Variations in Soil Organic Matter Content in Cultivated and Uncultivated Calcareous Soils from the Mediterranean Island of Malta after 15 Years of Cultivation

The soils of Malta are calcareous and generally undeveloped. Organic matter (OM) in these soils is low and farmers are constantly urged to increase it. The objective of this study was to evaluate any temporal variation in soil OM after 15 years of cultivation, and determine whether soil series, soil depth, and cultivation influence variation. OM was determined in the topsoil and subsoil of 7 agricultural and 4 non-agricultural sites. The sites represented 7 different soil series that are present on the island. In sampling periods 1 (t = 0 years) and 2 (t =15 years), the OM content in the collective (all soil series) bulk (topsoil and subsoil) uncultivated soil was 3.9 % and 3.8 % respectively. This was significantly greater than that of the collective bulk cultivated soil (2.4% and 2.3%). The OM in the collective uncultivated topsoil was 5.4% and 5.2% in periods 1 and 2 and was significantly higher than that of the cultivated topsoil (2.5% in both periods). The OM content in the collective uncultivated subsoil was 2.3% and 2.5% in periods 1 and 2 respectively but only that measured in period 2 was significantly higher than that of the cultivated subsoil (2.2% in both periods). On an individual soil series basis, the OM in the uncultivated topsoils was significantly higher than that of their cultivated counterparts. The differences in the subsoils were not significant. Across the uncultivated soil series, OM was significantly higher in the topsoil than in the subsoil but in the cultivated soil series the differences between topsoil and subsoil were not significant. There was no significant difference in OM between the uncultivated soils of different series, but in the cultivated the OM content was higher in soils that were more mature. After 15 years, no significant change in OM occurred in both the collective cultivated and uncultivated bulk soils, the collective topsoil and subsoil, and in most of the individual series. The OM content of each soil series was also similar to what was reported 60 and 50 years earlier by other researchers.

Spatial Pattern of Female Non-agricultural Employment and Its Driving Forces in Guangdong Province,China:A Perspective of Individual and Family-level

Promoting women’s employment is not only the need of social and economic development,but also the historical mission of liberating women.This paper uses data from the 1%Population Sample Survey,taken in Guangdong Province in 2015,to explore how women’s marital status,education,and family environment affect the female non-agricultural employment rate(FNAER)on a county scale using a spatial-lag model.The results show that:1)The female non-agricultural employment rate in counties of Guangdong Province is low,with more than three-quarters of counties having female non-agricultural employment rate less than 50%.Moreover,the spatial distribution of FNAER is uneven,with the high-value areas concentrated in the southeast and the low-value areas mainly distributed in the central and western parts of Guangdong Province.2)From the perspective of industry,there are significant spatial differences among women.In the southeast,women are mainly engaged in the secondary industry,while in the central and western regions,women are mainly engaged in the tertiary industry.3)Women having better skills and more effective support from the elderly can improve the FNAER.Women having lower skills,smaller-scale families,a higher fertility rate,and households with two or more elderly members have a negative effect on the FNAER.4)Public policies suggest that improving women’s education and their family environment,building social welfare facilities,and repairing the family environment will increase the FNAER.

Non-agricultural Population, Employment and Land:An Econometric Study in an Integrated Framework

Abstract： his paper explored the relationships among nonagricultural population, employment and land in an integrated framework, taking account of rural-urban land conversion into Carlino-Mills＇s model on the regional growth. Two-stage-leastsquares and ordinary-least-squares were employed. Recent data for district （grade） cities in China （from 1999 to 2005） were used. Our results showed that： first, urban population influenced non-agricultural employment, and vice versa, but the evidence that non-agricultural employment influenced urban population was stronger than the evidence that urban population influenced non-agricultural employment; second, urban population and non-agricultural employment both influenced ruralurban land conversion, but the evidence that urban population influenced rural urban land conversion was more stronger than the evidence that non-agricultural employment did. We also found that： first, the employment from the secondary industry influenced urban population in a positive way, and vice versa, but the employment from the tertiary industry influenced urban population in a negative way, and vice versa; second, the employment from the secondary industry influenced rural-urban land conversion in a positive way, but the employment from the tertiary industry influenced rural-urban land conversion in a negative way. We can conclude that the key of urbanization is to speed up the process of non-agricultural employment, especially the employment from the tertiary industry, which might promote non-agricultural population, employment and land harmoniously.

