Ecological footprint analysis on the traditional rice-fish agricultural area： a case study of Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province, China

Qingtian County of Zhejiang Province, China has maintained the traditional rice-fish agriculture for about 2,000 years and formed exceptional cultural heritage based on this kind of production mode, so it was ed by FAO as a pilot site for the rice-fish agricultural heritage systems in 2005. This research has applied the indicators of ecological footprint and biocapacity to monitor the environmental conditions of Qingtian County, aiming to find the impact that the traditional agricultural production mode and the local inhabitants lifestyle have placed on the local environmental conditions as well as the role they have played in maintaining ecological balance, cultural inheritance and regional sustainable development. Results show that Qingtian County is characterized by a nearly breakeven total ecological balance, as opposed to Zhejiang Province, the world and other agricultural regions. However, compared with another rice-fish agricultural region, Congjiang County which enjoys a considerable ecological reserve, Qingtian County has consumed a greater amount of environmental resources. Specifically, about half of the ecological footprint of Qingtian County can be attributed to the cropland （50.8%） while the CO2 area only accounts for 11.2%, which is dramatically different from that of the modern industrialized regions. And a vast of percentage of energy is caused by the combustion of fuelwood which not only requires the land to absorb the CO2 emission it has generated but also occupies the forest where it has been chopped.     

The Impacts of the Green Barrier against China＇s Agricultural Products Exports

Green Barrier is one of the non-tariffbarriers, which has its special characteristics. More and more countries have imposed green barriers on China＇s agricultural products exports in a bid to protect their domestic agriculture. When studying the green barriers oriented market access system, we should handle well the following works： popularizing agricultural standardization, improving quality standard systems of agricultural products, propelling the technological innovations of green production, establishing an emergency system for the foreign trade of agricultural products by which the green production and operation can be supported from funds and policies, etc.     

Measuring potential food productivity for different areas in Songnen Plain based on analytic hierarchy process

The improved analytic hierachy process method was utilized in this paper,and a variety of factors influencing the food production were classified into several interrelated orderly objectives layers;based on the works above,this paper made an scientific assessment on the influencing factors of food production and production potential of the various regions in the Songnen Plain.The weights and composite indices were calculated with the method of solving weight by AHP＇s accumulation factor sequence evaluating data,and were processed by single-level sorting and general sorting.The result showed that,the region of Changchun had the biggest potential for improving food production,but smallest for Heihe region.The key reason for the food production discrepancy of a variety of regions in Songnen Plain is the differences in scale of production and climatic conditions,the weight coefficients of which are 0.3654 and 0.2742;however,the weight coefficients of agricultural science and technology investment is very low just 0.1703,which should be increasted in the future.     

Optimal allocation of watershed management cost among different water users

The issue of water scarcity highlights the importance of watershed management. A sound watershed management should make all water users share the incurred cost. This study analyzes the optimal allocation of watershed management cost among different water users. As a consumable, water should be allocated to different users the amounts in which their marginal utilities （MUs） or marginal products （MPs） of water are equal. The value of MUs or MPs equals the water price that the watershed manager charges. When water is simultaneously used as consumable and nonconsumable, the watershed manager produces the quantity of water in which the sum of MUs and/or MPs for the two types of uses equals the marginal cost of water production. Each water user should share the portion of watershed management cost in the percentage that his MU or MP accounts for the sum of MUs and/or MPs. Thus, the price of consumable water does not equal the marginal cost of water production even if there is no public good.     

An important way to build a new socialistic countryside： developing circular economy

It was put forward in the Fifth Session of Sixteenth Central Committee of the Party that ＂it is a great historic mission on the path for China to modernization to construct new socialistic countries＂, and that ＂according to the requirements of developing production, ample life, civilized countryside climate, clean countryside, democratic management, urban and rural social and economic development should be unifiedly planned, modern agricultural construction should be promoted, rural reform should be deepened all round, rural public service should be advanced, and peasants＇ income should be increased by all means.＂ Some time ago Premier Wen Jiabao pointed out that problems about the carrying capacity of resources and environment, for example the decrease of arable land, the lack of freshwater and eco-environmental deterioration, will be tough challenges to agricultural development in China. According to the requirement of constructing economical society and environment friendly society, agricultural circular economy should be advanced to lengthen service life of limited agricul- tural resources. In fact, this is congruous with the policy of developing agriculture by ＂Scientific Concept of Development＂. The spirit of the Fifth Session of Sixteenth Central Committee of the Party and Premier Wen Jiabao＇s speech will guide us to the direction of constructing new socialist countries, From the practice of developing agricultural circular economy, circular economy can be applied to expansive rural areas and is of great significance.     

