time scale evaluation of the energy balance during the maize growing season,and a new reason for energy imbalance

Energy imbalance is a common problem associated with the measurement of surface energy using the eddy covariance method. In the evaluation of the energy balance, people usually pay more attention to the statistical result that the effective energy (the sum of sensible and latent heat) is systematically lower than the available energy (the difference of net radiation and ground heat flux). However, little attention has been paid to the existence of the reversed situation when the effective energy is larger than the available energy or their contribution to the overall energy closure rate. In this paper, based on the analysis of the energy balance on multiple time scales across the maize growth season, we conclude that the non-synchronization of energy components is the main reason for the existence of the reversed case. By shifting the phase of the effective energy components half an hour ahead, the rates of energy closure over all time scales are improved and dramatically reduce the number of the half-hourly samples when the energy ratio exceeds 1 or is below 0.5. According to the characteristics of the energy distribution and transformation over multiple time scales, latent heat is always the main type of energy cost, and the residual of the energy balance increases with the growth of the maize plant surpassing the sensible heat for seventy days. It is suggested that the heat storage and photosynthetic energy play an important role in the energy balance during the growing period of maize. Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No.2007CB714402) and State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science (Beijing Normal University)     

淮河流域蚌埠闸以上地区夏玉米生育阶段水分供需时空变化特征研究

作物水分供需量是进行科学合理灌溉的重要参考依据,水分供需不平衡也是引起农业旱涝的根本原因。基于淮河流域蚌埠闸以上地区及周边1961—2015年共91个气象站点的日尺度气象数据,借助有效利用系数法计算夏玉米有效降水量,采用联合国粮食及农业组织（FAO）建议的Penman-Monteith（P-M）公式和作物系数法计算需水量,分析夏玉米水分供需时空变化特征,并探讨典型站点夏玉米生育期内水分盈亏状况。结果表明：① 近55a来,研究区夏玉米全生育期和各生育阶段有效降水量呈南高北低的分布特征,各站点趋势变化不明显;② 夏玉米全生育期和各生育阶段需水量大致呈南低北高的纬向分布,全生育期和各生育阶段呈显著减少趋势,只少数站点未通过显著性检验;③ 夏玉米全生育期和各生育阶段缺水量大致呈纬向分布特征,全生育期和播种-出苗期呈显著减少趋势,其余生育阶段趋势变化不明显。     

Spatiotemporal differentiation of changes in maize phenology in China from 1981 to 2010

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Spatio-temporal changes in the differentiation characteristics of eight consecutive phenological periods and their corresponding lengths were quantitatively...     

豫北沙地优质高产饲草料生产与发展模式研究

优质高产饲草料的生产是豫北沙地草食畜牧业经济有效发展的重要环节之一。根据本地区资源状况以及草食畜牧业的特点,饲草料的发展将影响着草食畜牧业发展规模、成效及在本区农业经济中所占据的地位。为此,我们着重探讨适合本区优质高产饲草料生产与有效利用模式,为地区草食畜牧业经济有序发展奠定良好的基础。