Traditional farming practices conform to sustainable rural livelihoods, while agricultural modernisation tends to undermine these practices through various perturbations. A case study in Tengchong County (western Yunn...Traditional farming practices conform to sustainable rural livelihoods, while agricultural modernisation tends to undermine these practices through various perturbations. A case study in Tengchong County (western Yunnan, China) shows that transformation of traditional alder (Alnus nepalensis) and dry rice (upland rice) rotational farming to introduced Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) plantations leads to localised water scarcity and soil fertility decline. While farmers are aware of ecological sustainability of traditional farming, they prefer Chinese fir forestry because it is less labour-intensive, has a high market value, and releases time for profitable off-farm work. Farmers adapt to economic liberalization by planting high value crops and trees. However, alternatives to make local agricultural production more profitable through competitive business strategies, cooperative approaches, innovations in integrating high value crops and 'downstream' processingfor sustainable rural livelihoods have been overlooked largely due to poor information availability and lack of organisational framework.展开更多
The Tunisian coastal oases constitute a model of very rich plant biodiversity, organized in different floors of cultivation. The date palm is the highest, the second is the diversified fruit trees and the smallest is ...The Tunisian coastal oases constitute a model of very rich plant biodiversity, organized in different floors of cultivation. The date palm is the highest, the second is the diversified fruit trees and the smallest is composed by various other productions. The present paper is the results of a RAA diagnosis and bibliographic analysis of nearly thirty years of work on oases. The aim of this study is to focus on the plant diversity and the traditions in using different products. The survey revealed the existence of nearly 45 local date palm varieties, about 26 fruit trees, 65 vegetables and divers other species. It also raises nearly 30 uses of dates and date palm by-products. This survey shows also that oases inhabitants keep in possessing, for a long time, a knowledge to make ingenious concerning use and conservation of the products and by products of the date palm. This survey has all as much demonstrated the risks from weakening this balance which has long been maintained. Some recommendations to maintain and conserve this system are also presented in this paper.展开更多
Shifting cultivation is a traditional farming system practiced in the tropical mountainous areas. Although it has been widely perceived as an economically inefficient and environmentally harmful agricultural productio...Shifting cultivation is a traditional farming system practiced in the tropical mountainous areas. Although it has been widely perceived as an economically inefficient and environmentally harmful agricultural production system, recent science reviews, however, indicate that the deleterious impacts of shifting cultivation on environment may have been overestimated. Despite the pressures of agricultural intensification in areas where shifting cultivation occurs, farmers across the tropics still maintain this traditional farming system. The objective of this study was to explore existing traditional shifting cultivation practices and their various modifications including the innovative farming techniques developed by farmers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHTs), the mountainous region of Bangladesh, and examine their importance with respect to recent socio-economic and environmental changes. The study revealed that shifting cultivation still exists as the most dominant farming method which supports livelihoods and culture of the hill ethnic people. However, demand for more food and household income to meet livelihood needs of an increasing population combined with a rapid deterioration of soil and water quality over decades contributed to development of innovative farming practices through fallow land farming, crop substitution, agroforestry and homestead gardening in the CHTs. Through these farming techniques farmers maintain a strong relationship with traditional knowledge system embedded in the ageold shifting cultivation practices. Today state policies and market forces act in favor of replacement of traditional farming with intensive cash crop agriculture. It seems that disappearance of traditional farming practices from the hills may threaten local biodiversity and food security. It may be recommended that shifting cultivation should be encouraged in areas where they have potential for contributing to preservation of native biodiversity and ecosystem services, and protection of local peoples' food security and cultural identity.展开更多
