Impact of Bt Cotton on the Farmer's Livelihood System in China

In order to analyze the impacts of Bt cotton on the farmers' livelihood system, we interviewed 169 farmers and extension personnel in the main cotton production areas in Hebei province in the year 2002 and 2003. An integrative method was used in which a multidisciplinary approach was employed including agronomy, economics and sociology. The results showed that the application of Bt cotton increased the cotton growing area as well as farmers' income. For 67% of the farmers interviewed, cotton area has been continuously increasing since 1997. The cotton net margin in one cropping cycle came out to be higher than the combined net margins of wheat and corn in two cropping cycles. The income from cotton played a significant role in the investment to education, leisure and health care. The socio-economic impacts of cotton production are nevertheless not yet optimal because there were still many factors limiting them. Lack of labor and land were the main limiting factors. Productivity is restrained by the high price of Bt cotton seeds which pushed farmers to keep seeds from their own cotton production (42% of the farmers in 2002 and 2003). Farmers are still lacking technical command in using Bt-cotton: 78% of the farmers admitted that while more than 94% of the farmers complained not getting information from local extension and technical services. More success in using Bt-cotton calls upon going beyond providing seeds and asks for continuous assistance from research and extension department, notably to achieve a full knowledge of the Bt-cotton characteristic so as to optimally integrate it into the farmers' system.China; Bt Cotton; biotechnologies; impact evaluation; Livelihood

Policies drain the North China Plain: Agricultural policy and groundwater depletion in Luancheng County, 1949-2000

Agricultural production / Groundwater / Aquifers / Water shortage / Irigation efficiency / Agricultural policy / Crop production / Wastewaters / Water management / Hydrology / Economic development / Crop yield / Cotton / Wheat / Sprinkler irrigation / Water conservation / Water use efficiency / Pumping / Water balance / Vegetables / Rural economy / Irrigated framing

Groundwater overexploitation in the North China Plain: A path to sustainability

Over-pumping of aquifers is a worldwide problem, mainly caused by agricultural water use. Among its consequences are the falling dry of streams and wetlands, soil subsidence, die-off of phreatophytic vegetation, saline water intrusion, increased pumping cost and loss of storage needed for drought relief. Stopping or reversing the trend requires management interventions. The North China Plain serves as an example. A management system is set up for a typical county. It contains three components: monitoring, decision support based on modelling, and implementation in the field. Besides all monitoring data, the decision support module contains an irrigation calculator, a box model, and a distributed groundwater model to project the outcomes of different water allocation scenarios. In view of grain security, a solution combines an adaptation of the cropping system with imports of surface water from the South. The Open Access book does not only describe the problem and the path to its solution. It also gives access to nine manuals concerning methods used. They include computer programs and the game Save the Water. The Chinese experience should be of considerable interest to other regions in the world which suffer from over-pumping of aquifers

LAND RIGHTS, FARMER INVESTMENTS INCENTIVES, AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN CHINA

The overall goal of our paper is to estimate the impact of China's land rights on farm investment incentives and agricultural production. To meet the goal, the paper pursues three specific objectives. First, the paper briefly reviews the various linkages between land rights and investment incentives. Next, we demonstrate how land use behavior differs according to the tenure regime and land rights. Third, by using our field survey data, this paper identifies the links between specific land rights, instead of just the land tenure type, and investment incentives. The paper also measures the size of efficiency loss from the current land rights arrangements.Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Groundwater overexploitation in the North China Plain: A path to sustainability

Over-pumping of aquifers is a worldwide problem, mainly caused by agricultural water use. Among its consequences are the falling dry of streams and wetlands, soil subsidence, die-off of phreatophytic vegetation, saline water intrusion, increased pumping cost and loss of storage needed for drought relief. Stopping or reversing the trend requires management interventions. The North China Plain serves as an example. A management system is set up for a typical county. It contains three components: monitoring, decision support based on modelling, and implementation in the field. Besides all monitoring data, the decision support module contains an irrigation calculator, a box model, and a distributed groundwater model to project the outcomes of different water allocation scenarios. In view of grain security, a solution combines an adaptation of the cropping system with imports of surface water from the South. The Open Access book does not only describe the problem and the path to its solution. It also gives access to nine manuals concerning methods used. They include computer programs and the game Save the Water. The Chinese experience should be of considerable interest to other regions in the world which suffer from over-pumping of aquifers

