新石器时代粟稻混作区初探

从新石器时代早期至晚期，在黄河和淮河之间的广袤区域逐渐形成了稻作物与粟作物的混作原始农业区。该地区地处我国南北地理的生态过渡带，史前时期所具备的生态环境条件使两种作物的共生成为可能。混作区的出现既是人口增多对食物数量和质量要求的需要，亦是人类认识自然、改造自然能力进步的表现，还是南北地域文化交流的产物。原始农业的繁荣为文明的产生和发展奠定了坚实的物质基础，并伴随着日益频繁的南北交流的趋势，不断吸纳得以更新，由此促进这一区域向更高程度的文明社会迈进，又影响和推动着周围地区农业及社会文明的发展。     

Information,branding, certification,and consumer willingness to pay for high-iron pearl millet: Evidence from experimental auctions in Maharashtra,India

In this paper we use hedonic testing methods adopted from food science literature and the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism adopted from economic valuation literature to estimate consumer demand for biofortified high-iron pearl millet (HIPM) in Maharashtra, India. Unlike biofortification with provitamin A, biofortification with minerals, such as iron and zinc, does not change the color or the appearance of the biofortified crop. Therefore, we test the impact of both nutrition information, and branding and certification, as well as the nature of the brand and of the certifying authority (state level versus international), on consumer demand for HIPM. We find that even in the absence of nutrition information, consumers assign a small but significant premium to the HIPM variety relative to the local variety. This is consistent with consumers’ more favorable rating of the sensory characteristics of the high-iron variety. Nutrition information on the health benefits of HIPM increases this premium substantially, and regression analysis reveals that consumers prefer international branding and international certification authority to their state-level counterparts.     

Promoting smallholder seed enterprises: quality seed production of rice,maize, sorghum and millet in northern Cameroon

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) conducted two projects in Cameroon on strengthening rice, and sorghum, maize and millet seed production by smallholder seed enterprises (SSEs). Farmer groups (respectively, 25 SSEs and 114 SSEs) were formed or strengthened and trained. Sixty-six selected lead farmers were trained on the administering and managing of revolving funds. The groups were then linked to the Extension Service (for continuous technical advice), Agriculture Research for Development Institution (continuous supply of needed seed), National Seed Service (seed certification) and to financial institutions (financial support). The results obtained showed that 60 and 59.6 per cent, respectively, of the groups sustained their activities two to three years after the projects ended. Total certified rice seed produced increased to 800 tonnes (t) against 267t at the beginning. For the other cereal project, the total certified seed produced was 719.2t against 497t at its beginning. The use of quality seed rice together with good agronomic practices increased yields (up to 8.0t/ha against a scant 2t/ha before). All interviewed farmers stressed that the seed business was profitable and helped achieve higher living standards and diversify their activities. Seasonal incomes were more than US$1,783.31. Finally, both FAO projects helped generate farmers' income to about US$2,114.871, produced 447,954t of cereal grain and thus improved food security and alleviated poverty. The Cameroonian success could be repeated elsewhere.     

Does sustainable agricultural growth require a system of innovation? Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso

This paper tests the ‘systems of innovation’ hypothesis for a selection of crops in Ghana and Burkina Faso that have shown significant growth in production over an approximately 20-year period. The question is whether such growth can only occur if supported by a system of innovation. Using two indicators (a common understanding on objectives and priorities, and a high level of interactivity), we find little evidence for the existence of anything that might be considered a high functioning system of innovation.     