The EU, the United States and other economies, with the intention to implement unilateral trade measures Border Carbon Adjustments, impose emission reduction pressure on developing countries. Once implemented, the mea...The EU, the United States and other economies, with the intention to implement unilateral trade measures Border Carbon Adjustments, impose emission reduction pressure on developing countries. Once implemented, the measures will have great impact on China's foreign trade. Using the input-output table in 2007, this paper had analyzed the influences on China's foreign trade as a whole and sub-sectors in three tax rates scenarios. The results showed that the tariff level of China's exports will increase by 3.6%-6.3% if the tax was levied on exports embodied emissions, and by 1.0%-1.7% if levied on export direct emissions. In 2007, the former total amount of carbon tax was about US$42.6-73.0 billion, 4 times that of the latter. Based on export embodied emissions, sectors largely influenced were non-traditional energy intensive ones, such as textile, et al. These sectors should be encour-aged to carry out industrial upgrading, raising the value-added of export goods, and reducing their embodied emissions by reduction of energy intensity. Taking into account of the complexity of data collection, the tax levied on products direct emission is more operational. The results showed that the five top sectors most affected were other chemical materials, processing of petroleum and nuclear fuel, coking, smelting and rolling of ferrous metal and textile. Most of them were energy intensive sectors. Therefore, adjusting export products structure, and controlling too fast development of energy intensive industries are also important strategies in China.展开更多
People and nature are working in tandem to reduce the integrity of traditional agricultural systems. The paper highlighted the drivers of change acting on traditional agricultural landscapes including the threats and ...People and nature are working in tandem to reduce the integrity of traditional agricultural systems. The paper highlighted the drivers of change acting on traditional agricultural landscapes including the threats and barriers hindering biodiversity conservation. The drivers of change are: modem agriculture, tourism, education and outmigration and climate change. The threats are encroachment and land-use change, pollution, replacement of traditional varieties and erosion of indigenous knowledge systems and practices. The barriers to biodiversity conservation include the incapacity of farmers to respond to pressures affecting their traditional farming systems, absence of methodologies for integrating traditional and modem knowledge in biodiversity conservation and the multi-functionality of traditional agriculture not fully captured by the market. The conservation framework to guide stakeholders for in-situ management of biodiversity includes niche market development, revenue generation and cultural restoration. The study made use of data collected during the series of workshops conducted in 2005-2007 covering the Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippines. Secondary data from other traditional agricultural systems were integrated to enrich the discussion and write-up of this paper.展开更多
China is a traditional agriculture based country and one main region for crop production is southeastern China where temperature is a dominant climate variable affecting agriculture. Temperature and social disturbance...China is a traditional agriculture based country and one main region for crop production is southeastern China where temperature is a dominant climate variable affecting agriculture. Temperature and social disturbances both influence crop production, yet distinguishing their relative impacts is difficult due to a lack of reliable, high-resolution historical climatic records before the very recent period. Here we present the first tree-ring based warm-season temperature reconstruction for southeastern China, a core region of the East Asian monsoon, for the past 227 years. The reconstruction target was April-July mean temperature, and our model explained 60.6% of the observed temperature variance during 1953–2012.Spatial correlation analysis showed that the reconstruction is representative of April-July temperature change over most of eastern China. The reconstructed temperature series agrees well with China-scale(heavily weighted in eastern China) agricultural production index values quite well at decadal timescales.The impacts of social upheavals on food production, such as those in the period 1920–1949, were confirmed after climatic influences were excluded. Our study should help distinguish the influence of social disturbance and warm-season temperature on grain productivity in the core agricultural region of China during the past two centuries.展开更多
Approximately ten years have passed since Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)was introduced to Japan in 2011,with 11 GIAHS sites designated so far.The Japan Nationally Important Agricultural Herita...Approximately ten years have passed since Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)was introduced to Japan in 2011,with 11 GIAHS sites designated so far.The Japan Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(J-NIAHS),which considers resilience,multi-stakeholder participation and sixth industrialization,was subsequently established in 2016,and has designated 15 J-NIAHS sites.GIAHS sites can be classified into three major types:Landscape,farming method,and genetic resource conservation types,and most Japanese GIAHS sites are of the landscape type.Since there is almost no national subsidy for GIAHS or J-NIAHS,designated sites are expected to secure funding for conservation from their own efforts.For this reason,a voluntary network of the Japanese GIAHS sites has been active in promoting cooperation on GIAHS conservation.The priorities of the Japanese GIAHS have focused on raising public awareness about GIAHS and J-NIAHS,improving livelihoods,as well as fostering the international exchange of experience and knowledge regarding Agricultural Heritage Systems,especially among Japan,China and Korea.展开更多