Carbon Footprint Assessment and Mitigation Options of Dairy under Chinese Conditions

With the rapid human population growth and economic development, demand for animal products continues to increase and livestock production rapidly expands. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from livestock research 7.52 billion tons CO2-eq per year, accounting for 50% of agricultural emissions and 18% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions (FAO, 2014), making it become an important source of GHG emissions. The Chinese livestock production emits 373 GHG of million tons CO2-eq. Methane (CH4) emitted from enteric fermentation is 10.74 million tons (equivalent to 225.6 million tons CO2-eq), accounting for 60.7% of total livestock GHG emissions. CH4 emitted from manure management is 3.33 million tons (equivalent to 69.9 million tons CO2-eq), accounting for 18.9% of total livestock GHG emissions. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emitted from manure management is 0.25 million tons (equivalent to 77.2 million tons CO2-eq), accounted for 20.4% of the total livestock GHG emissions (MEE, 2018). The enteric fermentation and manure management contribute 40% to agricultural GHG emissions. Expansion of livestock production results in high demand of feedstuffs, bringing greater pressure on natural resources. It is of particular concern that the livestock sector has already been a major user of natural resources. For example, approximately 35% of total cropland and 20% of green water have been used for animal feed production (Opio et al., 2013). Feed-related emissions represent about half of total emissions from livestock supply chains (Gerber et al., 2013). Therefore, it is very important to evaluate GHG emissions from the whole life cycle of livestock production. Besides improved manure utilization and water usage efficiency, management of carbon emissions and carbon footprint is highlighted as an important research topic. This project is expected to identify and execute appropriate interventions for reducing carbon footprint and economic cost of dairy production

Carbon Footprint Assessment and Mitigation Options of Dairy under Chinese Conditions

With the rapid human population growth and economic development, demand for animal products continues to increase and livestock production rapidly expands. Greenhouse gases (GHG) emission from livestock research 7.52 billion tons CO2-eq per year, accounting for 50% of agricultural emissions and 18% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions (FAO, 2014), making it become an important source of GHG emissions. The Chinese livestock production emits 373 GHG of million tons CO2-eq. Methane (CH4) emitted from enteric fermentation is 10.74 million tons (equivalent to 225.6 million tons CO2-eq), accounting for 60.7% of total livestock GHG emissions. CH4 emitted from manure management is 3.33 million tons (equivalent to 69.9 million tons CO2-eq), accounting for 18.9% of total livestock GHG emissions. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emitted from manure management is 0.25 million tons (equivalent to 77.2 million tons CO2-eq), accounted for 20.4% of the total livestock GHG emissions (MEE, 2018). The enteric fermentation and manure management contribute 40% to agricultural GHG emissions. Expansion of livestock production results in high demand of feedstuffs, bringing greater pressure on natural resources. It is of particular concern that the livestock sector has already been a major user of natural resources. For example, approximately 35% of total cropland and 20% of green water have been used for animal feed production (Opio et al., 2013). Feed-related emissions represent about half of total emissions from livestock supply chains (Gerber et al., 2013). Therefore, it is very important to evaluate GHG emissions from the whole life cycle of livestock production. Besides improved manure utilization and water usage efficiency, management of carbon emissions and carbon footprint is highlighted as an important research topic. This project is expected to identify and execute appropriate interventions for reducing carbon footprint and economic cost of dairy production

Análise de elasticidade para sistemas agrícolas da planície do norte da China baseada em um modelo dinâmico de sistema

