A spatial analysis of land-use change and agriculture in eastern Canada

Publicly available statistics regarding rural demographics, rural society and land use are presented and analysed using Geographic Information System (GIS). Our aim was to provide a quantitative basis for discussion of rural policy issues such as urban encroachment. Productivity (tonnage) of crop agriculture has increased by about 230% over 40 years while that of livestock (expressed as livestock units) has remained constant. Agricultural consolidation and intensification seen in southern Ontario has not translated into economic sustainability where on-farm income declined from 1991 to 2000. However, on-farm income in southern Quebec and municipalities adjacent to Toronto increased, perhaps due to the niche markets created in these regions. The increases in agricultural activity throughout southern Ontario have occurred in regions that have been designated as sites for innovation clusters, thus providing a foundation of resources for bio-based industries to expand and innovate. Reflecting on trends of demographics and production systems we conclude that rural policy should orient its geographical delineation to regional and inter-provincial scales. Our analysis indicates that rural populations and communities are sustainable but agricultural enterprises have changed radically; they have maintained or increased productivity but lost profitability. Applying a rural landscape design to the entire region would help address the sustainability of agriculture and rural communities.     

Eliciting citizen preferences for multifunctional agriculture in the watershed areas of northern Thailand through choice experiment and latent class models

Multifunctional agriculture is increasingly discussed as an alternative to conventional, mono-functional farming and its negative environmental impacts. This study aims at determining Thai society’s demand for agri-environmental services offered by a multifunctional agricultural system using two models, i.e. a Choice Experiment Model and a Latent Class Choice Model. The Choice Experiment Model (CEM) is employed to assess citizens’ willingness to pay for various attributes of multifunctional outputs. Extending from the CEM, the heterogeneity of citizens’ preferences across environmental attitudes and knowledge is captured through the Latent Class Choice Model (LCCM). Survey data was obtained from structured interviews with 373 respondents in the country’s two largest cities, namely Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The results of the CEM suggest that urban Thai citizens are willing to pay for changes toward multifunctional agriculture, as expressed in an increase of their monthly food expenses. Among the attributes of agri-environmental practices, “organic agriculture in combination with agro-biodiversity conservation” garnered the highest preference, followed by “organic farming as single practice” and “Good Agricultural Practice combined with agro-biodiversity conservation”. Income, gender, agri-environmental knowledge and environment-conscious attitude are important factors determining urban citizens’ support of multifunctionality. Findings of the LCCM revealed a strong heterogeneity in attribute valuation across three different classes of respondents, suggesting that policy-makers need to be aware of diverse preference patterns among Thai citizens with regard to specific attributes of multifunctional agriculture. We further conclude that enhancing environmental literacy and consciousness is a key determinant in gaining citizens’ support for multifunctional agriculture.     

Potential hazards of land policy: Conservation,rural development and fire use in the Brazilian Amazon

With growing awareness of fire hazard as an environmental threat within tropical rainforests, the state of Brazil initiated a set of fire control policies aimed at monitoring and ameliorating fire hazard in the Amazon region. These policies were developed in the aftermath of large-scale fire events and reflect a conservationist discourse that responded to internal as well as international environmental concerns. In doing so, the policies have framed the “fire problem” around those who use fire in their land use practices, in particular small-scale agriculturalists. Yet, land policy in general has repeatedly failed to address the institutional arrangements which compel small-scale farmers to use fire in their agricultural practices and the underlying development processes that have made the landscape more vulnerable to accidental spread of fire. Using regional level data on small-scale farmers, I suggest that the conservation oriented approach of fire policy may not be enough to curtail accidental fire events and instead that the fire issue needs to be positioned within rural development as well.     

Crop genetic diversity, farm productivity and the management of environmental risk in rainfed agriculture

This paper presents an assessment of the linkages between cropgenetic diversity, farm productivity and risk management. Aflexible moment-based approach is used to analyse the impactof crop genetic diversity on the mean, variance and skewnessof yield. Using farm-level data from Sicily (Italy), econometricevidence shows how crop genetic diversity can increase farmproductivity and reduce risk exposure. The empirical resultsindicate that crop genetic diversity can reduce variance, butonly if pesticide use is low. Furthermore, high diversity levelscan reduce downside risk exposure (e.g. the risk of crop failure).This provides useful insights on the linkages between resilienceand crop genetic diversity.     

Commonage land and farmer uptake of the rural environment protection scheme in Ireland

This paper looks at some of the factors which may influence REPS participation among commonage farmers in the west of The Republic of Ireland and on the impact REPS has had on participating farmers’ income and on their environmental practices and attitudes. Commonage is land held in common ownership on which two or more farmers have grazing rights. There are about 4500 commonages in Ireland and they are important to Irish agriculture, to conservation of the uplands, in managing the environment and in sustaining rural livelihoods. The study reveals that sheep farmers are less likely to join REPS than cattle farmers and that being in receipt of other sources of State income acted as a deterrent to participation. REPS appears to have had a positive impact on participants’ income and seems to have been successful in changing farmer practices in a more environmentally benign direction, when doing so imposed no additional costs on the farmer. Environmental awareness among all farmers appears to be poor although REPS farmers display more appreciation of the degraded state of commonage than do non-REPS farmers. Farmers preference for a continuation of the status quo with respect to commonage management and a lack of discontent with respect to the distribution of past commonage rights points to the potential of building on a more co-operative approach to environmental management.     

