scholarly journals The impact of long-term agricultural development on the wetlands landscape pattern in Sanjiang Plain

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 1922-1932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.M. Xu ◽  
Y. Li ◽  
W. Ouyang ◽  
F.H. Hao ◽  
Z.L. Ding ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-310
Author(s):  
Guy Blaise Nkamleu ◽  

The world is facing unprecedented challenges from COVID-19, which is disrupting lives and livelihoods. The pandemic could profoundly affect the African continent and wipe out hard-won development gains, as sub-Saharan Africa heads into its first recession in 25 years. Beyond the multispatial impact of the coronavirus in Africa, its effects on the agriculture and food system is of particular interest, as food security could be the most affected area and, at the same time, agriculture could be the sector that could help African economies recover quicker from the impact of COVID19. This paper supports the view that COVID-19, as devilish as it may be, offers an opportunity to revive interest in the agricultural sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed immense pressures on African countries to raise additional resources, and consequently Africa’s growing public debt is again coming back to the centre stage of the global debate. The conversation on African debt sustainability has begun to dominate the scene and will flood the debate in the near term. While the observed, growing calls for debt relief for African countries are legitimate, we support in this paper that one should not divert attention from the long-term solutions needed to strengthen Africa’s resilience. These long-term solutions lie where they always have: in agriculture. With COVID-19, shipping agricultural inputs and food products from other continents to Africa has become disrupted and is accelerating the trend towards shortening supply chains. This will leave a potential market for inputs and food produced on the continent. COVID-19, together with the launching of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), have aligned the stars in favour of a decisive transformation of the agriculture sector on the continent. Agriculturalists and development experts need to be aware of their responsibility at this time, as they need to advocate for the topic of agricultural development to return to the centre and the heart of the agenda of discussions on how to respond to the consequences of Covid-19 in Africa. In this sense, and unexpectedly, COVID-19 is an opportunity for the agricultural sector.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunxia Yang ◽  
Hua Zheng ◽  
Binbin Huang ◽  
Ruonan Li ◽  
Zhiyun Ouyang ◽  
...  

Nitrogen (N) budgets have been computed in many countries at various scales to improve understanding of N-balance characteristics and to assess the environmental pollution risks of applying chemical fertilizer N. However, dynamic characteristics, driving forces, and potential soil fertility consequences related to cropland N balance have seldom been discussed, especially in regions with highly fertile soils and low N-use intensities. This study investigated the temporal and spatial characteristics of N balance, and the impact of agricultural development on the agro-ecosystems of the Sanjiang Plain, one of the largest producers of commodity food grains in China. County-level agricultural statistics at five-year intervals were used to calculate agricultural N balances, N surplus intensity, and N-use efficiency between 2005 and 2015. Agricultural development has brought about continual increases in cultivated land area, consumption of chemical fertilizers, and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Nitrogen surplus intensity decreased from 65.0 kg/ha in 2005 to 43.5 kg/ha in 2010, and to 22.2 kg/ha in 2015. However, NUE was >90% in 13 counties in 2015, and in 11 counties in 2010. In contrast, only 5 counties had NUE above 90% in 2005, which indicates that N from the soil was used by crops and soil fertility was gradually decreasing. The percentage change of crop area, namely, the increase in maize area percentage, contributed significantly to the increases in NUE. A judicious management of fertilizers that meets the nutrient needs of the crops and ensures agricultural sustainability on the Sanjiang Plain is therefore essential. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of assessing the impact of crop structure adjustment on soil fertility and nitrogen balance during agricultural development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (Suppl.1) ◽  
pp. 382-385

The agrarian sector is of strategic importance to the national economy because it ensures the country's food security and the presence of a significant number of unprofitable agricultural producers has imposed their financial recovery in order to ensure the development of the agrarian sector in the country. In order to improve the economic situation and reduce the number of failed agricultural producers in Bulgaria, government measures have been taken to improve the producers. Legislative acts, state targeted programs and priority national agricultural development projects have been adopted in recent years, all of which are under the European Common Agricultural Policy. As a result, there is a scientific and practical need to study the forms and methods of financial rehabilitation of agricultural organizations that confirm the importance of the article. The subject of a survey of the publication is the state of the finances of the agricultural sector producers and the methods for its improvement. The main objectives of the financial recovery are to prevent liquidation, debt restructuring, restore solvency, ensure long-term financial sustainability of agrarian producers. The objectives of the course are a study of the state of the financing of agriculture and the ways of its improvement.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 4391-4419 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Clymans ◽  
E. Struyf ◽  
G. Govers ◽  
F. Vandevenne ◽  
D. J. Conley

