Traditional Irrigation Management in Betmera-Hiwane, Ethiopia: The Main Peculiarities for the Persistence of Irrigation Practices

Traditional irrigation, as part of the ancient agricultural practices in northern Ethiopia （Tigray）, has persisted for long time since 500 B.C., while many newly introduced irrigation projects have usually failed there. The main objective of this study is thus to investigate the peculiarities pertinent to irrigation management and those having contributed for the persistence of traditional irrigation practices for a long period of time. The experience gained from such areas can definitely help make irrigation management system of new irrigation schemes sustainable. Betmera-Hiwane, one of the ancient traditional irrigation areas in Tigray region, was selected for the field study. Direct observations through field visits accompanied by interviews to farmers, local officials, local knowledgeable individuals and higher officials were made. After analyzing the collected primary and secondary information, the main peculiarities that contributed to the persistence of traditional irrigation areas were identified, and they are： constructed local rules, the presence of communally locally designed hydraulic control structures, ownership feeling of the irrigators and accountability of water distributors to the irrigation management, the culture for mobilizing communal resources and the culture of self-initiating local water management strategies.

Development and evaluation of local communities incentive programs for improving the traditional forest management:A case study of Northern Zagros forests,Iran

We examined the local community incentive programs to improve traditional forest management in three forested villages in Baneh city, Kurdistan province in the northern Zagros forests of western Iran. Zagros forests cover 6.07 million ha and support rich plant and animal diversity. Changes in local community social and economic sys-tems and the inefficiency of traditional forest management led to a criti-cal situation in the stability of forest regeneration in recent decades. Due to a shortage of productive and arable lands and resulting unemployment and poverty, people overexploited the Zagros forests. Outside interven-tion in traditional forest management creates conflicts between local peoples and forest management organizations. To achieve sustainable forest management, including forest resources conservation and im-provement of natural resource based livelihoods of communities, it is desirable to implement Forestry Incentive Programs （FIP） based on the important functions of forests. Detailed information on the so-cio-economics of communities, the effect of forests on local livelihoods, and lists of products extracted from the forest were obtained from a sur-vey of local communities though questionnaire, interview and observa-tion. We studied 276 households in three villages and completed 76 ques-tionnaires by householders in the quantitative analysis. Sampling was performed by simple random sampling （SRS）. The needs of rural com-munities, such as livestock husbandry, mainly arise from the characteris-tics and environmental features of villages. We identified the driving forces, pressures, status, impacts and responses （DPSIR） to design incen-tive programs, by DPSIR analysis and interaction analysis. Evaluation of local community benefits from forests showed that in order to improve forest management, 319 dollars per year would be needed by each family as an incentive in 2010 to prevent lopping and firewood collecting, the main causes of forest degradation.

Traditional Lowlands Water Management in Dano, South-Western Burkina Faso

Lowland water resources management represents a challenge of the future that calls any community. Irrigated crops are grown in some areas of Burkina Faso, others are limited by a lack of irrigation infrastructure. Due to limited crop irrigation, crops and the associated populations dependent on them, depend on rain and on climatic factors. Thus, there is a need to understand and implement traditional mechanisms for managing lowland water in Dano, where climatic and geological conditions provide a sustained source of water. Here, I use a literature review combined with field work and interviews/questionnaires to estimate the potential exploitable plains to 16,056 ha or 24% of the communal area. Management mechanisms and traditional operating systems of lowland waters were clear, which helped to set the technological level of farmers, in partial control of water management.

Traditional cultural effect on modern management in China

1.0 Summary The report is stated the influence of traditional cultural and ideology arouse from old-time feudality system and Confucianism in modern management in China. The features of the culture provide many implications to modern managers in evaluation, motivation and recruitment.……

Intelligent Vehicle Electrical Power Supply System with Central Coordinated Protection

The current research of vehicle electrical power supply system mainly focuses on electric vehicles（EV） and hybrid electric vehicles（HEV）.The vehicle electrical power supply system used in traditional fuel vehicles is rather simple and imperfect;electrical/electronic devices（EEDs） applied in vehicles are usually directly connected with the vehicle＇s battery.With increasing numbers of EEDs being applied in traditional fuel vehicles,vehicle electrical power supply systems should be optimized and improved so that they can work more safely and more effectively.In this paper,a new vehicle electrical power supply system for traditional fuel vehicles,which accounts for all electrical/electronic devices and complex work conditions,is proposed based on a smart electrical/electronic device（SEED） system.Working as an independent intelligent electrical power supply network,the proposed system is isolated from the electrical control module and communication network,and access to the vehicle system is made through a bus interface.This results in a clean controller power supply with no electromagnetic interference.A new practical battery state of charge（So C） estimation method is also proposed to achieve more accurate So C estimation for lead-acid batteries in traditional fuel vehicles so that the intelligent power system can monitor the status of the battery for an over-current state in each power channel.Optimized protection methods are also used to ensure power supply safety.Experiments and tests on a traditional fuel vehicle are performed,and the results reveal that the battery So C is calculated quickly and sufficiently accurately for battery over-discharge protection.Over-current protection is achieved,and the entire vehicle＇s power utilization is optimized.For traditional fuel vehicles,the proposed vehicle electrical power supply system is comprehensive and has a unified system architecture,enhancing system reliability and security.

