A study on designing the tax of nitrogen fertilizer can provide a new method for controlling nitrogen fertilizer non-point source pollution. The tax design of nitrogen fertilizer was discussed by utilizing the externa...A study on designing the tax of nitrogen fertilizer can provide a new method for controlling nitrogen fertilizer non-point source pollution. The tax design of nitrogen fertilizer was discussed by utilizing the external theory and the demand elasticity theory. The results indicated that the coefficient of price elasticity of nitrogen fertilizer demand is -0.21, which instructed that the market demand is in lack of elasticity in the short period and the impact of nitrogen fertilizer manufacturers is subtle. The 11 counties (cities and boroughs) in the Dongting Lake area in China, where the farmland nitrogen application surpassed the average ecological fertilization dosage, is listed to the taxation scope of nitrogen fertilizer tax. The environment loss will reduce 0.07 hundred million RMB yuan and the revenue will increase 0.89 hundred million RMB yuan in the country after levying on nitrogen fertilizer. The loss, which was brought by the decreasing food supplies production, will be 0.58 hundred million RMB yuan and the net social benefit will be 0.38 hundred million RMB yuan following revenue collection. The variation scope of the increasing expenditure of farmers will range from 0.95 to 1.49%. The variation scope of the income of farmers will range from -8.41 to 6.44%. The 5 areas, Yunxi Borough, Junshan Borough, Hanshou County, Jinshi City, and Ziyang Borough, had an increase in food supplies production after the revenue collection. The environment loss will reduce 0.01 hundred million RMB yuan and the revenue will increase 0.16 hundred million RMB yuan in the country after levying on nitrogen fertilizer. The economic benefits, which was brought by the increasing cereals production, will be 0.67 hundred million RMB yuan and the net social benefit will be 0.84 hundred million RMB yuan after revenue collection. The variation scope of the increasing expenditure of farmers will range from 0.95 to 1.06%. The variation scope of the increasing income of farmers will range from 0.69 to 6.44%. Considering the entire social welfare, taxation of nitrogen fertilizer will have more advantages than disadvantages in the Dongting Lake area.展开更多
The rice-duck ecological system is one of the major practices of the traditional Chinese agriculture. A study on the effect of reducing methane emission using this practice provided theoretical and practical basis for...The rice-duck ecological system is one of the major practices of the traditional Chinese agriculture. A study on the effect of reducing methane emission using this practice provided theoretical and practical basis for further development and utilization of this classical agricultural technique. The effect of reducing methane emission and the economic benefits of rice-duck ecological system were studied by carrying out a field experiment and by using economic methodology. The daily variation of CH4 emission in late rice paddy field was basically consistent with the daily variation of atmospheric temperature. The highest emission occurred at the full tillering stage of late rice with a rate of 24.1 or 32.2 or 40.5 mg m^-2 h^-1 in no-tillage area with duck and no-tillage area without duck and conventional-tillage area without duck, respectively. The inhibition of methane emission was apparently effective in the rice-duck ecological system during the initial tillering stage and the full tillering stage. Compared to the no-tillage area without duck, methane emission decreased by 2.333 g m^-2. Compared to the conventional-tillage area without duck, methane emission decreased by 4.723 g m^-2. During the production period of late rice, the amount of methane emission in no-tillage area with duck was 3.373 g m^-2 lesser than that of no-tillage area without duck, and 5.59 g m^-2 less than that of conventional-tillage without duck area. The economic significance was analyzed. Farmers adopting the rice-duck ecological system obtained 2 166 and 4 207 RMB yuan ha^-1 more income than those who adopted a no-tillage without duck technique or conventional-tillage without duck technique, respectively. In addition to the reduction of the environmental pollution by methane emission, the farmers who adopted the rice-duck ecological system achieved economic benefits of 5 000 RMB yuan ha^-1, which was 2 206 and 4 274 RMB yuan ha^-1 more than those who adopted a no-tillage without duck technique and a conventional-tillage without duck technique, respectively. The rice-duck ecological system not only increased the economic benefits for farmers, but also reduced methane emission in rice paddy field. A sustainable agricultural production mode was formed.展开更多
