Adoption of conservation agriculture in Europe: Lessons of the KASSA project

According to KASSA findings, conservation agriculture is less adopted in Europe compared to other adopting regions and, reduced tillage is more common than no-tillage and cover crops. Currently, it is not popularised and it is less researched. The lack of knowledge on conservation agriculture systems and their management and, the absence of dynamic and effective innovation systems make it difficult and socio-economically risky for European farmers to give up ploughing which is a paradigm rooted in their cultural backgrounds. In Norway and Germany the adoption of conservation agriculture has been encouraged and subsidised in order to mitigate soil erosion. In the other European countries the adoption process seems mainly driven by farmers and, the major driving force has been the cost reduction in machinery, fuel and labour saving. Soil and water conservation concerns did not appear as main drivers in the European farmers’ decision to shift or not to conservation agriculture.The shift of European farmers to conservation agriculture is being achieved through a step-by-step attitude, large scale farms are the most adopters. This adoption trend may grow in the future. Indeed, the need to improve farms’ competitiveness, the market globalization and the steady increase of fuel cost will likely contribute to arouse European farmers’ interest in conservation agriculture as it slashes significantly the production costs.Conservation agriculture is not equally suitable for all the European agroecosystems. The need of soil and water conservation in Europe requires anticipating the ongoing process in order to improve its ecological and socio-economic sustainability. Priority would be to define which regions in Europe are the most suitable for conservation agriculture taking into account climate and soil constraints, length of growing period, water availability and quality, erosion hazards and farming conditions. Policy favouring the use of soil cover and profitable crop rotations as management strategies for weed, pest and diseases control will certainly allow developing and disseminating efficient and acceptable conservation agriculture systems.     

浅谈基于土地整理项目可行性研究的几个问题

基于所申报的土地整理项目的可行性以及项目实施的可操作性,提出土地整理项目可行性研究中存在的几个问题,并进行分析,研究其解决问题的方法;目的是提高整理项目的可行性质量,完善项目实施的可操作性。     

Agricultural dynamics in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines

The introduction of new high-yielding varieties of cereals in the 1960s, known as the green revolution, dramatically changed the food supply in Asia, as well as in other countries. In the present paper we examine, over an extended period, the growth consequences for agriculture in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Despite geographical proximity, similar climate and other shared characteristics, gains in productivity and income differed significantly among the countries. We quantify these differences and examine their determinants. We find that the new technology changed the returns to fertilisers, irrigated land and capital, all of which proved scarce to varying degrees. Complementing technology-related changes in factor use were investments, public and private, driven in part by policy. We find that factor accumulation played an important role in output growth and that accumulations from policy driven investments in human capital and public infrastructure were important sources of productivity gains. We conclude that policies that ease constraints on factor markets and promote public investment in people and infrastructure provide the best opportunities for agricultural growth.     

Marketing Strategy Lessons from the Mondragon Agricultural Cooperatives in Spain

This article presents a study of a unique organizational structure and marketing/managerial orientation developed by the Mondragon Cooperatives in the Basque province of Spain. This approach focuses attention on the "whole person," where improving productivity is accomplished by an incentive structure rather than elaborate job controls. The study examines the strategy Mondragon Cooperatives practice, as perceived by the workers, in order to isolate those factors which have led to their marketing success. A mail survey was conducted on a sample of 400 cooperative and 400 private enterprise workers, with a fifty-two percent (52%) response rate. The results of the survey are presented and strategic marketing implications are provided as a concluding focus of this effort.     

Impacts and causes of land fragmentation, and lessons learned from land consolidation in South Asia

Landholdings and land parcels in South Asia are undergoing fragmentation, thereby accelerating the pace of their degradation and constraining agricultural development. Based on experiences gained in the region and elsewhere, this paper finds the fragmentation of small landholdings and tiny land parcels detrimental to land conservation and economic gain, thereby discouraging farmers from adoption of agricultural innovations. Primarily induced by the dependency of the major proportion of ever growing population on agriculture, the process of land fragmentation has been reinforced by the law of inheritance of paternal property, lack of progressive tax on inherited land, heterogeneous land quality and an underdeveloped land market. South Asian countries have had adopted policies and legal measures for facilitating land consolidation. However, desirable results were not achieved, as such interventions could not address structural causes of the problem. Broad policy and legal measures have been outlined for facilitating land consolidation in a sustainable way.     