Reviving Ancient Water Tunnels in the Desert—Digging for Gold?

The water shortage in the Middle East is a well-known problem. The introduction of diesel operated pumps for irrigation has caused a severe drop in groundwater levels. At the same time the demand for groundwater is growing to alarming proportions. Alternative ways of groundwater supply and management need to be found to halt social and economical disaster in the future. Why not look at history？ Qanats are subterranean tunnels ancient civilizations built to access groundwater. The technique is a sustainable method of groundwater extraction. Throughout the Middle East some settlements still make use of these ancient systems. In the summer of 2000, a community rehabilitation of a qanat was executed International Center for Areas （ICARDA） and with support from the Agricultural Research in Dry international donors. The renovation served as a pilot community intervention within a participatory action research project aimed at evaluating the use of qanats in Syria. In a second stage of the project, the pilot was scaled up to a nation-wide survey of Syrian qanats in 2001. This resulted in qanat renovations on other sites executed in 2oo2 and 2oo3 with further international support. This paper compares the first pilot renovation with a recent qanat renovation that took place in Qarah, Syria.

Community participation in the management of wetland nature reserve:a case study of Nanjishan Nature Reserve, Jiangxi, China

In recent years, more and more conflicts have emerged in the management of nature reserves, of which themain problem is that how to carry out the campaign of conservation along with the promotion of development of localeconomics. To resolve the actual problem in Nanjishan National Wetland Nature Reserve and explore the idiographicmethod of the management of the wetland reserve, some studying methods including face-to-face interviews, informaldiscussion with local leaders and officials, group discussion with local fishers, questionnaire, and job of the conversationstation have been carried out. The results show that the education level of the local people is low; only 5% of the localpeople have an opportunity to the junior college; the main income of the local people is fishing, which accounts for 70%more or less; and the income is coming down year by year because of the unreasonable way of fishing. To cope with theproblems, some reformative way of management and the development of the reserve are introduced, such as establishingan NOG that constitutes of local fishermen to achieve the goal of community co-management, developing Bed andBreakfast and so on. Through practice of the management of the participation of the local people, we draw the conclusionthat the local people have a great desire to improve their life level, and to make the co-management of the reserve easy,it is important for the managers to play the role of pilot including engrafting the new ideas, giving some subsidy toencourage the local people to take part in the management. In addition, making local people perceive value of the reserveand the close relation between reserve conservation and the promotion of level of their life. On this basis, they incline totake part in the management of the reserve.

Expert knowledge maps for knowledge management: a case study inTraditional Chinese Medicine research

OBJECTIVE:To design a model to capture information on the state and trends of knowledge creation,at both an individual and an organizational level,in order to enhance knowledge management.METHODS:We designed a graph-theoretic knowledge model,the expert knowledge map(EKM),based on literature-based annotation.A case study in the domain of Traditional Chinese Medicine research was used to illustrate the usefulness of the model.RESULTS:The EKM successfully captured various aspects of knowledge and enhanced knowledge management within the case-study organization through the provision of knowledge graphs,expert graphs,and expert-knowledge biography.CONCLUSION:Our model could help to reveal thehot topics,trends,and products of the research done by an organization.It can potentially be used to facilitate knowledge learning,sharing and decision-making among researchers,academicians,students,and administrators of organizations.

New look at territories of traditional nature use–traditional nature management lands at the coastal zone of the Ice Silk Road:a case study for the Russian Arctic

Territories of traditional nature use(TTNU)of indigenous population in the Arctic zone presents a historical model of sustainable development whose main principles are valuable for modern practice of economic activities in this region as well.Indigenous peoples traditional nature management practice in the Russian Arctic nowadays exists only within tribal community lands,though their virtual limits may be larger and known to indigenous population,helping to preserve regional identities.Preservation of TTNU in the course of modern economic development,including the Northern Silk Road coastal infrastructure,is important for regional ecological and social stability.They may be regarded as ecological buffer zones,restoring ecosystem functions important for regional sustainable development,though modern market economy treats them mainly as economic units less valuable for incomes than industrial.A new look at TTNU may be supported by their ecologicaleconomic assessment.A case study in the coastal Nenets TTNU belonging to family-clan community‘Ya’Erv’demonstrates its possible input to local sustainable development.