The paper compares the agricultural heritage conservation schemes of China,Japan and Korea and,in particular,the national programs and their implementation under Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations...The paper compares the agricultural heritage conservation schemes of China,Japan and Korea and,in particular,the national programs and their implementation under Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO)'s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS).This comparison allows an understanding of the background of developments,designation criteria,application procedures and implementation structures of GIAHS and of the respective domestic programs in terms of the differences in national circumstances of Japan,China and South Korea.The sequence of implementation of GIAHS and the national program differs in each of the three countries.China introduced a national program after GIAHS designation,Japan has GIAHS but no national program,and Korea implemented a national program before its GIAHS designation.Thus GIAHS candidate sites in China and Korea are now selected from among their respective pools of national agricultural heritage sites.On the other hand,commonalities can be seen in the perspectives of the three countries with regards to agricultural heritage conservation through the common emphasis placed on the designation criteria:historical significance,cultural value,fostering partnerships,rural revitalization and biodiversity conservation associated with the agricultural heritage systems etc.Thus,the cooperation between China,Japan and Korea and the perspectives they have will contribute to proposals for improvements to the FAO designation criteria for GIAHS.These will be comprehensively applicable to both developing and developed countries.展开更多
Agricultural biodiversity has a high importance in social-cultural,economic,and environmental aspects,and can help in adapting to and withstanding climate change.Conserving the GIAHS sites and the important components...Agricultural biodiversity has a high importance in social-cultural,economic,and environmental aspects,and can help in adapting to and withstanding climate change.Conserving the GIAHS sites and the important components within them can help conserve the agricultural biodiversity and traditional agricultural culture of the whole country.This study considered Ifugao Rice Terraces,Dong’s Rice-Fish-Duck System,and Hani Rice Terraces System as three examples which show that traditional culture can be used to protect agricultural biodiversity,while as a carrier of traditional culture,agricultural biodiversity also conveys and protects the traditional culture of the nation.According to the analyses,through several years of efforts,the status of agricultural biodiversity and traditional culture in them has improved.Then,to further promote agricultural biodiversity conservation and traditional culture protection,several suggestions are made,such as establishing community seed banks;documenting and preserving traditional farming methods,techniques,and tools and developing participatory activities which encourage more farmers to participate in the protection work.展开更多
文摘Traditional farming practices conform to sustainable rural livelihoods, while agricultural modernisation tends to undermine these practices through various perturbations. A case study in Tengchong County (western Yunnan, China) shows that transformation of traditional alder (Alnus nepalensis) and dry rice (upland rice) rotational farming to introduced Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) plantations leads to localised water scarcity and soil fertility decline. While farmers are aware of ecological sustainability of traditional farming, they prefer Chinese fir forestry because it is less labour-intensive, has a high market value, and releases time for profitable off-farm work. Farmers adapt to economic liberalization by planting high value crops and trees. However, alternatives to make local agricultural production more profitable through competitive business strategies, cooperative approaches, innovations in integrating high value crops and 'downstream' processingfor sustainable rural livelihoods have been overlooked largely due to poor information availability and lack of organisational framework.
文摘The Tunisian coastal oases constitute a model of very rich plant biodiversity, organized in different floors of cultivation. The date palm is the highest, the second is the diversified fruit trees and the smallest is composed by various other productions. The present paper is the results of a RAA diagnosis and bibliographic analysis of nearly thirty years of work on oases. The aim of this study is to focus on the plant diversity and the traditions in using different products. The survey revealed the existence of nearly 45 local date palm varieties, about 26 fruit trees, 65 vegetables and divers other species. It also raises nearly 30 uses of dates and date palm by-products. This survey shows also that oases inhabitants keep in possessing, for a long time, a knowledge to make ingenious concerning use and conservation of the products and by products of the date palm. This survey has all as much demonstrated the risks from weakening this balance which has long been maintained. Some recommendations to maintain and conserve this system are also presented in this paper.