Some Lessons from the Modelling of the Spanish Rice Market

Spanish accession to the European Comminity (EC) will lead to many changes in Spain's agricultural sector. Predicting the nature of these changes is difficult because the new policy regime differs significantly from historic Spanish policies. In this paper, conventional econometric models of the Spanish rice sector are constrated with a model designed specifically to reflect the pervasive impact of Spanish rice policies. This policy model predicts the historical evolution of production, consumption and trade more accurately than the conventional models. However, the policy model cannot be used to predict the impact of the radical policy changes in Spain resulting from the introduction of the EC rice regime because the historical relationships no longer hold. It is argued that alternative approaches relying more on institutional analysis and expert opinion need to be developed to understand the future of the Spanish rice sector.     

Evaluating the economic impact of quality-reducing,seed-borne diseases: Lessons from Karnal bunt of wheat

Estimates of aggregate disease costs can be used for assigning research resources or to evaluate control measures. Most diseases cause production losses, but others affect quality and marketability. Seed-borne diseases also cause problems for the seed production and distribution industry. The aim in this paper is to examine issues relating to the economic impact of a quality-reducing, seed-borne disease, and to highlight differences compared to non-seed-borne diseases affecting yield only. Economic evaluation of quality-reducing, seed-borne diseases needs to incorporate impacts of trading restrictions such as quarantines or embargoes imposed by purchasers. The costs of measures taken to control diseases also represent part of the economic impact of the disease. Full economic costs of a disease include the direct (yield and quality) costs and costs of the control measures. The costs of Karnal bunt of wheat in Mexico were found to include many control costs that have often been overlooked. The optimal amount of resources to invest in controlling a disease depends on the likely annual costs of the disease and of control measures. Before implementing disease control policies, both the costs and the benefits of the policies need to be considered, taking the risks of each option into account, to ensure that the policy itself does not impose greater costs than the uncontrolled disease.     

Local participation in cultural landscape maintenance: Lessons from Sweden

Local participation has evolved as a strategy in the conservation and maintenance of biological and cultural values in cultural landscapes. The meaning(s) of the concept, however, are fuzzy, and conditions for fruitful implementation have only been investigated to a limited extent. In this article, a couple of Swedish cases serve as points of departure for a better understanding of the prerequisites and critical aspects as regards an increased local involvement in landscape management. A review of research on community participation reveals some essential aspects; power relations, participants, the institutional framework, organisation, communication, knowledge building, monitoring and contextual factors. These aspects have formed the structure for the analysis of two cases within which local involvement is considered successful; Southern Öland, where community involvement in seminatural grassland management has been experienced in LIFE-projects and in the process of becoming a UNESCO World heritage site, and Mälarhagar, an integrated restoration and beef production project carried out in close collaboration with farmers. The results are discussed in terms of successful ingredients, counterproductive aspects and operational difficulties. The findings show that trust, communication and local influence are vital ingredients in a participatory approach. Communication and co-management are pointed out as central areas of competence for executives working with landscape management and planning. There are, however, collisions between directives concerning nature conservation and directives concerning public participation. For successful local involvement, the subject for collaboration has to be broadly defined. Furthermore, the strong emphasis on collaboration in participatory approaches demands that democratic aspects have to be considered.     

内蒙古退耕土地生态建设调查与思考

调查了内蒙古土地开垦与退垦情况解放后出现4次开荒高潮,共开垦5700多万亩.全区近10年开垦草原587万亩、林地735万亩,水土流失面积超过4亿亩,导致生态环境恶化,土地荒漠化扩展.论述了退耕的必要性、可行性,及退耕后的实效;提出问题及措施建议.     

