Landholding Patterns in Early Islamic Egypt

This article examines the impact of the Arab conquests of the 630s and 640s on rural society and fiscal organization in Egypt. Traditional accounts paint a picture of a seventh-century Egypt from which the aristocracy had largely disappeared and in which Arab rulers and administrators communicated directly with village communities. Drawing upon the testimony of seventh-century documentary papyri, this essay reveals the continued role of Christian elites in administering tax collection and the extent to which the Arab conquerors left agrarian social relations largely undisturbed. Only over the course of the eighth century were indigenous Christian elites sidelined, leading to a number of tax revolts on the part of the Coptic population.     

埃及和土耳其林业与消除贫困考察报告

通过埃及土耳其两国林业建设与消除贫困进展的考察,对两国森林资源、管理以及林业发展与扶贫情况进行了详细介绍,其发展与中国有许多相似之处,因此,其教训对我国很有启示作用,其经验对我国很有借鉴作用。     

Land use consolidation in Rwanda: The experiences of small-scale farmers in Musanze District,Northern Province

The modernization and intensification of agricultural production in Africa has long been a policy goal, for increased productivity and food security. In 2008, the Rwandan government implemented various land and agricultural reforms to transform Rwandan agriculture from subsistence farming to market-oriented production. Central to this agricultural transformation was the Crop Intensification Programme, intended to increase the agricultural productivity of high-potential food crops and encourage land use consolidation, i.e., the joint cultivation of large areas, which was expected to deliver important economies of scale. This programme has been criticized, for example, for authoritarian implementation, negative effects on food security from sole-cropping a few selected crops, and increasing rural socioeconomic differentiation.This paper analyses the effects of the land use consolidation programme at the household level, as experienced by small-scale farmers in Musanze District in the Northern Province of Rwanda. The paper draws on 45 individual and 22 collective qualitative semi-structured interviews with small-scale farmers and local key informants in five sectors, conducted in 2013 and 2014.The findings show that there is satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and resistance to the programme, especially regarding the selected crops to be cultivated. The programme, including supporting mechanisms, seems to work well for the relatively better-off farmers, who have bigger and scattered land areas, whereas it does not work well for poor farmers with very small plots, which is common in rural Rwanda.     

Towards sustainable vegetable growing with farmer learning videos in Benin

Vegetable production plays an important role in nutrition, food security and poverty reduction in Benin. However, vegetable production is hampered by pests and farmers rely on pesticides to control them. Improving farmers’ knowledge is important for the use of sustainable, intensive agricultural practices. This paper assesses the role of learning video in changing vegetable farmers’ behaviour towards sustainable agriculture. Drawing mainly on mass distribution of learning videos, DVDs entitled ‘Improving vegetable production’ were sold through non-conventional dissemination networks from August to December 2015, to strengthen farmers’ learning. In June 2016, we interviewed a sample of 120 buyers/viewers in four different areas where the DVDs were sold. The interviews were followed by a field visit to collect evidence of the change of practices reported during the interviews. Farmers who watched the videos enhanced their creativity and adapted the learning to their environment by using more sustainable agriculture practices. About 86% of respondents indicated that they now spend less money for pesticides to manage pests and diseases. Video-mediated learning promotes local innovation, improves farmers’ knowledge and triggers agro-ecological practices with little or no input from the conventional extension system.     

Land tenure and rental in Western Sudan

This paper reports on aspects of land tenure in western Sudan, especially the nature of tenure insecurity and the functioning of the land rental market. The active land rental market accounted for about one-third of cultivated land. Patterns of land rental transactions, and tests of the importance of insecurity in renting land, where the owner may not be able to reclaim land rented out, do not support the presumption that rental markets perform poorly. The role of the sheikh as administrator of village land, and the claims of large landowners to vast tracts, are, however, important political problems that must be resolved before attempts at ‘rationalizing’ land tenure.     

