Moderate scale and realization potential of new citrus-planting business entities in hilly and mountainous areas in China

The natural and economic conditions of agricultural resources vary greatly in China,especially in hilly and mountainous areas.The phenomenon of land fragmentation has become increasingly prominent,so that large-scale operations cannot be fully achieved in a short period of time,and the centralized and continuous scale of operations cannot be realized in China.In addition,with increasingly strict farmland protection and agricultural land use control systems,the issues of nongrain production and nonagricultural cultivated land use have become increasingly restricted.Thus,it is quite necessary to determine the appropriate scale of operations and the means to achieve moderately scaled operations for the new business entities.On the basis of microsurvey data for 108 new citrus-planting business entities in the modern agricultural park in the Chongqing's Jiangjin District,an area with long citrus-planting history,we measured the moderate scale of new citrus-planting business entities to maximize profit using a translog growth model.According to the projection pursuit model,we evaluated the suitability conditions of citrus planting in garden land,woodland,grassland,and general cultivated land in the study area.We then explored the potential for new moderate-scale business entities within different farming radii.The results showed that large-scale planting conditions of citrus in garden land,forest land,grassland,and general cultivated land in the study area were suitable,and the proportion of high-suitable and mediumsuitable land was 73.42%.Under the existing social and economic conditions,the moderate scale of new citrus-planting business entities in the study area was 1.8–2.7 hm^(2).In particular,its rankings from large to small were agricultural enterprises(17.19–25.78 hm^(2)),farmer cooperatives(16.88–25.33 hm^(2)),big growers and breeders(6.39–9.59 hm^(2)),and family farms(5.02–7.53 hm^(2)).In the sample of 108 households,only 47.22%of the entities achieved moderate-scale operation,of which 25%of the entities achieved a scale greater than moderate operation.However,52.78%of the entities achieved a scale of less than moderate operation.These entities would have to transfer the surrounding adjacent garden land,forest land,grassland,or general cultivated land to achieve largescale land management.The land area of the adjacent gardens in a 1000 m farming radius could meet the moderate-scale operation demand of the vast majority of new business entities.For the vast majority of new business entities,the land area of the adjacent woodland,grassland,and general cultivated land could supplement the garden land to achieve moderate-scale operation in a 500 m farming radius.If the land area with moderate suitability and high suitability is prioritized,the land area in the adjacent gardens in the 1000 m farming radius could meet the moderate-scale operation demand for the vast majority of new business entities.Within the 500 m farming radius,the vast majority of new business entities have achieved moderate-scale operations if the land area adjacent to forest land,grassland,and general arable land was supplemented by gardens;however,a few entities could not achieve moderate-scale operations.From the village perspective,gardens were prioritized.Sixteen villages had planting areas and planting suitability that exceeded the average level of the study area,accounting for 23.53%.If combined with the reserve potential of the garden land,eight villages could improve their potential,accounting for 11.76%.Therefore,the conditions of large-scale citrus planting in the study area should be further improved,and the scale expansion of new citrus-planting business entities should receive additional scientific guidance.

Design and experiment analysis of the small maize harvester with attitude adjustment in the hilly and mountainous areas of China

To solve the problem of small planting plots and large sloping land for mechanized maize harvesting in China hilly and mountainous areas,a small maize harvester with attitude adjustment was designed to realize maize snapping,peeling,straw crushing and attitude adjusting at on time in this study.The basic structure and working principle of the small maize harvester were described,and the key components were designed as follows.The maize snapping device adopted the combination form of maize snapping plates and straw pulling rollers,and the gap of the straw pulling rollers can be adjusted to adapt to different maize varieties.Two pairs of peeling rollers formed a groove arrangement to improve peeling rate and reduced ear grain loss.The pressure feeding device mainly comprised drive chain and three grade pressure feeding rollers to increase the friction between ears and the peeling rollers,and help ears slide.The attitude adjustment advice was designed according to the high point stationary pursuit leveling method.When the attitude angle of the rack approached 0,the small maize harvester reached the level state.The actual range of attitude adjustment was obtained and the accuracy of static attitude adjustment was verified through attitude adjustment test.The influencing factors of ear loss rate and bract peeling rate were determined by orthogonal test,including the rotational speed of straw pulling rollers,peeling rollers and pressure feeding rollers.The mathematical regression model between the experimental factors and indicators was established by using Design Expert,and through the analysis variance to verify the significance of the evaluation indicators,the best combination of operation parameters was determined that the rotational speed of straw pulling rollers,peeling rollers and pressure feeding rollers were 1440 r/min,1535 r/min and 406 r/min.Under the optimal combination of the operation parameters,the ear loss rate and bract peeling rate were 1.33%and 93.98%.The design indicators of the small maize harvester can meet the relevant national standards,and can satisfy the need of maize mechanized harvesting in China hilly and mountainous areas.