The difficulties of ＂polluter pays＂ policy in agricultural pollution in UK and methods to improve it

Agricultural wastes poll,tion became serious after great improvement in technology and the encouragement of production for the government since the end of the World Wai Ⅱ. Economists and environmental scholars suggested that ＂polluter pays＂ policy be employed in agricultural pollution control. However, it was hard to implement ＂polluter pays ＂ policy alone in agricultural wastes pollution.In practice, there were two social faCtors which contrih,ted to the improvement of water quality in the southwest of United Kingdom. One method is to communicate with farmers and then give farmers some advice or exhortation on facilities and management. The other method is to set up a telephone hotline for public to report water quality and probable pollution. Therefore, the consideration and combination of social factors in the control of agricultural wastes pollution are necessary, and important. Edueation of basic natural sciences relevant to agricultural pollution, system management of agricultural pollutants and laws relevant to agricultural pollution is suggested to be the third .social factor that British government can consider.     

Determinants of agricultural water saving technology adoption: an empirical study of 10 provinces of China

In recent years, China has been faced by an increasingly severe water shortage due to the continual growth of demand on water resources. Although the Chinese government has been actively promoting the agricultural water-saving technology adoption, it is ill-informed of the adoption degree of the current agricultural watersaving technologies as well as the function of the governmental policies, Therefore, this paper＂ analyzes the aforesaid problems based on investigative data of 10 provinces in China. The results demonstrate that although there is a rapid increase of adopted agricultural water-saving technologies, the actual adoption area is rather limited. Moreover, the governmental policies and scarcity of water resources are the deierminants of agricultural water-saving technology adoption. Ultimately, the paper proposes some policy suggestions.     

A study on the bioenergy crop production function of land use in China

Based on the analysis of the bioenergy crop production function of land use,combined with the status quo of Chinese land use,the cultivation of energy plants and the bioenergy crop production function of land use had been analyzes and discusses in this paper.Results show that there were a lot of unused lands and marginal lands which can be planted bioenergy crops to perform the bioenergy crop production function of land use with great potentials; and currently there were no food production problems.Therefore,it was very important for China to emphasize bioenergy crops planting in order to fully use land resources in our country,moderate the energy crisis and increase peasants＇ income.     

An important way to build a new socialistic countryside: developing circular economy

It was put forward in the Fifth Session of Sixteenth Central Committee of the Party that "it is a great historic mission on the path for China to modernization to construct new socialistic countries",and that "according to the requirements of developing production, ample life, civilized countryside climate, clean countryside, democratic management,urban and rural social and economic development should be unifiedly planned, modern agricultural construction should be promoted, rural reform should be deepened all round, rural public service should be advanced, and peasants' income should be increased by all means." Some time ago Premier Wen Jiabao pointed out that problems about the carrying capacity of resources and environment, for example the decrease of arable land, the lack of freshwater and eco-environmental deterioration, will be tough challenges to agricultural development in China.     

System analysis and path choice for modem agricultural development： a case study of Suzhou

From the view of system theory, modern agriculture in a region embodies elements conformity, structure optimization, multi-functionality and sustainable development. This paper first expounds on the relationship among agricultural elements, structure, function and development theoretically, compartmentalizes agriculture types based on human-land elements matching, and depicts the development path of agricultural multi-functionality. it shows that the matching of human-land elements is a key to agricultural types, and the multi-functionality is an indication of agricultural development stages. At last, as a case study of Suzhou in eastern coastal area, the paper analyzes the evolvement situation and developing mechanism and some typical models of modern agriculture which suit to agriculture system evolvement. The results .show that in Suzhou the agriculture productivity, has improved greatly; And along with the agriculture structure optimizing, agriculture function has translated from ＂production ＂ to ＂non- production and production ＂. With simulation of agricultural trend in Suzhou, it is .found that Suzhou has a LP- dependence （labor productivity） on agricultural element, so Suzhou will has much more potential in land productivity. Based on the above analysis on agricultural system, some typical patterns on modern agriculture in Suzhou are brought up, such as export-oriented agriculture, enterprises-leading agriculture, science and technology, parks agriculture, stereoseopic agriculture, and tourism and sightseeing agriculture.     