The Spanish path of agrarian change, 1950–2005: From authoritarian to export‐oriented productivism

The aim of this study is to determine whether the evolution of Spain's agrarian change, between 1950 and 2005, exhibits any features important enough to differentiate it from the common model of developed countries in Western Europe. On the one hand, the Spanish agrarian transformations share the main features of the changes in Western Europe: technological innovation, increased production and productivity, the diminishing importance of the agricultural sector, close integration with the industrial sector, and a high environmental impact. On the other hand, a series of important peculiarities can be observed in Spain's agrarian change: strong expansion of intensive livestock farming; the role of increased irrigation in explaining the transformation of agriculture; policies that offered very little support to the agricultural sector under a dictatorship that denied a voice to farmers; and the prominent role of agriculture in the economy despite its small contribution to GDP.     

From rhetoric to reality: farmer perspectives on the economic potential of biochar in China

Biochar has garnered much attention for its potential to improve farming productivity and sustainability by amending soil, enhancing crop yields, improving fertilizer use efficiency and sequestering carbon. However, few publications consider farmer perspectives on whether biochar is attractive as an agricultural input. This paper therefore investigates the micro-economics and social suitability of biochar in four contrasting Chinese agricultural systems, using linear optimization models and qualitative contextual data. Results demonstrate that commercially produced biochar is uneconomic as an independent farming input, whilst farm-produced biochar shows promise in just one of four case-study sites. This suggests that biochar research in China should shift away from on-farm production and application of pure biochar, towards combined biochar-inorganic fertilizer products.     

“互联网+”与农业深度融合研究

文章分析了我国农业发展进入新常态,农业生产成本不断攀升,而农产品价格不断触顶,资源约束趋紧,环境污染日益严重,农村空心化、农民老龄化、农业兼业化问题日益突出,稳粮增收的难度不断加大。"互联网+"与农业深度融合不仅培育了农业发展的新动力,而且催生了现代农业新产品、新模式与新业态,为我国农业发展插上了信息化的翅膀,成为打造现代农业升级版的新引擎。但是,"互联网+"与农业深度融合既面临着前所未有的大好机遇,也面临着"农村信息孤岛"依然存在、农民获取"互联网+"信息的能力偏低、"互联网+"服务农业的基础设施建设滞后等挑战,阻碍着"互联网+"与农业的深度融合。基于此,该文提出了要制定"互联网+"与农业深度融合的发展战略、大力培育"新农人"、夯实"互联网+"与农业深度融合的物质基础、用互联网技术对农业全产业链进行改造等政策建议,以期进一步加快"互联网+"与农业深度融合,将互联网作为一种新型生产力的核心要素融入现代农业产业体系和价值链,促进农业走上"产出高效、产品安全,资源节约、环境友好"之路。     

土地征收制度的国际比较

在我国现代化过程中,一部分农民主动或被动离开土地是不可避免的.但是,目前政府征地和对失地农民补偿安置办法存在诸多问题,如"三乱一难"问题,即征地范围乱、征地补偿乱、征地费用分配乱、失地农民安置难,造成被征耕地的严重浪费,农民生活生计无从保障,成为影响社会稳定的重要问题.为加快经济的发展,促进经济的振兴,保障经济建设用地,借鉴国外经验建立健全现行征地制度是当务之急.     

对增强农村土地整治中农民主体性地位的思考

为切实增强农民在农村土地整治中的主体地位、完善农村土地整治制度、提升农村土地整治综合效益,通过文献资料法、调查法对增强农民在农村土地整治中的主体性地位的必要性、农民参与土地整治的意愿及土地整治因农民主体性地位缺失而造成的问题进行了研究.结果表明:增强农民在农村土地整治中的主体性地位十分必要,为切实增强农民主体地位,应在完善农村土地整治管理办法、将农民集体纳入项目管理体系、加强农民参与农村土地整治项目程序设计、加强对农村土地整治中农民权利实现的监管等方面做出努力.     

