Considerations on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Dryland Areas

Drylands of the world cover 41%of the Earth＇s land surface and are a direct source of livelihood for 6.5 billion people, especially in developing countries. However, nearly all drylands are at risk of land degradation as a result of human activities. Poverty and desertification in dryland areas are major problems threatening sustainable agriculture and rural development in dryland areas. Several topics that are significant for sustainable agriculture and rural development for food security and environmental rehabilitation in dryland areas were stressed in this paper.

Selenium Enriched Trionyx sinensis : A New Choice for the Sustainable Development Model of Modern Agriculture

Based on the analysis of the current situation and existing problems of traditional Chinese soft shelled turtle(Trionyx sinensis)breeding industry,combined with the fact that selenium enriched functional agriculture is the future demand of mankind,this paper put forward the necessity of developing selenium enriched Chinese soft shelled turtles and promoting the sustainable development of modern agriculture:the development of selenium-enriched Chinese soft-shelled turtle is the need of the consumer market for food safety,the need to reduce the production cost of soft-shelled turtles and improve the production efficiency of soft-shelled turtles,the need to enrich the Chinese soft-shelled turtle market,and the need to promote the sustainable development of modern agriculture(fishery).

Assessing Agricultural Sustainable Development Based on the DPSIR Approach: Case Study in Jiangsu, China

According to the contemporary ecosystem approach, the linkages of human actions with their environment have to be assessed in an integrative manner. The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response （DPSIR） model is applied to identify and describe processes and interactions in human-environmental systems. An example application from a research project dealing with the development of sustainable management strategies for the agriculture in Jiangsu, China, illustrates the potentials and limitations of its sustainable development. The concept and indicators of ecological integrity are used to assess the indicators in the dimensions of DPSIR between 2003 and 2006. The main drivers included population growth which caused increasing demand for food, growing environmental demands, and rapidly decreasing of land and other natural resources. The main environmental problem was water pollution. The results show that in the dimension of driver, total grain output and agricultural land productivity both increased. Labor intensive agriculture has been promoted to increase agricultural land productivity. In the dimension of pressure, on the positive side, infrastructure got greatly improved, the input level such as total power of machinery, and level of fertilizer use increased, and level of pesticides use decreased, but on the negative side, cultivated land per capita and irrigation rate decreased, natural resources keep decreased. Environmental pollution indicators such as industrial wastewater discharge and acid rain rate increased in Jiangsu Province. In the aspect of state, ecosystem state was improved, plant coverage index increased, biological abundance index increased, fertilizer productivity increased, eco-environmental quality index increased, but land degradation index also increased. In the aspect of impact, output level increased, output efficiency enhanced, farmer＇s social economic benefit improved. In the aspect of response, social support was greatly improved, input for environmental governance increased. To assess the effects of environmental governance, Jiangsu government was successful to increase compliance rate of sulfur dioxide emissions, but not so efficient in compliance rate of industrial wastewater discharge.

Study on Decision Support System of Agricultural Sustainable Development of Jianli County in Jianghan Plain

With the agricultural development and the modernization of decision-making, it is necessary to establish the agricultural sustainable development decision support system supported by GIS. We set Jianli county as an example; our aim is to realize decision spatialiazation with the support of information system, remote sensing and artificial intelligence. The system components are described in the aspects of database, knowledge base, model-base and method-base. This system will provide a workable system for local decision-makers and agricultural management sections.

Effects of environmentally friendly agricultural land protection programs: Evidence from the Lake Seyfe area of Turkey

fully supported by the Turkish Scientific Research Council （TUBITAK in Turkish, 110O747）

RESEARCH AND APPLICATION OF CROP PEST MONITORING AND EARLY WARNING TECHNOLOGY IN CHINA

The importance of food security,especially in combating the problem of acute hunger,has been underscored as a key component of sustainable development.Considering the major challenge of rapidly increasing demands for both food security and safety,the management and control of major pests is urged to secure supplies of major agricultural products.However,owing to global climate change,biological invasion(e.g.,fall armyworm),decreasing agricultural biodiversity,and other factors,a wide range of crop pest outbreaks are becoming more frequent and serious,making China,one of the world’s largest country in terms of agricultural production,one of the primary victims of crop yield loss and the largest pesticide consumer in the world.Nevertheless,the use of science and technology in monitoring and early warning of major crop pests provides better pest management and acts as a fundamental part of an integrated plant protection strategy to achieve the goal of sustainable development of agriculture.This review summarizes the most fundamental information on pest monitoring and early warning in China by documenting the developmental history of research and application,Chinese laws and regulations related to plant protection,and the National Monitoring and Early Warning System,with the purpose of presenting the Chinese model as an example of how to promote regional management of crop pests,especially of cross border pests such as fall armyworm and locust,by international cooperation across pest-related countries.