Impacts of agri-food e-commerce on traditional wholesale industry:Evidence from China

Rapidly expanding studies investigate the effects of e-commerce on company operations in the retail market.However,the interaction between agri-food e-commerce(AEC)and the traditional agri-food wholesale industry(AWI)has not received enough attention in the existing literature.Based on the provincial panel data from 2013 to 2020 in China,this paper examines the effect of AEC on AWI,comprising three dimensions:digitalization(DIGITAL),agrifood e-commerce infrastructure and supporting services(AECI),and agri-food e-commerce economy(AECE).First,AWI and AEC are measured using an entropy-based combination of indicators.The results indicate that for China as a whole,AWI has remained practically unchanged,whereas AEC exhibits a significant rising trend.Second,the findings of the fixed-effect regression reveal that DIGITAL and AECE tend to raise AWI,whereas AECI negatively affects AWI.Third,threshold regression results indicate that AECI tends to diminish AWI with three-stage inhibitory intensity,which manifests as a first increase and then a drop in the inhibition degree.These results suggest that with the introduction of e-commerce for agricultural product circulation,digital development will have catfish effects that tend to stimulate the vitality of the conventional wholesale industry and promote technical progress.Furthermore,the traditional wholesale industry benefits financially from e-commerce even while it diverts part of the traditional wholesale circulation for agricultural products.

Different Foliar Fertilizer Treatments Affect the Yield and Quality of Brassica napus L.for Both Vegetable and Oil Dual-Use Rape

Field experiments were carried out to study the effect of different foliar fertilizer treatments on the agronomic traits,yield,and quality of Brassica napus L.for both vegetable and oil dual-use rape.The seedlings of‘Youtai 929’,‘Jinyoutai 1’,and‘Zhongshuang 11’were sprayed with potassium dihydrogen phosphate,naphthylacetic acid,and selenium fertilizer,and the agronomic traits,yield,and quality were determined.The results showed that the naphthylacetic acid treatment had the highest indexes before winter,followed by the selenium fertilizer treatment.At the harvesting stage,the plant height,number of siliquae,yield per plant,and number of effective branches on the main stem of the three varieties were the highest in the naphthylacetic acid treatment,followed by those in the potassium dihydrogen phosphate treatment.The fresh shoot quality was the best in the selenium fertilizer treatment and the second in the naphthylacetic acid treatment.‘Jinyoutai 1’applied with naphthylacetic acid had the highest economic benefit of 4971.78 CNY/667m2,which was 642.32 CNY/667m2 higher than that of the control.The findings suggested that naphthylacetic acid was suitable to be used as the foliar fertilizer for the seedlings of B.napus varieties for both vegetable and oilseed,and the additional application of selenium fertilizer demonstrated better effect.

How to Apply Data Mining Technology to the Study of Agricultural Information Data Resources?

This paper makes a brief description of the definition and methods of data mining.It describes the characteristics of agricultural data(value delivery,specialization,spatio-temporal bidimensionality)and the status of application of data mining technology in agriculture.

Application of the Agent in Agricultural Expert System Inspection Software

In reference to the status quo of research and the application of the agricultural expert system, this paper analyzes problems existing in the current development, and puts forward the idea of research and development for agriculturespecific software. The agent application is discussed, and an agent-based Agricultural Expert System Inspection Tool is constructed. In addition, this paper addresses the outlook in application, potential problems and the development trend of multi-agent-based inspection software for the agricultural expert system.

Current Situation of Information Demand of Farmers in Taihang Mountain Area: A Case Study of Pingshan County in Hebei Province

Since the reform and opening-up,economy of mountain areas in China has realized considerable development.However,due to such factors as terrain,traffic,and individual differences,compared with plain and coastal areas,mountain areas still lag far behind.In recent years,informationization construction of China develops rapidly,but it nearly stagnates in mountain rural areas.Information has become an essential factor restricting economic development of rural areas.Based on the survey of current information demand of farmers carried out in Pingshan County in Hebei Province in 2010,this study came up with relevant recommendations,in order to speed up development of rural economic in mountain areas,narrow the regional gap,improve living condition of farmers in mountain areas,and increase income level of farmers in mountain areas.

