Forages for the Red Soils Area of China - Proceedings of an International Workshop, Jianyang, Fujian Province, P. R. China, 6–9 October 1997

Crop Production/Industries,

Biomass Energy Economics and Rural Livelihoods in Sichuan, China

This study investigates the influences of household biomass energy use on rural livelihoods in Sichuan Province of China. Of the 556 surveyed households, 432 (77.7%) households still use traditional solid biomass energy (crops straw and firewood) for cooking, while 243 (43.7%) households produce biogas. An alternative-specific conditional logit model was adopted to test the determinants of household biomass energy choice behaviors from the perspectives of households’ revealed preferences and stated preferences (RP and SP) based on the random utility theory. The results of this study indicated that households prefer to use energy sources with lower prices (costs), higher safety, and lower indoor pollution. Moreover, this study showed that the decision maker characteristics, the demographic structure of rural families, income level, arable land owned and household location are all crucial factors affecting the process of household energy transition. On the production side, in order to investigate the influence of traditional biomass energy use on agricultural production, a multioutput profit function was adopted to further analyze the relationship between agricultural production and biomass collection. The estimation results showed that the supply cross-price elasticities of agricultural products and biomass are -0.02 and -0.52, respectively, indicating that biomass collection could bring a negative effect to agricultural production due to the competition between these two activities for limited labor resources. Finally, this research provided a holistic and comprehensive analysis of household biomass energy using behaviors based on an agricultural household model. The estimation results revealed that household biomass energy consumption responds positively to the changes in exogenous prices of self-consumed agricultural products and labor, while the market failures reduce the flexibility of household biomass energy using behaviors in the cases of changes in the price of commercial energy or other marketed goods.Biomasse Energiewirtschaft und ländlichen Lebensunterhalt in Sichuan, China Diese Studie untersucht die Auswirkungen der Nutzung von Biomasse Energieverbrauch auf ländliche Lebensgrundlagen in der Provinz Sichuan in China. Von den 556 befragten Haushalte, 432 (77,7%) Haushalte verwenden noch traditionelle feste Biomasse (Stroh und Holz) zum Kochen, 243 (43,7%) Haushalte wählen Biogas zu erzeugen. Ein alternativ-spezifisches bedingtes Logit Modell wird angewendet auf der Grundlage der Zufallsnutzentheorie, um die Determinanten des Wahlverhaltens der Biomasse aus den Perspektiven der offenbarten Präferenzen und der geäußerter Präferenzen zu testen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studie zeigen, dass die Haushalte gern die Energie mit niedrigeren Preisen (kosten), höhere Sicherheit und geringere Innenraumverschmutzung verwenden. Darüber hinaus zeigt diese Studie, dass die Eigenschaften der Entscheidungsträger; die demografische Struktur; Einkommensniveau; der Besitz der Ackerland und der Haushaltsstandort sind alle entscheidenden Faktoren, die den Prozess der Transformation der Hausenergie beeinflussen. Um die Auswirkungen der traditionellen Nutzung von Biomasse auf die landwirtschaftliche Produktion zu untersuchen wurde mit Multi-Output Gewinn Funktion die Beziehung zwischen der landwirtschaftlichen Produktion und Biomasse weiter analysieren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Kreuzpreiselastizitäten des Angebots zwischen Agrarerzeugnisse und Biomasse wurden -0,02 und -0,52. Es zeigte sich, dass die Biomasse Sammlung einen negativen Einfluss auf die landwirtschaftliche Produktion haben können. Das führt einen Wettbewerb zwischen diesen beiden Tätigkeiten für begrenzte Arbeitsressourcen. Schließlich stellt diese Studie eine ganzheitliche und umfassende Analyse der Nutzung von Biomasse zur Energieerzeugung mit einem landwirtschaftlichen Haushaltsmodell. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Energieverbrauch der Haushalte aus Biomasse eine positive Reaktion auf die Veränderungen der exogenen Preise von selbstverbrauchenden Agrarprodukten und Arbeitskräften hat. Und in den Fällen von Änderungen des Preises der kommerziellen Energie oder anderer vermarkteter Güter Marktversagen reduziert die Flexibilität der Haushalts Biomasse-Energie

