Conservation of Traditional Rice Varieties in a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS):Rice-Fish Co-Culture

The traditional rice-fish farming system is selected as a ＂globally important agricultural heritage system＂ （GIAHS） by the Food and Agriculture Organization （FAO）,United Nations Development Programme （UNDP）,and Global Environment Facility （GEF）,etc.In Zhejiang Province of China,where the pilot site for this GIAHS farming system is located,we compared the use of traditional rice varieties in rice-fish co-culture and rice monoculture.Further,we determined how traditional rice varieties were performed in this rice-fish system.Only 19% of the farmers who practiced rice monoculture planted traditional varieties while 52% of farmers who practiced rice-fish co-culture planted traditional varieties.Traditional varieties represented 13% of the total land cultivated under rice in the rice-fish system but only 2% in the rice monoculture system.In the rice-fish system,yield was lower for traditional rice varieties than hybrid varieties but application of fertilizers and pesticides was also lower.In a field experiment in the rice-fish system without pesticides,rice planthopper numbers and sheath blight incidence were lower from three traditional varieties than one hybrid variety;yields were 8 to 32% lower from the traditional varieties than the hybrid.Our results showed that traditional rice varieties can be preserved through conserving GIAHS rice-fish co-culture.Our study also indicated that traditional rice varieties can survive in the rice-fish system because these varieties are helpful to the whole system and beneficial to the farmers.

Tourist preferences for agricultural landscapes:a case study of terraced paddy fields in Noto Peninsula,Japan

Many agricultural landscapes have been formed through the interaction and co-evolution of nature and people, and represent the living landscapes shaped over time through intensive and continuous human cultivation. Terraced paddy fields are being re-evaluated to take into account the multiple functions they fill beyond only rice cultivation, particularly their contribution to the national biodiversity strategy of Japan. Since the 1990 s, terraced paddy fields have been considered a representative cultural landscape of Japan and, at the same time, multi-stakeholder conservation activities have been conducted throughout Japan to reverse the increasing abandonment of terraces. Shiroyone Senmaida is an outstanding cultural landscape and a major tourist attraction in Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was designated through an initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS) pilot site in 2011. It is important to clarify tourist preference for terraced paddy field landscapes to contribute to future policy making toward improved agricultural landscape conservation. A key finding of this study is that tourists visiting toenjoy the agricultural landscape are also concerned on the sustainability of the farming methods and preferred to maintain the naturalness of the landscape. Respondents with higher educational levels and greater concern for the biological and traditional farming knowledge aspects of the rice terraces were also more inclined to favor sustainable farming practices. Tourists preferred to maintain the naturalness and rurality of the agricultural landscape, and indicated that construction of excessive tourist facilities would cause the landscape to deteriorate. It was suggested that the local community and surroundings, including rural settlements, hills, and forests, should also be conserved together with the scenic terrace.

Ecology of antibiotic resistant vibrios in traditional shrimp farming system(bhery)of West Bengal,India

Objective:To study the ecology of antibiotic resistant bacteria with emphasis on sucrose negative vibrios in water and sediments samples of traditional shrimp farming system(bhery)in West Bengal,India.Methods:The vibrios were isolated from traditional shrimp farm samples on thiosulphate citrate bile salt sucrose agar and sucrose negative bacterial strains were used as biomarkers to assess the frequency of antibiotic resistance.Results:The incoming water brought presumptive vibrios ranging from 5.50×10^(1)to 1.00×10^(3)mL in to the bhery,and there appeared to build up vibrios in the culture system with days of culture,as there was about 9 fold increase in vibrios.The levels of vibrios were observed to be moderately higher in outlet water and ranged between 4.15×10^(2)and 4.15x10^(3)mL.The counts of vibrios in pond sediment was found to be 1.00x10^(2)-4.90×10^(3)g;while in inlet(2.00×10^(2)-4.20×10^(4)g)and outlet(3.00×10^(2)-6.85×10^(3)g)their levels were observed to be higher than the pond sediment.Thirteen different Vibrio species were encountered in traditional shrimp culture system and all vibrios were sensitive to chloramphenicol,followed by ciprofloxacin and gatifloxacin(98.24%),gentamicin(95.61%)and other antibiotics.The multiple antibiotic resistance(MAR),i.e.,resistance to at least two antibiotics,was noticed among 43.85%of the sucrose negative vibrios and 41.86%of the sucrose negative non--vibrios.All vibrios harveyi strains exhibited MAR.Although no antibiotic was used in the bhery,the prevalence of MAR in 44%of the sucrose negative vibrios and nonvibrios is a cause of concern.The MAR index was higher in inlet water and sediment samples.The MAR observed in biomarker strains of pond water and sediment(40%)was comparable to those of inlet samples,thus confirming the fact that incoming water was the major source of antibiotic resistant bacteria.Conclusions:It seems that the shrimp culture in bhery does not favour the proliferation and spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Biocultural Diversity of Sarangani Province, Philippines: An Ethno-Ecological Analysis

This paper discussed effects of lowland-associated influences on upland ecology, food security and biocultural diversity in the Sarangani farming communities of the Philippines. In the uplands of Sarangani Province, the conservation of traditional rice varieties, the centrality of rice in tribal life, and the continued observance of planting rituals attest to its cultural significance and convey a common desire for cultural preservation and community solidarity. Economic and socio-political pressures had transformed tribal communities, although vestiges of traditional farming systems are still being practiced in remote sitios（villages）. Changing land use patterns had also resulted in shrinking farm sizes and consequently in food insecurity in the Sarangani uplands. Extractive industries（i.e. logging, mining and charcoal making） and swidden farming were observed to cause widespread environmental degradation, while modern agriculture had undermined the capacity of indigenous peoples to survive because of their complete dependence on lands and resources. With the reality that cultural and biological diversities are inextricably linked, trans-disciplinary strategies coupling indigenous knowledge systems with scientific knowledge should, therefore, be instituted to save the Sarangani upland ecosystem, the indigenous peoples and their tribal resources.

Assessment of nomadic rice-duck complex ecosystem on energy and economy

Introduction:Modern intensive rice production has brought a large amount of environmental pollution and do not guarantee the safety of rice quality.Thus,to improve the farmer's rice production model to reduce agro-chemicals is of great importance to decrease pollution and to guarantee the security of food quality.Here,our experiments illustrated that nomadic rice-duck complex ecosystem(RD)could reduce energy input and increase both energy output and the values of the product safety index based on energy(PSI).Results:According to the results of our experiments,RD and rice monoculture production system(RM)were-0.6 and-0.78,respectively,which indicated that the safety potential of products in RD was higher than that of RM.Protein yield based on RD was significantly higher than that of RM.The output/input,gross income,and net income of RD were 15.26%,39.51%,and 44.80%,respectively,higher than that of RM;the data suggest that the economic benefits of RD were greater than that of RM.Conclusions:Consequently,as an intermediate-type technology,RD could become a feasible alternative that could reduce agro-chemical application rate without decreasing rice yield and increasing labor intensity.Furthermore,as an inheritance and development of the Chinese farming culture,RD is a classic Chinese farming technology withstanding more than 700 years of tests.