Studies on Agricultural Scientific and Technical Information Core Metadata Register System

To construct the Agricultural Scientific and Technical Information Core Metadata （ASTICM） standard and its expanding principles, and to develop a register system based on ASTICM, the policy and methods of DC （Dublin Core） and SDBCM （Scientific Database Core Metadata） were studied. The construction of ASTICM has started from the proposed elements of the DCMI （Dublin Core Metadata Initiative）, and has expanded the DC and SDBCM with related expanding principles. ASTICM finally includes 75 metadata elements, five expanded principles, and seven application profile creation methods. According to the requirement analysis of a large number of users of agricultural information, a register system based on ASTICM was developed. The ASTICM standard framework and its register system supported the search, sharing, integration exchange and other applications, effectively.

Low light intensity elongates period and defers peak time of photosynthesis: a computational approach to circadian-clock-controlled photosynthesis in tomato

Photosynthesis is involved in the essential process of transforming light energy into chemical energy.Although the interaction between photosynthesis and the circadian clock has been confirmed,the mechanism of how light intensity affects photosynthesis through the circadian clock remains unclear.Here,we propose a first computational model for circadian-clock-controlled photosynthesis,which consists of the light-sensitive protein P,the core oscillator,photosynthetic genes,and parameters involved in the process of photosynthesis.The model parameters were determined by minimizing the cost function(δ=8.56),which is defined by the errors of expression levels,periods,and phases of the clock genes(CCA1,PRR9,TOC1,ELF4,GI,and RVE8).The model recapitulates the expression pattern of the core oscillator under moderate light intensity(100μmol m^(-2) s^(-1)).Further simulation validated the dynamic behaviors of the circadian clock and photosynthetic outputs under low(62.5μmol m^(-2) s^(-1))and normal(187.5μmol m^(-2) s^(-1))intensities.When exposed to low light intensity,the peak times of clock and photosynthetic genes were shifted backward by 1–2 hours,the period was elongated by approximately the same length,and the photosynthetic parameters attained low values and showed delayed peak times,which confirmed our model predictions.Our study reveals a potential mechanism underlying the circadian regulation of photosynthesis by the clock under different light intensities in tomato.

Factors Obstructing Rural Informationization Development of Pingshan County of Hebei Province

The purpose of rural informationization is to provide effective information for farmers,increase production efficiency and income level of farmers in agricultural production.In recent years,under the guidance of No.1 document of central government,China's rural informationization has obtained considerable development.However,due to influence of terrain,mountain areas are still backward in informationization development.Combining actual conditions of Pingshan County of Hebei Province,the authors visited local farmers and made detailed survey on basic conditions of farmers,and analyzed factors obstructing agricultural informationization development in mountain areas,to provide theoretical reference for promoting informationization development in mountain areas and increasing income of local farmers.

Optimal design of culling compensation policy under the African swine fever——Based on simulations of typical pig farms in China

This paper aims to optimize the culling compensation policy from a micro perspective through scenario simulation.Based on an investigation of 273 pig farms in eight regions,four typical pig farms were constructed according to farm size and breeding mode,representing the swine producers in China.Besides,a decision objective function of pig farms facing suspected African swine fever(ASF)outbreaks was constructed.This study used a mathematical programming model to design and simulate scenarios based on compensation standards and local implementation levels,aiming to incentivize pig farms to report epidemics.The results show that the optimal decisions on epidemic reports differed among typical farms and by herd daily age.The results suggest the following adjustments for optimizing culling compensation policies:(1)to set culling compensation standards based on the market value and(2)to maintain a high level of epidemic surveillance capability in the animal husbandry and veterinary sector.

Identification of Early Peach Aphid Infestation Based on Hyperspectral Imaging Technology

Peach aphid is a common pest and hard to detect.This study employs hyperspectral imaging technology to identify early damage in green cabbage caused by peach aphid.Through principal component transformation and multiple linear regression analysis,the correlation relation between spectral characteristics and infestation stage is analyzed.Then,four characteristic wavelength selection methods are compared and optimal characteristic wavelengths subset is determined to be input for modelling.One linear algorithm and two nonlinear modelling algorithms are compared.Finally,support vector machine(SVM)model based on the characteristic wavelengths selected by multi-cluster feature selection(MCFS)acquires the highest identification accuracy,which is 98.97%.These results indicate that hyperspectral imaging technology have the ability to identify early peach aphid infestation stages on green cabbages.