Relationship between Farmland Use Right Circulation and Non-agricultural Employment——Based on Survey Data from Eastern and Western China

Relationship between Chinese rural non-agricultural employment and farmland use circulation has always been a hot research topic without final conclusions.This paper uses survey data of"China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)"covering 1,549 households of 95 villages in Zhejiang and Gansu Province in 2008.According to the data analysis,Zhejiang Province has a higher ratio of rural households leasing out their farmland than Gansu Province has,while the latter has a higher ratio of rural residents going out for earning a living.In both provinces,non-agricultural employment and farmland use circulation show significant positive correlation,but in Gansu,non-agricultural employment of farmers shows no significant positive correlation with rural households leasing out their farmland.The factor shows that for peasants in underdeveloped regions of west China,they rely more on land because of its social security functions,so they are not willing to lease out their land even when they go to cities for earning a living.For local government,it is not appropriate to promote farmland use circulation by depending on the transfer of rural labor forces,fundamental needs of peasants must be taken into consideration.

The Impacts of Income from Non-agricultural Industries Operated by Rural households on Farmers' Income

Income from non-agricultural industries operated by rural households is an important income source of farmers' income. According to the Regional Rural Residents' Net Income Per Capita in 2004 issued by the State Statistics Bureau and the relevant statistics of national comprehensive investigation(CGSS2005) in 2005, the impacts of farmers' income gap and farmers' individual features on their income and the impacts of income from non-agricultural industries operated by rural households on farmers' individual income differences are analyzed by applying Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) as an analysis tool to establish the null model of HLM, excluding the second level model of the second level prediction variables and including the second level model of the second layer prediction variables. The analysis assumes that farmers' individual income varies hugely in different provinces; farmers' individual income has close relation with farmers' individual features; the improvement of income from non-agricultural industries operated by rural households has different impacts on farmers' income.

Importance and Countermeasures of Curbing the Conversion of Agricultural Land to Non-agricultural Land under the Background of the Rural Revitalization Strategy

Farmland is the most basic element for farmers’survival and development,and has a social security function.The conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land has gradually become the primary factor in the reduction of agricultural land in various regions of China,seriously endangering China’s food security.Under the background of the rural revitalization strategy,the emergence of the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land and the inevitability of its development were analyzed from both the acceleration of urbanization and the increase in land demand by using the literature research method.The importance of curbing the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land to achieve the grand goal of strong agriculture,beautiful rural areas,and rich farmers was clarified,and then countermeasures and suggestions to curb the conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural land were put forward,which is of great significance to promoting the effective implementation of China’s rural revitalization strategy.

A review of non-agricultural land-use in peri-urbanization area:research progress and perspectives

The peri-urbanization area as a kind of rural-urban interface is changing rapidly ,physical, economlc and social terms. The land use pattern in such area is shifting away from the assumptions of mainstream paradigms to new conceptual landscapes, which leads to a series of problems on economic development and social stabilization. There are many researches on non-agricultural land-use in peri-urbanization area. In this paper both international and domestic research literature is reviewed by dividing six parts. The first part introduces the conception of peri-ur-banization area and its driver factors. Then in the second and the third part, the paper expatiates on the progress in the non-agricultural land-use in peri-urban area on land-use problems in the research area, while the fifth part reviews the integrating ways of non-agricultrual land-use. Finally, recommendations for further study are draw with specific reference to the current and future position of non-agricultural land-use study in peri-urban area.

Analysis on Factors Influencing Supply of Rapeseed in Provinces of China

From the perspective of micro-subjects of rapeseed planting,namely,the rape seed planting farmers,this paper made an analysis on factors influencing supply of rapeseed in provinces of China on the basis of panel data of 14 provinces producing rapeseed. Analysis indicates that decision of rapeseed planting area is influenced by planting area of the previous year and comparative benefits of rapeseed and the substitute crop wheat,while the local non-agricultural employment level exerts little influence on decision of rapeseed planting area. Finally,it came up with pertinent policy recommendations: since lagging influence of previous planting decisions and selection of planting decisions are a long period,formulation and implementation of any policy should consider long-term subsequent effect,instead of excessively focusing on policy objectives; strengthening new technological researches of new rapeseed varieties relying on scientific and technological innovation,enhancing construction of rapeseed production infrastructure,and improving integrated rapeseed production capacity,so as to increase relative income of rapeseed planting.

Factor Affecting Technical Change of Credit Union Co-operative in Upper Northern of Thailand

Credit union co-operatives are organized for supporting poor people who are difficult to find funding sources for improvement their economic security. Majority of the credit unions co-operatives are made up of members who are currently working in the agricultural sectors. However some of credit union co-operatives have members who are working in non-agriculture sectors, they use credit union co-operatives to improve quality as farmer. The main objective in this paper is comparison of technical operation efficiency of the credit unions agriculture and non-agriculture sector with sample size of 170 groups from eight provinces in the upper northern region of Thailand, using the Malmquist Productivity Index Approach.