Multifunctionality of agriculture: an inquiry into the complementarity between landscape preservation and food security

Without support, the levels of agricultural public goods suchas food security and landscape preservation would fall shortof demand in high-cost countries. However, as demonstrated byNorway as a case study, the current level of support is disproportionatefrom a public goods perspective, and the policy instrumentsare badly targeted at the public goods in question. Becauseagricultural land is a major component of both food securityand landscape preservation, giving rise to a high degree ofcost complementarity between the public goods, it would be moreefficient to support land-extensive production techniques thanproduction per se.     

Replacement of Agricultural Price Supports by Area Payments in the European Union and the Effects on Pesticide Use

This article determines the contribution of recent European Union agricultural policy reforms on the use of pesticides. Our theoretical model extends the multioutput generalization of the Lichtenberg–Zilberman damage control technology model developed by Chambers and Lichtenberg . Our empirical analysis uses farm-level data for a sample of French farms. Results suggest that price effects on the use of pesticides are always more elastic than area payment effects. This indicates that policy reforms consisting of a reduction in price supports in favor of area payments, may reduce application of crop protection inputs. Such policy changes, which represent a certain degree of decoupling, took place under the 1992 Common Agricultural Policy reforms.     

International diffusion of gains from biotechnology and the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy

This paper analyses the impact of adopting or rejecting genetically modified (GM) crops in the European Union, taking into account the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In this paper the productivity impact of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) differs across crops, taking factor biased technology change into account. The transfer of knowledge across countries is modelled as a process of endogenous knowledge spill-overs. Analysis with a multi-region applied general equilibrium model shows that the CAP protects farm income and production despite non-adoption of the more productive GM crops in the EU. The EU will forgo substantial benefits in terms of economic welfare if it bans GM imports.     

农地非农化与人类活动的动力学演化分析

研究目的:建立农地非农化与人类经济活动、人口增长的非线性动力学模型。研究方法:数学建模与数值模拟。研究结果:(1)当农地承载力较大时,可持续利用的土地资源总量可维持在一个较低的水平,农地非农化水平较高。(2)过度的农地非农化、低效率土地资源利用等一些减小资源承载力的人类活动,都将导致人口—土地资源系统作较快的非周期运动,而剧烈的变化意味着灾变。(3)农地非农化水平一定时,提高经济发展水平,可促使土地资源持续利用。(4)当前,大量的农地被非农化,提高土地资源承载力尤为重要。研究结论:农地非农化—人口增长—经济发展是一个复杂非线性系统,不同的土地利用和人口发展方向,将形成不同的平衡态,进而导致系统演化趋势迥异。     

规划、开发对英国土地价格的影响

英国在土地整理复垦开发过程中特别重视环境保护与价值提升，在保护环境，提高土地资源供给量的同时，大幅度提高了土地的利用价值，为当地政府带来了巨额的社会效益和生态效益。文章通过对英国土地规划制度的背景知识介绍和实例分析，说明规划、开发对英国土地价格的影响。     

Implementing Pillar II of the Common Agricultural Policy in England: Geographies of the Rural Enterprise Scheme and Processing and Marketing Grant

This paper examines the geography of two policy instruments – the Rural Enterprise Scheme (RES) and the Processing and Marketing Grant (PMG) – that formed part of the second ‘pillar’ of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in England between 2000 and 2006. It starts by outlining the ongoing debate over the role of geography in policy research, an outcome of which has been a call for more empirical work that explores the ‘difference that place makes’ in the implementation of public funding mechanisms. The paper argues that the CAP is ripe for geographical analysis, as the Agenda 2000 reforms can be interpreted as moving it away from a ‘sectoral’ (agricultural) approach to a more ‘territorial’ (rural development) one. After outlining the place of the RES and PMG in the reformed CAP in England, the paper discusses three factors – farm size, proportion of land rented and location – that may have influenced their geographies. The distribution of grant approvals under these schemes is then mapped using location quotients. Following this, the potential influence of the factors outlined above is tested using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic. The conclusion revisits the opening discussion by reflecting on the difference that place has made to the implementation of the PMG and RES.     

中国农林生物质发电产业现行电价补贴效果研究

从生物质能源电价补贴政策视角出发,构建了政府、企业、中间人和农户为一体的农林生物质发电产业系统动力学模型,通过模拟、对比不同补贴政策组合下的实施效果,对现行补贴政策进行量化评价。结果表明:现行补贴额度无法扭转发电企业亏损状态,且现行的直接退出机制将导致企业出现更为严重的亏损,而适当调整补贴额度并实行逐减退出方式可提高各主体及产业整体利润。因此,为了促进中国农林生物质发电产业的快速发展,就要保障生物质补贴资金优先及时发放,同时推进可再生能源配额制度和绿证交易制度建设,以促进产业快速良序发展,实现生物质资源充分利用。     

宅基地有偿使用制度实施效果差异及原因诊断研究——基于利益相关者视角

本文基于利益相关者视角,重点对宅基地有偿使用制度实施效果的差异进行考察,在全县域定量分析的基础上,采用典型案例与问卷调查相结合的方法,从乡镇政策目标取向、乡村治理模式、村民选择行为等方面对实施效果的差异性进行分析.结果表明,全县的实施效果存在差异;乡镇政策目标取向的不同使其实施效果也存在差异性;乡贤治理模式的村庄退出效...     

土地利用与国土规划空间优化:促节约·守红线·惠民生

文章围绕国家"十二五"规划重点战略部署,按照实现新时期国土规划独创性和有用性的基本工作要求,以土地用途管制为基本平台,构建了国土发展空间类型体系这一全新空间组织理念.将土地资源配置规模、节约集约用地效益、耕地和生态空间保护与国土开发、利用、保护和整治等重大问题进行结合,提出了土地利用与国土空间优化的新思路.