Effects of Tillage Practices on Water Consumption, Water Use Efficiency and Grain Yield in Wheat Field

Water shortage is a serious issue threatening the sustainable development of agriculture in the North China Plain, with the winter wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） as its largest water-consuming crop. The effects of tillage practices on the water consumption and water use efifciency （WUE） of wheat under high-yield conditions using supplemental irrigation based on testing soil moisture dynamic change were examined in this study. This experiment was conducted from 2007 to 2010, with ifve tillage practice treatments, namely, strip rotary tillage （SR）, strip rotary tillage after subsoiling （SRS）, rotary tillage （R）, rotary tillage after subsoiling （RS）, and plowing tillage （P）. The results showed that in the SRS and RS treatments the total water and soil water consumptions were 11.81, 25.18%and 12.16, 14.75%higher than those in SR and R treatments, respectively. The lowest ratio of irrigation consumption to total water consumption in the SRS treatment was 18.53 and 21.88%for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 growing seasons, respectively. However, the highest percentage of water consumption was found in the SRS treatment from anthesis to maturity. No signiifcant difference was found between the WUE of the lfag leaf at the later iflling stage in the SRS and RS treatments, but the lfag leaf WUE at these stages were higher than those of other treatments. The SRS and RS treatments exhibited the highest grain yield （9 573.76 and 9 507.49 kg ha-1 for 3-yr average） with no signiifcant difference between the two treatments, followed by P, R and SR treatments. But the SRS treatment had the highest WUE. Thus, the 1-yr subsoiling tillage, plus 2 yr of strip rotary planting operation may be an efifcient measure to increase wheat yield and WUE.

Large-Scale Ontology Development and Agricultural Application Based on Knowledge Domain Framework

The key activity to build semantic web is to build ontologies. But today, the theory and methodology of ontology construction is still far from ready. This paper proposed a theoretical framework for massive knowledge management- the knowledge domain framework （KDF）, and introduces an integrated development environment （IDE） named large-scale ontology development environment （LODE）, which implements the proposed theoretical framework. We also compared LODE with other popular ontology development environments in this paper. The practice of using LODE on management and development of agriculture ontologies shows that knowledge domain framework can handle the development activities of large scale ontologies. Application studies based on the described briefly. principle of knowledge domain framework and LODE was

A Dairy Industry Information Cooperative Service System Based on a Production Process Ontology

Agricultural information cooperative services （AICS） are now becoming an important aspect of agriculture informatization. This study offers an ontological conception of the agricultural production process, establishing operational divisions corresponding to both the stages and the fundamental information requirements of the dairy industry production process in China, yielding a process ontology for the dairy industry as well as a business chain model. A framework for a dairy industry information cooperative service system was established, with service functions realized in a prototype system. The resulting agricultural process ontology built on the basis of biological characteristics has advantages as a classification standard for agricultural information; whereas the business chain model based on this agricultural process ontology allows for an effective distribution of agricultural information cooperative services. This study outlines a concept and demonstrates a prototype of a cooperative service capable of integrating diverse online agricultural information relevant to the dairy industry in China.

Analysis of Vegetable Production Trends and Dominant Varieties in Zhangjiakou City of Hebei Province

Based on the production data during 2008 and 2017 of 16 main vegetables in Zhangjiakou City of Hebei Province,the comparative advantage model was used to analyze the superior varieties in the main producing areas. The results indicate that there are seven main vegetable producing areas in Zhangjiakou City,and the development of main producing areas tends to become balanced: white radish,celery,leaf lettuce,and carrot of Shangyi,sweet pepper and tomato of Chongli,lettuce and Chinese cabbage of Kangbao,spinach,broccoli,carrots,and cauliflower of Guyuan,spinach and eggplant of Xuanhua,Chinese cabbage and lettuce of Zhangbei. These vegetables have a strong competitiveness.