Regional diversity of agricultural labor productivity and its driving force in east China

China＇s eastern area is at middle and later stage of industrialization during which the relation between urban and rural areas, industry, and agriculture appears maladjusted. The main problems are shrinkage in agricultural comparative earning and lack of driving force of agricultural development. Based on calculating agricultural labor productivity in east China from 1996 to 2005, this paper analyzes contributing degree of motive forces of agriculture develop in ten provinces and cities of east China applying GCA （Grey correlative analysis）. The results show that there is no absolute correspondence between the level of industrialization and agricultural labor productivity in China＇s eastern area. There is no synchronous development between industry and agricultural labor productiviry in some areas. Fertilizer and agricultural machinery input had high contributing degree for ten years; however; contributing degree in land and irrigation work input was low. Non-materialization inputs became the leading role in most provinces and cities＇ increase of agricultural labor productivity. Modern agricultural development need non-materialization inputs as primary motive force, at the same time, direct material input and facility input as guaranteed function. For some reasons, agricultural development is characterized by ＂more direct material input, less facility input ＂ in east China now. Optimal driving.force model of future agricultural development in east China is that non-materialization inputs are dominant, that perfected facility input arc guarantee, and that certain substance inputs are necessary     

A study of virtual land trade between China and ASEAN based on material flow analysis model

In this paper,based on the material flux analysis model（MFA） and its corresponding theories and algorithms of ＂virtual land＂ virtual land contents of five primary agricultural products are calculated and＂Virtual land trade＂hidden in those imported and exported products are also obtained through analyzing the primary agricultural product trade between China and ASEAN. In the process of calculationl following the thought of Changing agricultural products to ＂Virtual land trade＂land content, trade condition and spatiai distribution of agricultural products Were integratedly considered. indicate that China exported 73;057 km^2 of virtual land area to ASEAN by tea, vegetables; maize and grain, ASEAN exported： 57.332 km^2 to China by natural rubber from 2002 to 2005. It obvious; that china has lost 15,725 km^2 arable land through agricultural product trade, Additionally, in order to process： of calculation Virtual land trade, Thailand taker as an example to analyze its international trade of rice and Wheat from 1991 to 2005 and Calculate their ＂Virtual land trade＂ 2001 through 2005. According to and calculation, it is not difficult to conclude that ＂Virtual land trade＂ very important and could be used for China to guide agricultural export or import Structure and maintain Sustainable use of land resources.     

基于虚拟水视角的东北粮食作物发展战略分析

本文主要研究我国东北地区主要粮食作物的虚拟水含量以及东北三省的虚拟水流量,一方面旨在为东北地区粮食作物的布局和贸易战略调整提供依据,另一方面也为我国粮食安全和水安全的宏观调控提供政策依据。本文基于联合国粮农组织提供的CropWat软件以及ClimWat数据库来计算粮食作物虚拟水含量,采用联合国教科文组织水资源教育研究院提供的虚拟水相关公式来计算虚拟水流量,得出了东北三省五种主要粮食作物2000—2007年的虚拟水含量及该地区虚拟水的时序流量。最后得出结论:东北地区的粮食作物具有普遍的节水种植优势;东北地区的虚拟水输出量可观,进入量稀少。     

Financialization of agricultural commodities: Evidence from China

Speculation in the commodity futures market distorts commodity prices, driving them away from rational levels. This phenomenon, which is known as the financialization of commodities, has raised significant concerns in recent years. Particularly, in the agricultural market, ‘financialized’ commodities have been blamed for high world food prices. In this paper, we examine the financialization of agricultural commodities in China. To do so, a time-varying copula is employed to investigate the dependence structure between commodities and stock markets. Four insightful results are obtained. First, positive correlations between agricultural commodities and stock markets demonstrate the financialization of agricultural commodities. Second, the identified correlations are time-varying and idiosyncratic with respect to products. Third, the agricultural commodity market is more closely correlated with the domestic stock market than with the overseas market. Fourth, a growing dependence between commodities and the stock markets is detected and the co-movement became stronger after the global financial crisis.     