Este trabalho se refere a um estudo de caso da teoria de elasticidade para entender sistemas agrícolas na província de Luancheng na planície do norte da China. Foi construído um modelo de sistema dinâmico acoplado a subsistemas agrícolas sociais, econômicos e ecológicos para a província de Luancheng com um intervalo de tempo de um mês. O modelo inclui cinco componentes principais: recursos hídricos, rentabilidade, irrigação, produção agrícola e área. O lençol freático simulado, a área e a produção de trigo, a área e produção de milho e a transferência de mão de obra refletiram a tendência geral dos resultados observados com coeficientes de determinação maiores que 0.88. A elasticidade dos sistemas agrícolas, indicada pela rentabilidade e segurança alimentar, foi explorada para a província de Luancheng, que mostrou que inicialmente os investimentos em agricultura tiveram sua elasticidade aumentada rapidamente. Entretanto, com a degradação dos recursos e o aumento do investimento agrícola, o custo da produção agrícola tornou-se muito alto para obtenção de lucro. O aumento de população aumenta o risco de segurança alimentar. Como resultado, a elasticidade dos sistemas agrícolas decresceu gradualmente. A província de Luancheng encontra-se agora na fase conservativa do ciclo de adaptação. Ajustes parciais deveriam ser implementados para impulsionar sua elasticidade e promover o desenvolvimento contínuo dos sistemas agrícolas.This paper presents a case study of resilience theory to understand agricultural systems in the Luancheng County of the North China Plain. A dynanic system model coupled with social, economic and ecological subsystems of agriculture for the Luancheng County was constructed with a time step of one month. The model includes five main components, water resources, profitability, irrigation, crop yield and area. The simulated groundwater table, wheat area and yield, maize area and yield, and rural labor transfer reflected the general trend of the observed data, with calculated determination coefficients higher than 0.88. Resilience of agricultural systems, as indicated by agricultural profitability and food security, were explored for the Luancheng County. Initially, investments in agriculture increased its resilience rapidly. However, with the degradation of resources and the increases in agricultural investment, the cost of agricultural production became too high to gain profit. The rise in population increases the risk of food security. As a result, the resilience of agricultural systems decreased gradually. The Luancheng County is now in the conservation phase of the adaptive cycle. Partial adjustments should be introduced to enhance its resilience and promote the continuing development of the agricultural systems

Thoughts and countermeasures of establishing national modern agricultural demonstration zone —— Take Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province as an example

Modern agricultural demonstration area is of far-reaching significance to promote the development of modern agriculture. According to the current situation of agricultural industry development in Shijiazhuang, this paper analyzes the development conditions of establishing a national modern agricultural demonstration zone, puts forward the basic ideas, development orientation and development countermeasures of building a national modern agricultural demonstration zone, and analyzes the guarantee measures for its development, in order to build Shijiazhuang into a national modern agricultural demonstration zone

Analysis of temporal and spatial evolution characteristics and influencing factors of land use transformation in Hebei Province from the perspective of supply and demand

This study focuses on the counties and districts of Hebei Province as the research unit. It adopts a supply-demand perspective to analyze the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of farmland utilization transformation in the province, investigate the coordination of this transformation, and explore the influencing factors. The weight of indicators is calculated using the entropy weighting method and Analytic Hierarchy Process The comprehensive evaluation model is then applied to calculate the supply-demand transformation index of farmland utilization in Hebei Province for the years 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. Furthermore, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics are analyzed using the kernel density estimation method. The coupling coordination degree model is selected to explain the relationship between the supply-demand transformation of farmland utilization. Finally, the influencing factors are analyzed using the geographical detector model. The research findings are as follows: 1) The supply-demand transformation index of farmland utilization in Hebei Province has shown an increasing trend during the study period. The standard deviation of the supply transformation index has increased over time, while the demand transformation index has increased at a faster rate. High-density supply transformation is concentrated in the southeast, particularly in the eastern part of Shijiazhuang. Conversely, the northwest exhibits a low-density supply transformation. High-density demand transformation is observed in urban areas across the province, with a significant expansion from 2010 to 2015. 2) There is a strong correlation between the supply and demand transformation of farmland utilization. The coupling coordination degree has gradually improved from 2005 to 2015, transitioning from rapid to stable growth. The level of coupling coordination has shifted from imbalance to coordination. The mountainous areas in the northwest of Hebei Province exhibit relatively lower coupling coordination degrees, while the plains in the southeast demonstrate higher levels. 3) The supply transformation of farmland utilization is closely correlated with the natural environment, particularly elevation and topography. On the other hand, the demand transformation is closely associated with socio-economic development, with a scarcity of supply driving an increase in the demand transformation index. Industrial developed areas show a higher intensity of demand for farmland utilization. 4) To ensure the sustainable utilization of farmland while meeting food production needs, it is crucial to enhance contiguous farmland and mechanization levels, promote the integration of agriculture and tourism, establish an ecological barrier around Beijing-Tianjin, and optimize the ecological compensation mechanism for farmland. The above findings provide valuable insights into farmland utilization transformation and suggest important strategies for its sustainable development