Tropical and Subtropical Maize in Asia: Production Systems, Constraints, and Research Priorities

This book examines future technological and policy prospects for the sustainable intensification of rainfed upland maize production in Asia, and derives R&D priorities for specific maize production environments and markets. Village-level and farmer-group surveys were conducted to characterize upland maize production environments and systems in China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Survey findings, particularly farmer-identified constraints to maize production, complemented with other relevant data, were used in country-level, R&D priority-setting workshops. High on the list of farmer constraints was drought, estimated to affect three production environments that are home to about 48 million rural poor and produce an estimated 16 million tons of maize, and others such as downy mildew, stem borers, soil erosion/landslides, waterlogging, poor agricultural extension/ technology transfer services, and poor access to low-interest credit and markets. Farmers felt that socioeconomic and policy-related constraints impact maize productivity more than technical constraints do. It is important to recognize that technology is not the only key to increasing productivity and bettering the conditions of marginal maize farmers in Asia. There is a growing trend towards commercializing and intensifying maize production that is different from the staple food self-sufficiency paradigm that has been the cornerstone of agricultural policy in most developing countries. Appropriate government policies could help alleviate the adverse consequences of commercialization and promote sustainable intensification of maize production, especially in marginal environments inhabited by resource-poor subsistence farmersMaize, Agricultural development, Farming systems, Production policies, Environmental factors, Cropping systems, Research projects, Project management, Asia, Crop Production/Industries, E10,

Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture: country case study: development and status of freshwater aquaculture in Henan Province, China

This monograph is the case study for China, with a particular focus on Henan Province, the project location. Written in three parts, it first describes the historical background, production levels and trends, economic and institutional environment, policy issues, and market situation in China in general. The main part of the study presents findings from two different surveys conducted in Henan Province. County-level information is used to analyze the current situation of aquaculture, providing a more disaggregated picture than what is generally available from national statistics. Data collected in a survey of fish farmers in two locations in Henan are then analyzed with regard to the prevailing aquaculture technology and production practices, economic performance of pond fish farming, and the key reasons for aquaculture adoption. In the final chapter, constraints and opportunities for the aquaculture sector in China in general are discussed.Freshwater aquaculture, Economic analysis, Trade, Ecosystems, Pond culture, Fish consumption, Food security, Policies, Regulations, Legislation, Socioeconomic aspects, Yield, China, People's Rep.,

Socio-economic drivers of agricultural production in a transition economy: A case study of Hu Village, Sichuan Province, China

Contemporary global agriculture has been undergoing transition towards different pathways. In developed countries, a shift from productivist agriculture to multifunctional agriculture has begun since the 1980s (Wilson, 2007). In the developing world, agricultural modernisation is still the primary strategy for agricultural development, and driven by urbanisation and industrialisation, deagrarianisation of rural society has been widely identified (Bryceson, 1996; Rigg, 2006a). As the largest developing country in the world, China embarked on market reform three decades ago and has ever since experienced dramatic socio-economic transition towards modernisation, industrialisation and urbanisation. Significant levels of academic attention have focused on empirically identifying economic and policy drivers of Chinese agricultural production from a structuralist standpoint, largely neglecting the agency of smallholders and sociocultural factors. To address the resulting literature gap, this thesis adopts an approach that combines political economy and cultural analysis through an in-depth case study of a rural community in southwest China. A multi-methods approach is used to collect data, including questionnaires, in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation and the analysis of secondary data. The results suggest that Chinese smallholder agriculture has been dramatically transformed by an array of socio-economic forces. The “intensive, sustainable, diverse” Chinese smallholder agriculture which Netting (1993) portrayed, has been progressively shifted towards extensive, unsustainable and less diverse pathways. It suggests that the “perfunctory agriculture” performed by Chinese smallholders is the outcome of interactions and negotiations between various political, socio-economic and institutional constraints and farmers’ agency. Another key finding is that moving out of agriculture is becoming the norm in Chinese rural society. Most smallholders show willingness to rent out agricultural land and to enter into a capitalist relationship with employees, rather than primarily being cultivators of their land. Land transfer markets have become increasingly buoyant at the local level, and large-scale capitalist agriculture seems to be the desired future of Chinese smallholder agriculture for both the Chinese government and smallholders. Besides, based on the case of Hu Village, this thesis discusses the convergences and divergences between the road of Chinese agricultural development and that of developed countries and other emerging BRIC economies. Lastly, based on the findings of this research, four policy implications are proposed including sponsoring agricultural mutual aid groups, strengthening agricultural extension services, enhancing farmers’ negotiation power through laws, and initiating comprehensive socio-economic reforms to facilitate farmers’ pursuit of non-farm employments