Letter to the editor: Comment on the Regulatios of the Simplified Registration and Approval Management for Compound Recipe of Classical Prescription of Traditional Chinese Medicine

To the Editor:On Oct 9,2017,China Food and Drug Administration announced1~ the Regulations of the Simplified Registration and Approval Management for Compound Recipe of Classical Prescription of Traditional Chinese Medicine(Exposure Draft)which has been stirring up intense debate in the West.The article China to Roll Back Regulations for Traditional Medicine Despite Safety Concerns lately

Customary Management System of Irrigation Ponds in Japana Case Study in a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS) Site of Noto Island,Ishikawa Prefecture

Recent research has showed increasing interest at the vital role of irrigation ponds that plays at biodiversity conservation,and provides ecological functions at a wide range.However,many irrigation ponds were abolished due to the economic and societal transformation in the rural.In particular,small-scale ponds were abolished and rebuilt to other public uses based on the consensus building process among the community.At the same time,civil organizations also launched initiatives to conserve irrigation ponds for its ecological significance or landscape scenery.However,study pertinent to the small scale ponds in the rural setting is largely neglected.This research aims at revealing the current situation of the utilization and management of small irrigation ponds using a case study of Noto Island in Ishikawa Prefecture.It was found that irrigation ponds are still under the traditional co-management of rural community.The most important finding in this study is that the traditional management of pond water use largely contributes to mitigate the harvest loss from natural disasters such as drought in the face of extreme climate.However,irrigation ponds are facing the threat of degradation due to the sharp decrease of farm population and the existing large number of part time farmers.Therefore,the small scale irrigation ponds and pertinent management and water use allotment should be revalued for its functions at a wide range from the biological and ecological functions and human knowledge system to mitigate disaster threats.

Integrated rice management simultaneously improves rice yield and nitrogen use efficiency in various paddy fields

The hilly area of Southwest China is a typical rice production area which is limited by seasonal droughts and low temperature in the early rice growth period.A field experiment was conducted on three typical paddy fields(low-lying paddy field,medium-elevation paddy field,and upland paddy field)in this region.Nitrogen(N)treatment(180 kg N ha-1 year-1)was compared to a control treatment(0 kg N ha-1 year-1)to evaluate the effects of integrated rice management(IRM)on rice growth,grain yield,and N utilization.Integrated rice management integrated raised beds containing plastic mulch,furrow irrigation,and triangular transplanting.In comparison to traditional rice management(TRM),IRM promoted rice tiller development,with 7–13 more tillers per cluster at the maximum tillering stage and 1–6 more tillers per cluster at the end of tillering stage.Integrated rice management significantly increased the rice aboveground biomass by 34.4%–109.0%in different growth periods and the aboveground N uptake by 25.3%–159.0%.Number of productive tillers significantly increased by 33.0%,resulting in a 33.0%increase in grain yield and 8.0%improvement of N use efficiency(NUE).Grain yields were significantly increased in all three paddy fields assessed,with IRM being the most important factor for grain yield and productive tiller development.Effects of paddy field type and N level on N uptake by aboveground plants were reflected in the rice reproductive growth period,with the effects of IRM more striking due to the dry climate conditions.In conclusion,IRM simultaneously improved rice yield and NUE,presenting a valuable rice management technique in the paddy fields assessed.

Occurrence of an endangered grassland butterfly is mainly driven by habitat heterogeneity,food availability,and microclimate

The Marsh Fritillary(Euphydryas aurinia)was once widespread in large parts of Central Europe.However,in the course of the last century,populations of the butterfly largely collapsed.Here,we surveyed patch and microhabitat occupancy and its drivers in one of the last vital populations in calcareous grasslands.Our study revealed that environmental conditions at the landscape and habitat level determined the occurrence of E.aurinia in a montane agricultural landscape with low land-use intensity.Patch occupancy increased with the cover of Devil's-bit Scabious(Succisa pratensis)grasslands in the surroundings of the patches,habitat heterogeneity and host-plant cover.Microhabitat occupancy was driven by a warm microclimate and high availability of host plants.In the well-connected landscape of nutrient-poor grasslands,patch occupancy of E.aurinia was driven by parameters defining a high habitat quality.Habitat heterogeneity very likely buffers E.aurinia populations against environmental stochasticity and,hence,enhances long-term viability.For the gregariously feeding caterpillars of E.aurinia,host-plant biomass is essential.Due to their more luxuriant growth,S.pratensis plants were clearly preferred,although the Glossy Scabious(Scabiosa lucida)was also widespread.Additionally,the growth of large Succisa plants was favored by soil humidity and grassland abandonment.To cope with the adverse macro-and mesoclimatic conditions of the study area,females of the butterfly selected host plants growing in extraordinarily warm microhabitats for oviposition.To secure long-term viability of E.aurinia populations,we recommend creating mosaics of traditionally managed grasslands and early stages of abandonment within the patches.