Abstract. Human land use changes directly affect silica (Si) mobilisation and Si storage in terrestrial ecosystems and influence Si export from the continents, although the magnitudes of the impact are unknown. Yet biogenic silica (BSi) in soils is an understudied aspect. We have quantified and compared total biogenic (PSia) and easily soluble (PSie) Si pools at four sites along a gradient of disturbance in southern Sweden. An estimate of the magnitude of change in temperate continental BSi pools due to human disturbance is provided. Land use clearly affects BSi pools and their distribution. Total PSia and PSie for a continuous forested site at Siggaboda Nature Reserve (66 900 ± 22 800 kg SiO2 ha−1 and 952 ± 16 kg SiO2 ha−1) are significantly higher than disturbed land use types from the Råshult Culture Reserve including arable land (28 800 ± 7200 kg SiO2 ha−1 and 239 ± 91 kg SiO2 ha−1), pasture sites (27 300 ± 5980 kg SiO2 ha−1 and 370 ± 129 kg SiO2 ha−1) and grazed forest (23 600 ± 6370 kg SiO2 ha−1 and 346 ± 123 kg SiO2 ha−1). Vertical PSia and PSie profiles show significant (p<0.05) variation among the sites. These differences in size and distribution are interpreted as the long-term effect of reduced BSi replenishment and increased mobilisation of the PSia in disturbed soils. In temperate regions, total PSia showed a 10 % decline since agricultural development (3000BCE). Recent agricultural expansion (after 1700CE) has resulted in an average export of 1.1 ± 0.8 Tmol Si yr−1, leading to an annual contribution of ca. 20 % to the global land-ocean Si flux carried by rivers. Human activities clearly exert a long-term influence on Si cycling in soils and contribute significantly to the land-ocean Si flux.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 648-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Schmidt ◽  
Fanaye Tadesse

AbstractThe trade-off between short-term welfare and long-term agricultural development in the highlands of Ethiopia represents a challenge to successful economic development in a predominantly agriculture-based economy. We employ nearest neighbor and kernel-based matching techniques to measure the impact of sustainable land and watershed management (SLWM) on the value of production at the plot level. Analysis suggests that plots that received SLWM investments (terraces, bunds, check dams) within the first study period (1992–2002) had a 24 per cent higher value of production in 2010. In addition, continuous treatment effects analysis provides a robustness check and suggests that plots with existing SLWM infrastructure have a positive and increasing value of production seven years after construction. Although value of production increases over time, net benefits may not outweigh costs, and mechanisms to incentivize maintenance may be needed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beat Meier ◽  
Anja König ◽  
Samuel Parak ◽  
Katharina Henke

This study investigates the impact of thought suppression over a 1-week interval. In two experiments with 80 university students each, we used the think/no-think paradigm in which participants initially learn a list of word pairs (cue-target associations). Then they were presented with some of the cue words again and should either respond with the target word or avoid thinking about it. In the final test phase, their memory for the initially learned cue-target pairs was tested. In Experiment 1, type of memory test was manipulated (i.e., direct vs. indirect). In Experiment 2, type of no-think instructions was manipulated (i.e., suppress vs. substitute). Overall, our results showed poorer memory for no-think and control items compared to think items across all experiments and conditions. Critically, however, more no-think than control items were remembered after the 1-week interval in the direct, but not in the indirect test (Experiment 1) and with thought suppression, but not thought substitution instructions (Experiment 2). We suggest that during thought suppression a brief reactivation of the learned association may lead to reconsolidation of the memory trace and hence to better retrieval of suppressed than control items in the long term.


2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Garate-Serafini ◽  
Jose Mendez ◽  
Patty Arriaga ◽  
Larry Labiak ◽  
Carol Reynolds

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