Variations in village migration profiles in rural China： an analysis based on the second national agricultural census data

Relatively little attention is paid to variations in rural migration at the village level even though labor supplying villages present considerable diversity in economic and development profiles. This paper examines the relationships between labor and household migration at the village level and the factors associated with different migration patterns through an analysis of data from China’s Second National Agricultural Census. The study identified four types of village migration profiles based on labor and household migration data from 4,482 villages in 10 counties across five provinces. Typical characteristics of each type villages are highlighted and implications for rural researchers and policy makers are discussed

China’s Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program: A systematic review of the socioeconomic and environmental effects

Background Farming on sloping lands has historically led to forest loss and degradation in China which, coupled with timber extraction activities, was deemed responsible for catastrophic flooding events in the late 1990s. These events led to the introduction of forest policies targeting ecological conservation and rural development in China, a process epitomized by the launch of the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP) in 1999. Methods/design This systematic review responds to the question: What environmental and socioeconomic effects has the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program had on land resources and human populations during its first 15 years? Following the published protocol, we searched for English language studies published between 1999 and 2014, and screened them for relevance and eligibility in two stages (titles and abstracts followed by full texts), after which they were further assessed for potential sources of bias (study quality assessment) before data extraction and analyses. Forty three studies were identified as meeting our inclusion and quality criteria following screening of 879 search results, indicating an overall lack of high quality studies with primary data on the impacts of CCFP. Eighty per cent of county-level case studies were conducted in only four provinces, and 13 of the 25 provinces where the CCFP is implemented are not represented by these county-level cases in the review. The review also includes, however, four national level studies covering 20 provinces and seven regional level studies, each covering several provinces. The majority of studies were published after 2009 and evaluated impacts within the first five years of CCFP implementation, such that the long term impacts of the program remain open for further investigation. Results The skewed temporal and geographic distribution of studies limits the generalizability of the results, though the evidence base confirms a substantial increase in forest cover and associated carbon stocks linked to reallocation of sloping agricultural land to forest. To some degree, soil erosion has been controlled and flood risk reduced at local scales. Meanwhile household incomes have increased and rural employment has readjusted towards off-farm sectors. However, studies also indicate instances of diminished food security and increasing social inequality. Finally, several studies indicate suboptimal regional or localized tradeoffs among specific ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration vs. water discharge rates, flood control vs. riparian soil replacement, and forest productivity vs. biodiversity. Conclusions Additional research on long-term environmental impacts and program effects in under-studied regions, particularly southern and western provinces, is necessary. In terms of recommendations for future research on the CCFP, there is a significant need to examine confounding factors, ideally through the selection of matching control groups to CCFP participants, and to ensure sampling methodologies are more representative of selected study sites and the overall targeted area. There remain many opportunities to assess specific socioecological effects, upon which to base future policy decisions and more broadly inform ecological restoration and eco-compensation in both theory and practice.Peer reviewe