Measuring the agricultural sustainability of India:An application of Pressure-State-Response(PSR)model

Analyzing agricultural sustainability is essential for designing and assessing rural development initiatives.However,accurately measuring agricultural sustainability is complicated since it involves so many different factors.This study provides a new suite of quantitative indicators for assessing agricultural sustainability at regional and district levels,involving environmental sustainability,social security,and economic security.Combining the PressureState-Response(PSR)model and indicator approach,this study creates a composite agricultural sustainability index for the 14 mainstream agro-climatic regions of India.The results of this study show that the Trans-Gengatic Plain Region(TGPR)ranks first in agricultural sustainability among India's 14 mainstream agro-climatic regions,while the Eastern Himalayan Region(EHR)ranks last.Higher livestock ownership,cropping intensity,per capita income,irrigation intensity,share of institutional credit,food grain productivity,crop diversification,awareness of minimum support price,knowledge sharing with fellow farmers,and young and working population,as well as better transportation facilities and membership of agricultural credit societies are influencing indicators responsible for higher agricultural sustainability in TGPR compared with EHR.Although,the scores of environmental sustainability indicators of EHR are quite good,its scores of social and economic security indicators are fairly low,putting it at the bottom of the rank of agricultural sustainability index among the 14 mainstream agroclimatic regions in India.This demonstrates the need of understanding agricultural sustainability in relation to social and economic dimensions.In a nation as diverse and complicated as India,it is the social structure that determines the health of the economy and environment.Last but not least,the sustainability assessment methodology may be used in a variety of India's agro-climatic regions.

Ecological Security Assessment in County Area Based on P-S-R Model——A Case Study of Ningwu County,Shanxi Province

To further understand the status quo and change tendency of ecological security in county area, we took the example of Ningwu County, the headstream of Fenhe River, confronting serious eco-environment problem and considerable human impacts. Taking Ningwu as the study area and using variation coefficient method to determine the weights of the indices, we built ecological security pattern based on Pressure-State-Response （P-S-R） Model of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The ecological security status was evaluated by calculating eco-security index （ESI） with socio-economic statistical data of Ningwu during 2001 -2010. The results showed that the situation of eco-security had been improved from heavy alarm to relative safety during 2001 -2010. It reflected that the ecological economic system in Ningwu County tended to be relaxed constantly after experienced a sharp conflict between ecological environment and economic growth. The ecological safety awareness was growing, however, by force of the objective requirements of population growth and economic development, the situation of ecological security was still unstable.

Quantitative Evaluation of Ecological Cumulative Effects and Zoning Regulations for Prefectural Mining Units in China

Although the development of energy and mineral resources strongly supports China’s rapid industrialization and urbanization,it has led to a series of ecological and environmental problems.Strengthening the spatial regulation considering the ecological and environmental protection on energy and mineral resource development areas is an important aspect of realizing China’s sustainable development.In this study,we mapped,categorized,and analyzed the ecological cumulative effects of the Chinese 134 prefectural mining units based on the pressure-state-response model,which is demonstrated as impact of mining activities on ecological environment,ecological environmental fragility,and ecological function.This investigation developed a stress zoning typology of the mining units based on scores of three dimensions of the ecological cumulative effects and classified 134 prefectural mining units into eight types of stress zones.A series of regulation and policy suggestions have been proposed to different types of zones from three aspects:space control,intensity control,and development mode control.The application of this evaluation and spatial zoning system will contribute to the refined spatial management of China’s mining areas.

Ecological Security Assessment of the Yancheng National Nature Reserve based on GIS

This study used remote sensing and GIS to analyze the landscape pattern changes in the Yancheng Nature Reserve from 1983 to 2018,established an evaluation index system based on the regional natural-socio-economic complex ecosystem security pattern,and then analyzed the spatial characteristics of ecological security changes and discusses reasons for these changes.The results show that the landscape pattern changed dramatically from natural landscape to a mixture of natural landscape and artificial landscape from 1983 to 2018 due to the intensification of human activities.At present,the ecological security status of the protected areas is not optimistic.From the perspective of the survival status of red-crowned cranes,the protected areas are suitable.However,due to the increase of human activities and policy adjustments,the habitat of red-crowned cranes is fragmented.The red-crowned crane currently gathers in localized areas such as the core area and the buffer zone.We should pay more attention to management,policy development and the environmental awareness of local residents.At the same time,it is necessary to reduce the intensity of human activities within the reserve.