Evaluation of Ecological Environment Competitiveness of Hunan Province Based on Prefecture Level Cities

Based on the data of 13 eco-environmental indicators of 14 prefecture level cities in Hunan Province from 2014 to 2018,this paper quantitatively evaluated the eco-environmental competitiveness and its advantages and disadvantages by principal component analysis(PCA).The results showed that:(1)the overall ecoenvironmental competitiveness of Hunan Province was relatively high,whereas the competitiveness level of each city and prefecture was quite different.The comprehensive score of eco-environmental competitiveness of Changsha City was 2.96,ranking the first,and Zhangjiajie city ranking the last with a score of-1.60,which indicated that there was an obvious difference in the level of eco-environmental competitiveness among different regions.(2)The overall eco-environmental competitiveness of cities and prefectures in Western Hunan Province was weak.Among the 14 prefectures and cities in Hunan Province,the comprehensive scores of eco-environmental competitiveness of 6 prefectures and cities were negative,whereas the scores of Zhangjiajie,Xiangxi and Huaihua in Western Hunan were all lower than the others.In the face of increasingly serious environmental problems,cities and prefectures should adjust measures according to local conditions and put forward specific measures to enhance environmental competitiveness.In particular,cities and prefectures in Western Hunan should give full play to their advantages in ecological resources,take the path of green development,enhance the competitiveness of ecological environment,and provide support for local economic development.

SWOT Analysis on the Development of Modern Ecological Land-scape Agriculture:A Case Study of Baiquan Ecological Park

With Baiquan Ecological Park in Yi County as the case,the basic conditions are analyzed from the aspects of area,population,natural resources,socio-economic and industrial development.SWOT analysis of the development of modern ecological landscape agriculture is carried out.It is pointed out that for developing modern ecological landscape agriculture in Western Qing Tombs region,it is necessary to give priority to protecting the ecological environment,highlight the characteristics and style of modern agriculture,consider the existing landscape elements,and comprehensively develop the integrated pattern of ecology,landscape and modern agriculture.

Effects of Different Storage Methods on the Fruit Quality and Physiological Changes in Yihong Honey Peach

Taking Yihong,the main cultivar of mid-ripening honey peaches(Prunus persica)in Hunan,as material,this study explored the effects of different storage methods on the fruit quality and physiological changes in Yihong honey peach by the combination of polyethylene film packaging with low-temperature storage.The results showed that the weight loss rate of packaged storage at normal temperature(T1)was significantly lower than that of unpackaged storage at normal temperature(CK),but there was no significant difference in other indicators.In the middle of storage,the respiration rate and ethylene release of packaged storage at 0℃(T3)were extremely significantly lower or significantly lower than those of unpackaged storage at 0℃(T2),packaged storage at 0℃after cold adapting at 8℃for 5 d(T4),and packaged storage in a fluctuating temperature range of 0~3.5℃(T5).After storage,the structure of the middle lamella in the cell wall of T3 was compact and uniform,and the mitochondrial structure was complete,while the cell walls and mitochondria of T4 and T5 were severely deformed and disintegrated.The activities of antioxidant enzymes peroxidase(POD)and superoxide dismutase(SOD)of T3 was significantly higher than those of T4 and T5,and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA)and polyphenol oxidase(PPO)of T3 was also the lowest.Therefore,0°C packaged storage can effectively delay the senescence of Yihong honey peach and prolong its freshness period.

Recommendations for Analysis and Optimization of Vegetable Circulation Mode in Hebei Province

This paper analyzed current situations of vegetable production and circulation in Hebei Province and summarized 3 major modes of vegetable circulation in Hebei Province,namely,traditional circulation mode,production-marketing docking mode,and e-commerce channel based circulation mode.Through comprehensive analysis of advantages and disadvantages of different circulation modes,it came up with pertinent recommendations for optimizing the vegetable circulation system in Hebei Province:reducing circulation links at the operating level to reduce circulation costs;bring into full play government supervision functions at institutional guarantee level to cut down expenses in circulation links.

Research and Analysis on Difference in Per Capita Net Income of Chinese Rural Residents

The study aims to understand the variation of difference in per capita net income of rural residents during China's economic development in recent years. The writer studies and analyzes rural residents' income gap between 1997 and 2008 with relevant theories of income difference and the calculation of absolute difference index as well as relative difference index and obtains the conclusion that absolute difference of Chinese rural residents' income experienced an upward trend while relative difference generally remained constant with slight fluctuation and growth, which reflects that rural residents' income gap is increasing gradually. The writer also puts forward some related proposals and countermeasures.

Demand and Development of New Generation of Migrant Workers in Hebei Province

A field investigation was conducted on the new generation of migrant workers in Hebei Province to understand their present situation and characteristics,based on which countermeasures and suggestions were put forward to improve the survival and development of the new generation of migrant workers.