土地制度与和谐社会

研究目的:试图证明土地制度与建设和谐社会的关系。研究方法:主要为比较研究法。研究结果:土地制度是建设和谐社会的关键。研究结论:只有在农村实行耕者有其田、在城市实行居者有其屋,才能实现社会和谐。     

广西平南县农村居民点整理潜力测算研究

鉴于传统测算农村居民点整理潜力方法存在过于理想且受主观因素影响过大等问题,考虑到农村居民点不同类型,利用ArcGIS相关技术,将整理区农村居民点分为零星居民点和中心村两类。前者采用整体搬迁模式,利用人均建设用地法测算潜力,并采用农户意愿修正该潜力值;后者采用内部改造模式,利用土地闲置率法测算潜力。两者之和,即为农村居民点整理总潜力。以平南县为例,对比分析了几种方法测算农村居民点整理潜力的现实可行性。     

林业社会化服务供给对贫困农户林地投入产出影响分析

基于江西省700户用材林农户调查数据,采用回归模型定量分析林业社会化服务供给对不同贫困程度农户林地投入和产出的影响程度和影响方向,以验证林权配套改革中的社会化服务供给是否发挥应有的效果。结果表明:林木栽培技术服务对一般贫困农户林地投入和林地产出水平具有显著正向影响;金融服务对非贫困农户和重度贫困农户林地投入水平具有显著正向影响;病虫害防治等服务对非贫困农户和一般贫困农户林地投入有显著负向影响;林地面积对不同农户林地投入产出具有显著的负向影响;是否参加林地保险对重度贫困农户林地投入有显著正向影响;劳动力人数对非贫困农户林地投入有显著正向影响;家庭收入结构对不同农户林地投入产出具有显著正向影响;户主年龄对非贫困农户和一般贫困农户林地投入有显著正向影响。因此,提出针对贫困农户提供林业技术培训;加大对贫困农户林业金融扶贫力度;加大林业社会化服务体系建设的财政投入力度等对策建议。     

The Manure Hits the Land: Economic and Environmental Implications When Land Application of Nutrients Is Constrained

The discharge of manure nutrients into area waters from confined animal feeding operations is considered a leading contributor to U.S. water quality impairments. An option to mitigate these impairments is to constrain land application of manure. When these constraints are particularly binding, due to minimal acceptance of manure as a substitute for commercial fertilizer, potentially large and unanticipated changes in returns to agricultural production and water quality may occur. Moreover, some of the cost of meeting the constraints is passed on to consumers through higher prices and to a portion of rural economies through lower production rates and labor expenditures.     

欠发达地区农户土地整治满意度及其影响因素

为提高欠发达地区农户在农村土地整治中的满意度、完善其土地整治制度、提升其土地整治的综合效益,以广西为例,采用实证研究方法,通过大规模实地调查获取数据,运用Binary Logistic回归分析研究影响欠发达地区农户对于土地整治满意度的因素。结果表明:土地整治满意度受到多种因素的影响,包括被调查农户的性别和职务、农户家庭农业年收入变化、被调查地点的地理环境和土地整治后耕地流转情况。因此,政府应扩大欠发达地区土地整治的范围,并加大资金投入。同时要通过提高农户的参与度、发挥村干部的带头作用、完善农村的社会保障体系和耕地流转机制来提高农户的满意度。     

Developing a holistic approach to the analysis of farmer decision-making: Implications for adaptation policy and practice in developing countries

Smallholder farmers operate within a risky and uncertain context. In addition to climate variability and climate change, social, environmental, institutional, and market-related dynamics affect their agricultural decisions and ability to cope and adapt. In this paper, we develop and apply a set of framing questions to investigate the factors shaping farmer decision-making and how these are situated in pathways of response. Drawing on a literature review of decision-making for risk management, five questions are posed to frame enquiry: what livelihood decisions are undertaken by households, who makes what decisions, when do households make decisions and why do they make them, and how do decision making processes evolve and response pathways arise. This approach conceptualises and explores household decision-making in a holistic manner, moving beyond previous studies that examine smallholder decisions through disciplinary boundaries (e.g. psychology, economics, risk management) or particular theoretical approaches (e.g. bounded rationality, theory of planned behaviour). The framing questions together with key insights from literature are used to design and interpret empirical evidence from Pratapgarh, a tribal-dominated rainfed district in southeast Rajasthan, India. The findings suggest that while resource ownership and access are the main drivers of decision-making, socio-cognitive factors such as perceived adaptive capacity and perceived efficacy to carry out adaptive actions are equally important factors mediating farmer responses. We also find that the holistic approach helps explain how personal motivations and individual perceptions of adaptive capacity interact with socioeconomic, climatic, and agro-ecological dynamics at local and regional scales to mediate risk perception and inform response behaviour. A typology of response pathways demonstrates how different households’ trajectories are determined. Making a case for mixed methods to investigate farmer decision-making holistically, this paper provides an approach that reflects the complex and iterative nature of real farmer decision-making and can be used by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to better understand and describe decision making and to develop informed policies and interventions.     