The multi-functionality of paddy farming has become a hot issue recently. Paddy farming provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial to human well-being. However, evaluation of the contribution of paddy farmi...The multi-functionality of paddy farming has become a hot issue recently. Paddy farming provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial to human well-being. However, evaluation of the contribution of paddy farming to human well-being usually focus on its economic value, while its non-market services are usually ignored. Only evaluating the market profits or market relative benefits cannot reflect comprehensively the contribution of paddy farming to people's well-being. This will affect people's choices for or against paddy farming activities and people's opt for invest or not invest in it. A comprehensive evaluation of paddy farming can provide an important reference for the government and society to conserve the multi-functionality of paddy farming and achieve sustainable development. To this end, this paper reports a case evaluation of paddy farming in Hunan, the largest rice producing as well as rice yield province in China, and uses emergy theory to make a comprehensive evaluation for paddy farming. The emergy evaluation results of the paddy ecosystem in Hunan are as follows: in 2010, the input emergy of the paddy ecosystem in Hunan is 2.51E+22 sej and the output emergy is 6.31E+22sej. For the input emergy, the part from natural resources is 1.96E+21 sej and the part from human society is 2.32E+22sej; for the output emergy, the part from products is 2.22E+22 sej, the part from impositive externality is 4.16E+22 sej and the part from negative externality is –7.41E+20 sej. Taking the non-market outputs into consideration, the gains from the human economic society's 1 $ input in paddy farming, emergy sustainability index(ESI) and emergy profit rate are respectively 2.73 $, 3.53 and 151.31%. If the evaluation leave out the non-market output, the three indexes are only 0.96 $,1.24 and 30.67%. The research results show that non-market services of paddy farming contribute significantly to human well-being. Therefore, in order to protect the multi-functionality of paddy farming and achieve the sustainable management,the government should take reasonable measures and make incentive plans.展开更多
The external costs and the optimum use of nitrogen fertilizer based on the balance of economic and ecological benefits was studied with the paddy field system of Dongting Lake area, one of the main food production reg...The external costs and the optimum use of nitrogen fertilizer based on the balance of economic and ecological benefits was studied with the paddy field system of Dongting Lake area, one of the main food production regions in China. The environmental impact was economically evaluated using methods of the environmental impact economical evaluation. The optimum use of nitrogen fertilizer was calculated based on the exterior diseconomy theory and by using the production function model. Both ecological benefits and farmers' economic benefits were considered. It was calculated on the data from 2002 that the losses caused by inappropriate utilization of nitrogen fertilizer in the process of food production were fishery, 0.1 × 10^7 RMB yuan; water treatment, 1.02 × 10^8 RMB yuan; tour business, 0.11 ×10^8 RMB yuan, and habitation environment, 0.3 × 10^7 RMB yuan, totally equivalent to 0.41 RMB yuan kg^-1 N. The economically satisfactory and the ecological agronomic nitrogen fertilizer dose for current production was 138 and 137 kg ha^-1, respectively. The research showed that the actual nitrogen fertilizer application amount in the paddy field system of the Dongting Lake area already reached or exceeded the farmers' economic satisfaction and the ecological agronomic nitrogen fertilizer dose for current production. An environmental tax is suggested to impose on over-use of nitrogen fertilizer.展开更多
文摘A study on designing the tax of nitrogen fertilizer can provide a new method for controlling nitrogen fertilizer non-point source pollution. The tax design of nitrogen fertilizer was discussed by utilizing the external theory and the demand elasticity theory. The results indicated that the coefficient of price elasticity of nitrogen fertilizer demand is -0.21, which instructed that the market demand is in lack of elasticity in the short period and the impact of nitrogen fertilizer manufacturers is subtle. The 11 counties (cities and boroughs) in the Dongting Lake area in China, where the farmland nitrogen application surpassed the average ecological fertilization dosage, is listed to the taxation scope of nitrogen fertilizer tax. The environment loss will reduce 0.07 hundred million RMB yuan and the revenue will increase 0.89 hundred million RMB yuan in the country after levying on nitrogen fertilizer. The loss, which was brought by the decreasing food supplies production, will be 0.58 hundred million RMB yuan and the net social benefit will be 0.38 hundred million RMB yuan following revenue collection. The variation scope of the increasing expenditure of farmers will range from 0.95 to 1.49%. The variation scope of the income of farmers will range from -8.41 to 6.44%. The 5 areas, Yunxi Borough, Junshan Borough, Hanshou County, Jinshi City, and Ziyang Borough, had an increase in food supplies production after the revenue collection. The environment loss will reduce 0.01 hundred million RMB yuan and the revenue will increase 0.16 hundred million RMB yuan in the country after levying on nitrogen fertilizer. The economic benefits, which was brought by the increasing cereals production, will be 0.67 hundred million RMB yuan and the net social benefit will be 0.84 hundred million RMB yuan after revenue collection. The variation scope of the increasing expenditure of farmers will range from 0.95 to 1.06%. The variation scope of the increasing income of farmers will range from 0.69 to 6.44%. Considering the entire social welfare, taxation of nitrogen fertilizer will have more advantages than disadvantages in the Dongting Lake area.