Interruption of schistosomiasis transmission in mountainous and hilly regions with an integrated strategy:a longitudinal case study in Sichuan,China

Background:Schistosomiasis remains a major public health concern in China.Since 2004,an integrated strategy was developed to control the transmission of Schistosoma japonicum in China.However,the long-term effectiveness of this integrated strategy for the interruption of schistosomiasis transmission remains unknown in the mountainous and hilly regions of China until now.This longitudinal study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated strategy on transmission interruption of schistosomiasis in Sichuan Province from 2005 through 2014.Methods:The data regarding replacement of bovines with machines,improved sanitation,access to clean water,construction of public toilets and household latrines,snail control,chemotherapy,and health education were captured from the annual report of the schistosomiasis control programmes in Sichuan Province from 2005 to 2014,and S.japonicum infection in humans,bovines and snails were estimated to evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated strategy.Results:During the 10-year period from 2005 through 2014,a total of 536568 machines were used to replace bovines,and 3284333 household lavatories and 15523 public latrines were built.Tap water was supplied to 19116344 residents living in the endemic villages.A total of 230098 hm2 snail habitats were given molluscicide treatment,and 357233 hm2 snail habitats received environmental improvements.There were 7268138 humans and 840845 bovines given praziquantel chemotherapy.During the 10-year study period,information,education and communication(IEC)materials were provided to village officers,teachers and schoolchildren.The 10-year implementation of the integrated strategy resulted in a great reduction in S.japonicum infection in humans,bovines and snails.Since 2007,no acute infection was detected,and no schistosomiasis cases or infected bovines were identified since 2012.In addition,the snail habitats reduced by 62.39%in 2014 as compared to that in 2005,and no S.japonicum infection was identified in snails since 2007.By 2014,88.9%of the endemic counties achieved the transmission interruption of schistosomiasis and transmission control of schistosmiasis was achieved in the whole province in 2008.Conclusion:The government-directed and multi-department integrated strategy is effective for interrupting the transmission of schistosomiasis in the mountainous and hilly regions of China.

湘闽赣山区劳动力转移差异对梯田荒决策和规模的影响

In recent years,the phenomenon of abandonment of cultivated land in mountainous areas has occurred frequently,and the problem of abandonment has become a focus of attention of government agricultural departments and academic circles.However,few studies have paid attention to the impact of differences in labor transfer on the abandonment behavior of farmers’terraced fields.Based on this,this paper takes the terraced fields of Hunan,Fujian and Jiangxi provinces as the research area,combined with data from 1438 farmer households,and uses the Probit and Tobit models to analyzed the impact of the difference in the quantity,distance and quality of labor off-farm transfer on the decision-making and scale of terraced field abandonment of farmer households.The results show that:(1)The greater the quantity of labor transfer,the farther the transfer distance and the higher the quality of non-agricultural employment,can promote the decision of farmers to abandon terraced fields;(2)With the deepening of the degree of non-agricultural transfer,the scale of abandoned terraced fields by farmers in hilly and mountainous areas will also expand;(3)The distance and quality of labor transfer can strengthen the impact of labor transfer quantity on farmers’decision to abandon land.To alleviate the phenomenon of abandoned terraced fields,the government should pay attention to the labor substitution role of agricultural service outsourcing and mechanization in mountainous areas.The government should actively promote the transformation of terraced fields into mechanized farming,improve the cultivated land transfer market,and encourage farmers to transfer terraced fields.