罗平县高原特色农业产业集群发展探析

一个地区产业集群的形成和发展,能进一步优化资源配置,促进区域经济的发展。文章通过实地调研,主要研究探讨了罗平县高原特色农业产业集群发展成效,主要体现为形成了龙头企业为主体的特色农业产业集群发展模式、高原特色产品品牌、有影响力的庄园经济和"三大产业"协同发展的产业集群,进一步探讨了罗平县高原特色农业产业集群发展存在品牌效应差、龙头企业少、自然灾害频发、产品市场与信息服务体制不健全等问题,该文还根据罗平县农业产业集群发展成效及存在的问题提出了加大政策扶持力度、进一步提升高原特色农业产业集群的特色和加大科技创新力度等对策,进一步促进高原特色农业产业集群的发展,促进农村经济增长,提高农民收入,构建和谐农村,全面建设美丽乡村。     

发展现代农业的几点思考

当前要弄清楚现代农业的内涵和怎样发展的问题。现代农业是大农业,包括种植养殖业,贯穿一二三产业,单一的原料性生产不能叫现代农业。“殖民地”式的经营模式不能发展现代农业;没有农业本身的自强能力,解决三农问题和发展现代农业就只是空话。要将人的口粮与饲料粮分开生产,分别由政府和市场调节,改变粮食生产的微利和无利状况,保障广大农民增收。我国耕地紧缺,开发林木生物能源可加快山区现代农业建设和小康社会建设。     

Chinese Land Reform in Long-Run Perspective and in the Wider East Asian Context

The claims made by Griffin et al. for the impact of land reform in China are unconvincing. The land reform of 1947–52 did not lead to a pronounced increase in agricultural output. Nor was it egalitarian; indeed, but for the deliberate preservation of the rich peasant economy, growth might have been non-existent. The second land reform of 1981–3 was equally ineffectual. Agricultural growth had shifted on to a faster growth path before decol-lectivization, and the surge of 1980–4 was little more than a temporary response to decent weather, procurement price rises, the abandonment of the Dazhai system and a reduction in output under-reporting. Rural income inequality has been held in check since 1984 because of local government intervention, not because family farming is intrinsically egalitarian. China's experience of land reform is mirrored by those of other East Asian countries. A century of land reform has not resolved Japan's deep-seated agricultural problems, nor those of Taiwan and South Korea.     

Farm succession,occupational choice and farm adaptation at the rural-urban interface: The case of Italian horticultural farms

The survival of family farming in Europe is a crucial issue, as it assures landscape maintenance in marginal areas and provides transmission and accumulation of site-specific knowledge in agricultural activity. Using data from a sample of Italian horticultural farms, we explored the multiple forces driving farm succession in a high value added sector. In addition to the traditional factors examined in the literature (farm, farmer and family features), we treated the farm transfer choice as the complement of the decision to migrate out of the agricultural sector, testing the effects of local labour market conditions (employment, income gap between farm and non-farm sector) and population density around the farm, as a proxy of rural-urban interface relationships. It has been shown that both traditional factors and territorial and labour market conditions influence the probability of farm succession. Interestingly labour market conditions exerted an effect in line with occupational choice theory only in less inhabited areas; in more densely populated regions a rural-urban linkage effect seems to prevail, creating an environment that fosters succession of young horticultural farmers. Peri-urban areas may thus be a favourable location for professional and specialised horticultural farms, as well as multifunctional and de-specialised ones, if their assets are properly protected against farmland subtraction. More generally, these findings confirm the validity of a more comprehensive approach toward farm succession, which takes occupational choice theory and rural-urban farm adaptation strategies into account.