基金the financial support provided by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) for conducting the fieldwork of this study
文摘Shifting cultivation is a traditional farming system practiced in the tropical mountainous areas. Although it has been widely perceived as an economically inefficient and environmentally harmful agricultural production system, recent science reviews, however, indicate that the deleterious impacts of shifting cultivation on environment may have been overestimated. Despite the pressures of agricultural intensification in areas where shifting cultivation occurs, farmers across the tropics still maintain this traditional farming system. The objective of this study was to explore existing traditional shifting cultivation practices and their various modifications including the innovative farming techniques developed by farmers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHTs), the mountainous region of Bangladesh, and examine their importance with respect to recent socio-economic and environmental changes. The study revealed that shifting cultivation still exists as the most dominant farming method which supports livelihoods and culture of the hill ethnic people. However, demand for more food and household income to meet livelihood needs of an increasing population combined with a rapid deterioration of soil and water quality over decades contributed to development of innovative farming practices through fallow land farming, crop substitution, agroforestry and homestead gardening in the CHTs. Through these farming techniques farmers maintain a strong relationship with traditional knowledge system embedded in the ageold shifting cultivation practices. Today state policies and market forces act in favor of replacement of traditional farming with intensive cash crop agriculture. It seems that disappearance of traditional farming practices from the hills may threaten local biodiversity and food security. It may be recommended that shifting cultivation should be encouraged in areas where they have potential for contributing to preservation of native biodiversity and ecosystem services, and protection of local peoples' food security and cultural identity.
文摘The EU, the United States and other economies, with the intention to implement unilateral trade measures Border Carbon Adjustments, impose emission reduction pressure on developing countries. Once implemented, the measures will have great impact on China's foreign trade. Using the input-output table in 2007, this paper had analyzed the influences on China's foreign trade as a whole and sub-sectors in three tax rates scenarios. The results showed that the tariff level of China's exports will increase by 3.6%-6.3% if the tax was levied on exports embodied emissions, and by 1.0%-1.7% if levied on export direct emissions. In 2007, the former total amount of carbon tax was about US$42.6-73.0 billion, 4 times that of the latter. Based on export embodied emissions, sectors largely influenced were non-traditional energy intensive ones, such as textile, et al. These sectors should be encour-aged to carry out industrial upgrading, raising the value-added of export goods, and reducing their embodied emissions by reduction of energy intensity. Taking into account of the complexity of data collection, the tax levied on products direct emission is more operational. The results showed that the five top sectors most affected were other chemical materials, processing of petroleum and nuclear fuel, coking, smelting and rolling of ferrous metal and textile. Most of them were energy intensive sectors. Therefore, adjusting export products structure, and controlling too fast development of energy intensive industries are also important strategies in China.
文摘People and nature are working in tandem to reduce the integrity of traditional agricultural systems. The paper highlighted the drivers of change acting on traditional agricultural landscapes including the threats and barriers hindering biodiversity conservation. The drivers of change are: modem agriculture, tourism, education and outmigration and climate change. The threats are encroachment and land-use change, pollution, replacement of traditional varieties and erosion of indigenous knowledge systems and practices. The barriers to biodiversity conservation include the incapacity of farmers to respond to pressures affecting their traditional farming systems, absence of methodologies for integrating traditional and modem knowledge in biodiversity conservation and the multi-functionality of traditional agriculture not fully captured by the market. The conservation framework to guide stakeholders for in-situ management of biodiversity includes niche market development, revenue generation and cultural restoration. The study made use of data collected during the series of workshops conducted in 2005-2007 covering the Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippines. Secondary data from other traditional agricultural systems were integrated to enrich the discussion and write-up of this paper.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China Project (41271210)the National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFA0600503)+3 种基金the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (20620140083)the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutionsthe Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Climate ChangeUNESCO CHINA-4500193250
文摘China is a traditional agriculture based country and one main region for crop production is southeastern China where temperature is a dominant climate variable affecting agriculture. Temperature and social disturbances both influence crop production, yet distinguishing their relative impacts is difficult due to a lack of reliable, high-resolution historical climatic records before the very recent period. Here we present the first tree-ring based warm-season temperature reconstruction for southeastern China, a core region of the East Asian monsoon, for the past 227 years. The reconstruction target was April-July mean temperature, and our model explained 60.6% of the observed temperature variance during 1953–2012.Spatial correlation analysis showed that the reconstruction is representative of April-July temperature change over most of eastern China. The reconstructed temperature series agrees well with China-scale(heavily weighted in eastern China) agricultural production index values quite well at decadal timescales.The impacts of social upheavals on food production, such as those in the period 1920–1949, were confirmed after climatic influences were excluded. Our study should help distinguish the influence of social disturbance and warm-season temperature on grain productivity in the core agricultural region of China during the past two centuries.
