Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper aims to examine the spatial and temporal change characteristics of total grain production and its affecting ...Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper aims to examine the spatial and temporal change characteristics of total grain production and its affecting factors. The results show that： 1） During 1980 to 2007, total grain production increased from 3.20 ~ 108 t to 5.02 x 108 t in China, with annual increasing rate of 1.68%. From the regional disparities, most of the regions present increasing trend of total grain production except for several regions with higher level of economic development; 2） Grain sown area decreased from 1.17 × 108 ha in 1980 to 1.06 x 108 ha in 2007, which has negative effect on total grain production; 3） The increase of grain yield per unit area caused by land use intensity changes contributed to the increase of total grain yield greatly. However, as the land use intensity showed that farmers pay more attention to labor-saving input but not yield-increasing input, the less enthusiasm of farmers in grain production may become an important constraint on fu- ture grain production increase in China; 4） Based on the results, this paper proposed different land management poli- cies in different regions, for example, the government should protect cultivated land, promote large scale production. As to the less developed regions, the government should pay more attention to agricultural subsidies to promote farm- ers＇ enthusiasm in grain production.展开更多
Climate events pose major challenges to food production and the livelihoods of rural inhabitants in northern Laos, where upland rice using swidden production is an important crop. The onset of the rainy season in this...Climate events pose major challenges to food production and the livelihoods of rural inhabitants in northern Laos, where upland rice using swidden production is an important crop. The onset of the rainy season in this area is one such climate event, and it has occurred earlier and with less regularity in recent years. Not all households are able to cope with these changes. This study examines the ability of local farmers to cope with rice insufficiency. This investigation also clarifies household strategies in dealing with the climate event. We randomly interviewed 63 of 95 household heads, and performed a paired sample t test to examine the significance of differences in three household groups between the 2010 normal climate and the 2011 climate event. The groups were categorized according to rice selfsufficiency in 2011: groups I are households with rice self-sufficiency, group II are those facing a rice shortage of up to 3 months, and group III are those with insufficient rice for over 3 months. We also conducted a one-way ANOVA to examine the significance of differences in livelihood strategies among the three groups. We found that the household labor force was the most important factor in enhancing the villagers' ability to deal with the climate event and that the level of impact of that event shaped their coping strategies. Households with substantial labor force had more options for coping strategies than those with smaller ones. The villagers faced different levels of impact and adopted differentcoping strategies accordingly. Non-timber forest product collection was the principle livelihood strategy in response to non-climate factors such as education, access to health services, provision of equipment and clothing, and overcoming the impact of the climate event. Households heavily affected by the early rainy season onset tended to engage in intensive activities such as off-farm activity and outside work, rather than their major livelihood activities in the village(upland crop and livestock production).展开更多
Changes in grain production are decomposed and compared among nine major Chinese river basins for the sake of optimal water allocation. The results show that water-deficient northern China, especially the Songliao Riv...Changes in grain production are decomposed and compared among nine major Chinese river basins for the sake of optimal water allocation. The results show that water-deficient northern China, especially the Songliao River Basin and Huai River Basin, contributed the greatest share of the total grain increment from 1995 to 2010. The Songliao River Basin achieved increased grain output largely by expanding multiple cropping, while the Huai River Basin achieved it mainly by improving the yield per unit area. With increased reliance on expanding irrigation and multi-cropping, most northern basins have high levels of agricultural water consumption, despite the rising share of corn, a lower water intensive crop. In contrast, over the same period the warm and humid south, traditionally a major rice-growing area, mostly experienced a sharp decline in rice cropping area and the Southeast Rivers Basin even reduced multiple cropping indexes, contributing to decreased agricultural water consumption. Implications of our findings and the need for tackling the imbalance of agricultural water use in grain production are discussed.展开更多
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40971062)China Postdoctoral ScienceFundation (No. 20100480441)
文摘Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper aims to examine the spatial and temporal change characteristics of total grain production and its affecting factors. The results show that： 1） During 1980 to 2007, total grain production increased from 3.20 ~ 108 t to 5.02 x 108 t in China, with annual increasing rate of 1.68%. From the regional disparities, most of the regions present increasing trend of total grain production except for several regions with higher level of economic development; 2） Grain sown area decreased from 1.17 × 108 ha in 1980 to 1.06 x 108 ha in 2007, which has negative effect on total grain production; 3） The increase of grain yield per unit area caused by land use intensity changes contributed to the increase of total grain yield greatly. However, as the land use intensity showed that farmers pay more attention to labor-saving input but not yield-increasing input, the less enthusiasm of farmers in grain production may become an important constraint on fu- ture grain production increase in China; 4） Based on the results, this paper proposed different land management poli- cies in different regions, for example, the government should protect cultivated land, promote large scale production. As to the less developed regions, the government should pay more attention to agricultural subsidies to promote farm- ers＇ enthusiasm in grain production.
基金funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi), Scientific Research (A)
文摘Climate events pose major challenges to food production and the livelihoods of rural inhabitants in northern Laos, where upland rice using swidden production is an important crop. The onset of the rainy season in this area is one such climate event, and it has occurred earlier and with less regularity in recent years. Not all households are able to cope with these changes. This study examines the ability of local farmers to cope with rice insufficiency. This investigation also clarifies household strategies in dealing with the climate event. We randomly interviewed 63 of 95 household heads, and performed a paired sample t test to examine the significance of differences in three household groups between the 2010 normal climate and the 2011 climate event. The groups were categorized according to rice selfsufficiency in 2011: groups I are households with rice self-sufficiency, group II are those facing a rice shortage of up to 3 months, and group III are those with insufficient rice for over 3 months. We also conducted a one-way ANOVA to examine the significance of differences in livelihood strategies among the three groups. We found that the household labor force was the most important factor in enhancing the villagers' ability to deal with the climate event and that the level of impact of that event shaped their coping strategies. Households with substantial labor force had more options for coping strategies than those with smaller ones. The villagers faced different levels of impact and adopted differentcoping strategies accordingly. Non-timber forest product collection was the principle livelihood strategy in response to non-climate factors such as education, access to health services, provision of equipment and clothing, and overcoming the impact of the climate event. Households heavily affected by the early rainy season onset tended to engage in intensive activities such as off-farm activity and outside work, rather than their major livelihood activities in the village(upland crop and livestock production).
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.41271415)Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions(PAPD)
文摘Changes in grain production are decomposed and compared among nine major Chinese river basins for the sake of optimal water allocation. The results show that water-deficient northern China, especially the Songliao River Basin and Huai River Basin, contributed the greatest share of the total grain increment from 1995 to 2010. The Songliao River Basin achieved increased grain output largely by expanding multiple cropping, while the Huai River Basin achieved it mainly by improving the yield per unit area. With increased reliance on expanding irrigation and multi-cropping, most northern basins have high levels of agricultural water consumption, despite the rising share of corn, a lower water intensive crop. In contrast, over the same period the warm and humid south, traditionally a major rice-growing area, mostly experienced a sharp decline in rice cropping area and the Southeast Rivers Basin even reduced multiple cropping indexes, contributing to decreased agricultural water consumption. Implications of our findings and the need for tackling the imbalance of agricultural water use in grain production are discussed.