关于《氾胜之书》"种桑法"的释读

长期以来,农史界把《氾胜之书》"种桑法"解释为桑黍混播、桑树截干、放火烧茬和以草木灰肥田等事。桑树截干涉及到西汉时期地桑形成的重大问题,而汉代文献和画像资料皆不见汉代地桑的迹象。经过分析,我们认为以往的认识都有修正之必要。"种桑法"应意译为:黍、桑同时播种,间作套种,黍、桑一起长出后,对桑行中的桑进行间苗,锄掉多余的桑,使稀疏得当。等到桑行之间的黍成熟了,割取黍穗,桑苗与黍的秸杆一样高,用快镰割掉黍杆,晒干,等到风力、风向合适的时候,放火将桑行间的黍杆迎风烧掉,再把草木灰培于桑苗下作为肥料。可见,这里并未涉及到桑树的截干和地桑的形成等问题。     

“张杂谷”系列谷子品种淀粉含量的分析与评价

对不同产地的"张杂谷"品种谷子的直链和支链淀粉含量、胶稠度、碱消值进行了分析,运用双波长法同时测定谷子中直链淀粉和支链淀粉的含量。结果显示,直链淀粉含量、胶稠度和碱消值均因品种和产地不同而有差异。不同产地的4个品种谷子直链淀粉含量平均为14.46%(质量分数,下同),总淀粉含量平均为71.73%,胶稠度为9.1%～16.3%,碱消值为2.8～3.4。结果初步表明,"张杂谷"系列谷子具有较好的食味品质。     

Price volatility in Niger millet markets

Price volatility of food staples is one of the most complex factors affecting food security. Recent food price crises have raised academic interest in improved volatility assessment. The widely held assumption in econometric volatility models that long‐run volatility is constant, has been recently questioned and partly blamed for these crises. A multiplicative MGARCH model recently proposed by Bauwens et al. is used in this article to model price volatility transmission along the Niger millet marketing chain. Results suggest important volatility links between consumer and producer prices, as well as noteworthy differences between short and long‐run price dynamics.     

On-farm biological control of the pearl millet head miner: realization of 35 years of unsteady progress in Mali,Burkina Faso and Niger

The pearl millet head miner became a major pest in the West African Sahel during the droughts of 1972–1974, and has since remained a threat to food security. Pesticide control is unrealistic for subsistence farmers. Furthermore, there are no cultural control methods or genetic sources of resistance. Biological control was a possibility, but the required ecological knowledge did not exist in the 1970s. A biological control programme could have been rapidly developed through sustained and coordinated funding using existing knowledge. Instead, it took 25 years to lay the scientific groundwork through occasional bursts of uncoordinated short-term activity using international scientists funded by large donors. There was little funding and few prominent roles for national scientists until 2000, when they were empowered by a different approach taken by the McKnight Foundation. An operational system was quickly developed and deployed in which trained farmers rear and release the parasitoid Habrobracon hebetor to effectively eliminate the head miner. The national programme scientists demonstrated admirably that, when trusted and adequately supported and empowered, African researchers can deliver real and effective solutions that are scientifically sound, meet the needs of smallholder farmers, and contribute significantly to improved food security, community resilience and reduced poverty.     

Seed Market Privatisation and Farmers’ Access to Crop Technologies: The Case of Hybrid Pearl Millet Adoption in India

In India, pearl millet is a typical subsistence crop. Nonetheless, use of hybrid seeds is widespread. The first pearl millet hybrids were introduced in 1965 by the public sector. Yet, starting in the late 1980s, market liberalisation led to an increasing role of private companies in seed development and distribution. Although several studies showed that proprietary pearl millet hybrids are more productive than public hybrids and open‐pollinated varieties, the impacts of privatisation on farmers’ technology access and overall innovation rates are not yet well understood. This paper analyses the dynamics of adoption using duration models and farm survey data collected in the state of Maharashtra. The results show that education, short distances to main information sources and good market infrastructure speeded up the adoption of pearl millet hybrids. Likewise, the increasing role of private seed companies had a positive and accelerating effect on technology diffusion in the small farm sector.     

浅析晁错的民本思想及其对现在的影响

汉初内忧外患,自上而下潜伏着难以调和的矛盾,他针对这种现状提出民本思想,对汉代乃至整个封建社会都产生了深远的影响。身处当代背景下,重新审视它产生的历史环境,研究它的思想内容给我们一个新政策的制定一个启示。