文摘The rice-duck ecological system is one of the major practices of the traditional Chinese agriculture. A study on the effect of reducing methane emission using this practice provided theoretical and practical basis for further development and utilization of this classical agricultural technique. The effect of reducing methane emission and the economic benefits of rice-duck ecological system were studied by carrying out a field experiment and by using economic methodology. The daily variation of CH4 emission in late rice paddy field was basically consistent with the daily variation of atmospheric temperature. The highest emission occurred at the full tillering stage of late rice with a rate of 24.1 or 32.2 or 40.5 mg m^-2 h^-1 in no-tillage area with duck and no-tillage area without duck and conventional-tillage area without duck, respectively. The inhibition of methane emission was apparently effective in the rice-duck ecological system during the initial tillering stage and the full tillering stage. Compared to the no-tillage area without duck, methane emission decreased by 2.333 g m^-2. Compared to the conventional-tillage area without duck, methane emission decreased by 4.723 g m^-2. During the production period of late rice, the amount of methane emission in no-tillage area with duck was 3.373 g m^-2 lesser than that of no-tillage area without duck, and 5.59 g m^-2 less than that of conventional-tillage without duck area. The economic significance was analyzed. Farmers adopting the rice-duck ecological system obtained 2 166 and 4 207 RMB yuan ha^-1 more income than those who adopted a no-tillage without duck technique or conventional-tillage without duck technique, respectively. In addition to the reduction of the environmental pollution by methane emission, the farmers who adopted the rice-duck ecological system achieved economic benefits of 5 000 RMB yuan ha^-1, which was 2 206 and 4 274 RMB yuan ha^-1 more than those who adopted a no-tillage without duck technique and a conventional-tillage without duck technique, respectively. The rice-duck ecological system not only increased the economic benefits for farmers, but also reduced methane emission in rice paddy field. A sustainable agricultural production mode was formed.
基金supported by the National Social Science Fundation of China (11BJY028)
文摘The multi-functionality of paddy farming has become a hot issue recently. Paddy farming provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial to human well-being. However, evaluation of the contribution of paddy farming to human well-being usually focus on its economic value, while its non-market services are usually ignored. Only evaluating the market profits or market relative benefits cannot reflect comprehensively the contribution of paddy farming to people's well-being. This will affect people's choices for or against paddy farming activities and people's opt for invest or not invest in it. A comprehensive evaluation of paddy farming can provide an important reference for the government and society to conserve the multi-functionality of paddy farming and achieve sustainable development. To this end, this paper reports a case evaluation of paddy farming in Hunan, the largest rice producing as well as rice yield province in China, and uses emergy theory to make a comprehensive evaluation for paddy farming. The emergy evaluation results of the paddy ecosystem in Hunan are as follows: in 2010, the input emergy of the paddy ecosystem in Hunan is 2.51E+22 sej and the output emergy is 6.31E+22sej. For the input emergy, the part from natural resources is 1.96E+21 sej and the part from human society is 2.32E+22sej; for the output emergy, the part from products is 2.22E+22 sej, the part from impositive externality is 4.16E+22 sej and the part from negative externality is –7.41E+20 sej. Taking the non-market outputs into consideration, the gains from the human economic society's 1 $ input in paddy farming, emergy sustainability index(ESI) and emergy profit rate are respectively 2.73 $, 3.53 and 151.31%. If the evaluation leave out the non-market output, the three indexes are only 0.96 $,1.24 and 30.67%. The research results show that non-market services of paddy farming contribute significantly to human well-being. Therefore, in order to protect the multi-functionality of paddy farming and achieve the sustainable management,the government should take reasonable measures and make incentive plans.
文摘The external costs and the optimum use of nitrogen fertilizer based on the balance of economic and ecological benefits was studied with the paddy field system of Dongting Lake area, one of the main food production regions in China. The environmental impact was economically evaluated using methods of the environmental impact economical evaluation. The optimum use of nitrogen fertilizer was calculated based on the exterior diseconomy theory and by using the production function model. Both ecological benefits and farmers' economic benefits were considered. It was calculated on the data from 2002 that the losses caused by inappropriate utilization of nitrogen fertilizer in the process of food production were fishery, 0.1 × 10^7 RMB yuan; water treatment, 1.02 × 10^8 RMB yuan; tour business, 0.11 ×10^8 RMB yuan, and habitation environment, 0.3 × 10^7 RMB yuan, totally equivalent to 0.41 RMB yuan kg^-1 N. The economically satisfactory and the ecological agronomic nitrogen fertilizer dose for current production was 138 and 137 kg ha^-1, respectively. The research showed that the actual nitrogen fertilizer application amount in the paddy field system of the Dongting Lake area already reached or exceeded the farmers' economic satisfaction and the ecological agronomic nitrogen fertilizer dose for current production. An environmental tax is suggested to impose on over-use of nitrogen fertilizer.