Impacts and Demonstration Effects of Applying Long-acting Slow-release Fertilizer on Economic Yield of Peanut

[Objectives]To study the impacts and demonstration effects of long-acting slow-release fertilizer application on economic yield of peanut.[Methods]The 25,30,35,40,45,50 kg of long-acting slow-release fertilizers were applied to 667 m 2 of peanuts,and different amounts of urea were applied together.[Results]Applying 40 kg of long-acting slow-release fertilizer and 10.45 kg of urea had the best effect.Compared with the application of ordinary compound fertilizers,the plants did not age prematurely,the leaf diseases were mild,the stems and leaves remained dark green when harvested,and the stems and leaves had a longer functional period.Bearing shoots increased by 1.7,single-plant full pods increased by 2.4,double-seed peanuts increased by 3.2,empty pods decreased by 0.5,and single-seed peanuts decreased by 0.7.The experimental demonstration results show that the spring-sowed peanuts had an average yield increase of 29.0-67.2 kg/667 m 2,and the yield increase rate was 7.35%-16.89%,and the difference was extremely significant.[Conclusions]In the high-yield cultivation of peanuts,the application of long-acting slow-release fertilizer can be promoted to improve peanut production.

Structural change of agricultural land use intensity and its regional disparity in China

Based on the data from the Cost-benefit Data of Farm Produce and the China Agricultural Yearbook, this paper divided the intensity of cultivated land use into labor intensity and capital intensity, and then analyzed their temporal and spatial change at both national and provincial levels between 1980 and 2006. The results showed that： （1） At the national level, labor intensity on food produce decreased from 398.5 day/ha in 1980 to 130.25 day/ha in 2006; and a continuous decrease with a steep decline between 1980 and 1986, a slower decline from 1987 to 1996, and another steep decline from 1997 to 2006. On the contrary, capital intensity shows an increasing trend since 1980. As to the internal composition of capital intensity, the proportion of seed, chemical fertilizer and pesticide input decreased from 90.36% to 73.44% and the proportion of machinery increased from 9.64% to 26.56%. The less emphasis on yield-increasing input and more emphasis on labor-saving input are the main reasons for a slow increase of yield per unit area after 1996. （2） At the provincial level, the developed areas have lower labor intensity and higher capital intensity. The less developed ones have higher labor intensity but lower capital intensity. From the viewpoint of the internal composition of capital intensity, labor-saving input accounts for more proportion in the developed areas than that of other areas. The main reason is that in these developed areas, labor input has become a constraint factor in food production as more and more labors engaged in off-farm work. Farmers increase the labor-saving input for higher labor productivity. However, in the less developed areas, the major constraint is the shortage of capital; food production is still depending on labor and yield-increasing inputs.

Comparative Analysis of Influence Factors on Arable Land Use Intensity at Farm Household Level:A Case Study Comparing Suyu District of Suqian City and Taixing City,Jiangsu Province,China

Using data from the farm household survey conducted in 2009,arable land use intensity(ALUI)and its influence factors at farm household level were investigated by the Tobit model.Suyu District of Suqian City and Taixing City of Jiansu Province,China were chosen as the regions for comparison.The results show that:1)On the average, the ALUI,labor intensity,yield-increasing input,and labor-saving input are 15 238.14 yuan(RMB)/ha,192 d/ha, 7233.01 yuan/ha,and 2451.32 yuan/ha in the less economically developed Suyu District,and 13 020.65 yuan/ha,181 d/ha,5871.82 yuan/ha,and 2625.97 yuan/ha in more economically developed Taixing City.The figures indicate that Suyu District has higher ALUI and labor intensity input but lower labor-saving input.2)Comparing all the influence factors,the total arable land area in available and average plot size have bigger effects on arable land intensive use;to a small degree,family′s non-farm income affects labor intensity,yield-increasing input,and labor-saving input;the yield-increasing input decreases significantly when the householder has higher education attainment;the commercialization rates of agricultural products and the planting proportion of cash crops both have unstable influence on ALUI; the share of arable land rented in has few impacts on labor intensity,yield-increasing input,and labor-saving input. 3)There are no differences found in the internal impact mechanism of influence factors on the arable land intensive use behaviors of farm households.However,there are conspicuous disparities in the impact degrees and statistical significance based on varying economic levels.4)Using the results as bases,this study proposes that the government should implement land management and agricultural policies according to local condition.And these policies should decrease land fragmentation to promote scale management of land and arable land use intensification.

Research progress on the mechanism of improving peanut yield by single-seed precision sowing

The contradiction between the supply and demand of edible vegetable oil in China is prominent,and the self-sufficiency rate is less than 35%.Peanut has a very outstanding status in ensuring the security of edible oil and food.The emphasis of increasing peanut yield should be the improvement of pod yield per unit area,because the total yield of peanut has not increased as required.This is attributed to mainly two factors-low increase in the crop productivity and the competition for land for grain and cotton crops.For traditional double-seed sowing pattern,it is difficult to further increase the peanut yield due to the serious contradiction between populations and individuals and the declining population quality under high-yield conditions.Single-seed precision sowing was proven to be a new way to increase the economic coefficient(economic yield/biological yield)with the basic stability of the total biomass,which could make plants distribute evenly,reduce the competition among individuals and attain the full production potential of single plant.In order to reveal the mechanism of increasing peanut yield by single-seed precision sowing,the effects on the ontogenetic development(plant character,physiological characteristic and nutrient utilization)and population structure(population uniformity and photosynthesis,source-sink relationship and yield composition)were systematically expounded.This study reports establishment of the high-yield cultivation technology system with the key technology of single-seed precision sowing and the supporting technology of fertilizing and management.We anticipate its wider application for the improvement of peanut yield.