Transcending Hukou Barriers Effectively Unleashes the Income-Raising Effect of Education:Based on an “Agricultural to Non-agricultural Hukou Conversion” Perspective

The relatively low rate of return to education has played an important role in explaining the urban-rural income disparity.However,rural residents have a high demand for education,and one significant reason is that education can help them break the restrictions of the household registration(hukou)system and obtain a higher income.Using data from the 2017 China Household Finance Survey(CHFS 2017),this study employs unconditional quantile regression to find that after reclassifying individuals who have experienced agricultural to non-agricultural hukou conversion back to the rural household registration category,the income-promotion effect on the rural population of completing high school and university education is significantly enhanced.The decomposition analysis using the recentered influence function(RIF)reveals that when considering the agricultural to non-agricultural hukou conversion group,the income disparity between urban and rural areas caused by education is noticeably alleviated.Furthermore,the endogenous switching regression model finds that individuals with agricultural hukou are generally less likely to work in formal institutions.Improving educational attainment helps increase the probability of their obtaining non-agricultural hukou and entering formal employment,resulting in higher income.Hence,policymakers should focus on improving the quality of rural education and reforming the household registration system to gradually eliminate the occupational segregation and income disparity caused by hukou barriers.

How farmers’non-agricultural employment affects rural land circulation in China?

To clarify the impact of non-agricultural employment on rural land circulation in China,we built logit models using the Chinese Household Income Project 2013 dataset,which includes 18,948 household samples over 15 provinces,126 cities and 234 counties of China in 2013.We use the proportion of non-agricultural income,the proportion of non-agricultural laborers and non-agricultural fixed operating assets to reflect the degree of the households’dependence on agriculture,the degree of the households’laborers committed to non-agricultural employment and the stability of non-agricultural employment,respectively.The results show that the stability of non-agricultural employment is an important reason for farmers to transfer out their land,and an increase in non-agricultural income is the fundamental reason.The proportion of non-agricultural assets has the greatest impact on the decision to transfer land,followed by the proportion of non-agricultural income.Per unit increase in the non-agricultural income ratio has a stronger effect on the transfer-out decision than it does on the transfer-in decision,which is a 0.09 increase of the probability of transfer-out the land and a 0.07 decrease of the probability of transfer-in the land.In terms of regional differences,when considering the impact of non-agricultural employment on the land transfer-out decision,the impacts of non-agricultural income and labor force are the greatest in the Central region.The impact of non-agricultural assets is the greatest in the Eastern region.For the Eastern region,the decision to transfer out land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets and the non-agricultural labor force,and the decision to transfer in land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets.In the Central and Western regions,the decision to transfer out land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets,non-agricultural income and the non-agricultural labor force,in that order.The decision to transfer in land in the Central region is not significantly affected by non-agricultural employment.The decision to transfer in land in the Western region is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets,non-agricultural labor force and non-agricultural income,in that order.We note that non-agricultural assets have a prominent impact on land transfer,which shows that the stability of non-agricultural employment has an important impact on land transfer decision-making.Vocational training for rural labor forces may be an effective means to promote stable non-agricultural employment and simultaneously facilitate rural land circulation,especially in Central and Western China.

Ammonia in urban atmosphere can be substantially reduced by vehicle emission control:A case study in Shanghai, China

To investigate the impact of emission controls on ammonia(NH_(3)) pollution in urban atmosphere, observation on NH_(3)(1 hr interval) was performed in Shanghai before, during and after the 2019 China International Import Expo (CIIE) event, along with measurements on inorganic ions, organic tracers and stable nitrogen isotope compositions of ammonium in PM_(2.5). NH_(3)during the CIIE period was 6.5±1.0μg/m^(3), which is 41% and 32% lower than that before and after the event, respectively. Such a decrease was largely ascribed to the emission controls in nonagricultural sources, of which contribution for measured NH_(3)in control phase abated by ~20% compared to that during uncontrol period. Molecular compositions of PAHs and hopanes further suggested a dominant role of the reduced vehicle emissions in the urban NH_(3)abatement during the CIIE period. Our results revealed that vehicle exhaust emission control is an effective way to mitigate NH_(3)pollution and improve air quality in Chinese urban areas.

非农业源排放增强大气二甲胺浓度并调节城市颗粒物成核

气态二甲胺(DMA)是大气新粒子生成的关键前体物,然而对其来源与空气和气候效应仍存在巨大争议.本研究率先对中国大气DMA浓度开展了南北跨区域与城市内部的走航观测.发现亚热带森林植物的DMA排放浓度可能南方远高于北方,同时记录到由工业脉冲排放所导致的全球最高大气DMA浓度.在高度城市化的上海地区,DMA浓度自市中心向外围逐渐降低且与人口密度关联.源排放的直接测试进一步表明中国区域和城市内部的大气二甲胺都深受非农业源排放的影响.大气化学传输模式也证实,居民DMA排放主导了上海城市大气颗粒物数浓度的贡献.该研究将外场观测、源排放测试与模型模拟相结合,呈现了中国大气二甲胺的全生命周期,为颗粒物污染防治和气候变化评估提供了有用参考.