文摘Approximately ten years have passed since Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)was introduced to Japan in 2011,with 11 GIAHS sites designated so far.The Japan Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(J-NIAHS),which considers resilience,multi-stakeholder participation and sixth industrialization,was subsequently established in 2016,and has designated 15 J-NIAHS sites.GIAHS sites can be classified into three major types:Landscape,farming method,and genetic resource conservation types,and most Japanese GIAHS sites are of the landscape type.Since there is almost no national subsidy for GIAHS or J-NIAHS,designated sites are expected to secure funding for conservation from their own efforts.For this reason,a voluntary network of the Japanese GIAHS sites has been active in promoting cooperation on GIAHS conservation.The priorities of the Japanese GIAHS have focused on raising public awareness about GIAHS and J-NIAHS,improving livelihoods,as well as fostering the international exchange of experience and knowledge regarding Agricultural Heritage Systems,especially among Japan,China and Korea.
基金based in part on the research outcomes of the “Developing a Comprehensive Assessment Methodology for AgriCultural Systems in Japan (ACS)” project funded by Japan Ministry of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Policy Research Institute
文摘The paper compares the agricultural heritage conservation schemes of China,Japan and Korea and,in particular,the national programs and their implementation under Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO)'s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS).This comparison allows an understanding of the background of developments,designation criteria,application procedures and implementation structures of GIAHS and of the respective domestic programs in terms of the differences in national circumstances of Japan,China and South Korea.The sequence of implementation of GIAHS and the national program differs in each of the three countries.China introduced a national program after GIAHS designation,Japan has GIAHS but no national program,and Korea implemented a national program before its GIAHS designation.Thus GIAHS candidate sites in China and Korea are now selected from among their respective pools of national agricultural heritage sites.On the other hand,commonalities can be seen in the perspectives of the three countries with regards to agricultural heritage conservation through the common emphasis placed on the designation criteria:historical significance,cultural value,fostering partnerships,rural revitalization and biodiversity conservation associated with the agricultural heritage systems etc.Thus,the cooperation between China,Japan and Korea and the perspectives they have will contribute to proposals for improvements to the FAO designation criteria for GIAHS.These will be comprehensively applicable to both developing and developed countries.
基金Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA23100203)。
文摘Agricultural biodiversity has a high importance in social-cultural,economic,and environmental aspects,and can help in adapting to and withstanding climate change.Conserving the GIAHS sites and the important components within them can help conserve the agricultural biodiversity and traditional agricultural culture of the whole country.This study considered Ifugao Rice Terraces,Dong’s Rice-Fish-Duck System,and Hani Rice Terraces System as three examples which show that traditional culture can be used to protect agricultural biodiversity,while as a carrier of traditional culture,agricultural biodiversity also conveys and protects the traditional culture of the nation.According to the analyses,through several years of efforts,the status of agricultural biodiversity and traditional culture in them has improved.Then,to further promote agricultural biodiversity conservation and traditional culture protection,several suggestions are made,such as establishing community seed banks;documenting and preserving traditional farming methods,techniques,and tools and developing participatory activities which encourage more farmers to participate in the protection work.