Measuring the agricultural sustainability of India:An application of Pressure-State-Response(PSR)model

Analyzing agricultural sustainability is essential for designing and assessing rural development initiatives.However,accurately measuring agricultural sustainability is complicated since it involves so many different factors.This study provides a new suite of quantitative indicators for assessing agricultural sustainability at regional and district levels,involving environmental sustainability,social security,and economic security.Combining the PressureState-Response(PSR)model and indicator approach,this study creates a composite agricultural sustainability index for the 14 mainstream agro-climatic regions of India.The results of this study show that the Trans-Gengatic Plain Region(TGPR)ranks first in agricultural sustainability among India's 14 mainstream agro-climatic regions,while the Eastern Himalayan Region(EHR)ranks last.Higher livestock ownership,cropping intensity,per capita income,irrigation intensity,share of institutional credit,food grain productivity,crop diversification,awareness of minimum support price,knowledge sharing with fellow farmers,and young and working population,as well as better transportation facilities and membership of agricultural credit societies are influencing indicators responsible for higher agricultural sustainability in TGPR compared with EHR.Although,the scores of environmental sustainability indicators of EHR are quite good,its scores of social and economic security indicators are fairly low,putting it at the bottom of the rank of agricultural sustainability index among the 14 mainstream agroclimatic regions in India.This demonstrates the need of understanding agricultural sustainability in relation to social and economic dimensions.In a nation as diverse and complicated as India,it is the social structure that determines the health of the economy and environment.Last but not least,the sustainability assessment methodology may be used in a variety of India's agro-climatic regions.

Quantitative Evaluation of Ecological Cumulative Effects and Zoning Regulations for Prefectural Mining Units in China

Although the development of energy and mineral resources strongly supports China’s rapid industrialization and urbanization,it has led to a series of ecological and environmental problems.Strengthening the spatial regulation considering the ecological and environmental protection on energy and mineral resource development areas is an important aspect of realizing China’s sustainable development.In this study,we mapped,categorized,and analyzed the ecological cumulative effects of the Chinese 134 prefectural mining units based on the pressure-state-response model,which is demonstrated as impact of mining activities on ecological environment,ecological environmental fragility,and ecological function.This investigation developed a stress zoning typology of the mining units based on scores of three dimensions of the ecological cumulative effects and classified 134 prefectural mining units into eight types of stress zones.A series of regulation and policy suggestions have been proposed to different types of zones from three aspects:space control,intensity control,and development mode control.The application of this evaluation and spatial zoning system will contribute to the refined spatial management of China’s mining areas.