The water footprints of Morocco and the Netherlands: Global water use as a result of domestic consumption of agricultural commodities

The volume of international trade in agricultural commodities is increasing faster than the global volume of production, which is an indicator of growing international dependencies in the area of food supply. Although less obvious, it also implies growing international dependencies in the field of water supply. By importing food, countries also import water in virtual form. The aim of the paper is to assess the water footprints of Morocco, a semi-arid/arid country, and the Netherlands, a humid country. The water footprint of a country is defined as the volume of water used for the production of the goods and services consumed by the inhabitants of the country. The internal water footprint is the volume of water used from domestic water resources; the external water footprint is the volume of water used in other countries to produce goods and services imported and consumed by the inhabitants of the country. The study shows that both Morocco and the Netherlands import more water in virtual form (in the form of water-intensive agricultural commodities) than they export, which makes them dependent on water resources elsewhere in the world. The water footprint calculations show that Morocco depends for 14% on water resources outside its own borders, while the Netherlands depend on foreign water resources for 95%. It is shown that international trade can result in global water saving when a water-intensive commodity is traded from an area where it is produced with high water productivity to an area with lower water productivity. If Morocco had to domestically produce the products that are now imported from the Netherlands, it would require 780 million m³/year. However, the imported products from the Netherlands were actually produced with only 140 million m³/year, which implies a global water saving of 640 million m³/year.     

中国农产品贸易现状及对策分析

中国是世界主要的农产品生产国与出口国,也是重要的农产品消费大国。农产品的生产、流通与消费水平决定了中国的国民经济发展水平。随着全球经济的发展,尤其是加入WTO後,中国的农产品贸易面临着前所未有的挑战。中国的农产品在国际市场上竞争力下降,出口屡屡碰壁,面临诸多制约因素。因此只有从政府、农民与企业等多方面进行调整才能促进中国农产品贸易更好地发展。     

中国农产品产业内贸易现状分析

By using HS classification, the author has divided total agricultural products into 24 categories. The paper calculated the G-L intra-industry trade index, Brülhart marginal intra-industry trade index, and Thom & McDowell marginal industry trade index for each type of agricultural products during the period from 1996 to 2005 in China. The conclusion shows the overall level of agricultural intra-industry trade is relatively low, and Brülhart index indicates China’s agricultural products decades of improvement mainly from inter-industry trade, at the same time Thom & McDowell index shows that China’s agricultural intra-industry trade growth is mainly from the growth of vertical intra-industry trade. __________ Translated from Guoji maoyi wenti 国际贸易问题 (Journal of International Trade), 2008, (1): 14–20     

发展东北老工业基地农产品加工业的对策——基于长春、哈尔滨、沈阳三市的实地调查分析

振兴东北老工业基地不仅仅是工业的振兴,而是整个东北经济的振兴。近几年,东北老工业基地农产品加工业发展迅速,为老工业基地经济发展注入了新的活力,成为推动经济增长的又一亮点。文章通过对东北老工业基地长春、哈尔滨、沈阳三市实地调查,初步掌握了老工业基地农产品加工业的发展状况,并对其当前存在的主要问题进行深入地分析,最后在借鉴国内外农产品加工业发展趋势的基础上,设计出东北老工业基地农产品加工业持续、健康发展的对策。     

Implications of reform and WTO accession for China’ agricultural policies

While China’s trade policies in most areas have been transformed in the reform era, trade in many agricultural goods remains under relatively non‐transparent state trading arrangements. Accession to the WTO will be a critical turning point, increasing transparency and introducing disciplines on protection even for the commodities remaining under state trading. While China’s tariff bindings for the most sensitive products seem unlikely to require substantial short‐term reductions in protection, they rule out substantial increases in the future, provide the opportunity to develop an efficient agricultural sector, and highlight the need for effective policies to reduce rural poverty. WTO membership provides an opportunity for China to improve market access opportunities for its agricultural exports, which face much higher barriers than its exports of industrial products. JEL classification: D58, F13, O13, O56, P33, Q17.