林业部门的民主分权：非洲、亚洲和拉丁美洲的经验教训(续)

总结了约20个发展中国家林业部门分权管理的研究结果,并通过对在森林治理中起到主要作用的机构和参与者的分析,探讨了成功和失败的范例和主要的因素。研究表明,执行民主分权的案例并不多见,表现在:真正的决策权力、森林资源及其效益仍然是集权管理、选择处理的当地参与者往往不具有代表性或不负责任。现行政策有时伤害了当地的穷人。强调了全国性的对话和对公民社会特别是边缘群体的授权的重要性。研究结果证明,林业分权管理应当始于与当地民众一起工作,建立和完善他们已有的机制;具有代表性和负责任的地方政府将成为这一过程最适合的对话者。     

地质资料版权归属的国外模式与借鉴

澳大利亚、英国、美国等国地质资料版权归属制度的共同经验：地质资料版权归属是在版权范畴内平衡国家、创作者、投资方等各方利益,但由于地质资料与国家地理信息安全的高度联系,它的版权归属应遵循维护国家利益为主、兼顾投资者为辅的原则。这也是我国当前地质资料信息服务产业化落实版权制度的基本准则。建议：⑴国家投资形成的地质资料版权属于国家,授权给国土资源部行使;⑵社会投资的地质资料版权也属于国家,投资者有使用权等财产性权利。     

Learning from Doing Participatory Rural Research: Lessons from the Peak District National Park

Understanding the socio‐economic and environmental implications of rural change requires the active participation of many research disciplines and stakeholders. However, it remains unclear how to best integrate participatory and biophysical research to provide information useful to land managers and policy makers. This paper presents findings of a RELU scoping study that has formulated and applied a research framework based on stakeholder participation and adaptive learning to model rural change in the Peak District National Park in the north of England. The paper describes a learning process that integrates different types of knowledge to produce future scenarios that describe possible economic and environmental changes due to a national review of burning practices on heather moorland and blanket bogs. We stress the need for using social network analysis to structure stakeholder engagement and outline how a range of participatory approaches can facilitate more inclusive environmental planning and policy development.     

“三农”视角下的土地流转制度创新

本文分析了土地流转制度创新对解决"三农"问题的意义,以及现有土地制度设计缺陷,提出土地制度创新路径和应该注意的问题.     

Local institutions: Regulation and valuation of forest use—Evidence from Central Sulawesi,Indonesia

Forest management poses particular challenges as the pressure on forests is huge due to deforestation. In this context, the establishment of protected areas is a common conservation measure where institutions are put in place and sanctions regarding forest use are enforced. This paper focuses on the practice of sustainable forest management and the associated perspectives of local institutions at the rainforest margins of Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP) in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.     

Land consolidation in inland rural Galicia, N.W. Spain, since 1950: An example of the formulation and use of questions, criteria and indicators for evaluation of rural development policies

This paper examines whether the land consolidation (LC) practised since the 1950s in Galicia, N.W. Spain, has had the desired effects. To achieve this aim, we have adopted the methodology drawn up by the European Union for evaluation of its socioeconomic programmes, and we have adapted it as required by the subject matter and by the long-term historical perspective of this study. Our results suggest that, during the study period, LC has in general made a positive contribution to slowing rural depopulation.     

土地征用、农地直接入市与土地资源优化配置

比较利益是土地资源在农用和非农用之间配置的根本。作为资源配置手段,市场机制和政府决定土地边际净收益,进而决定土地资源配置,同时,作为一种不合意的选择,市场和政府都有可能出现失灵,从而引发土地资源的低效配置。我国土地征用垄断非农建设用地市场导致严重的政府失灵,是我国土地资源配置效率低下的首要原因。农地直接入市调整了市场主体行为,使农地和非农建设用地边际净收益的实现得到改善。但是,与农地直接入市如影相随的市场失灵以及我国目前青黄不接的集体非农建设用地制度体系,都使这种制度改善与社会决策的最优状态仍然存在差距。要切实实现土地资源社会最优配置,就必须在理顺国家经济关系的同时,采取诸如深化集体经济组织改革、完善农地直接入市配套法律法规、改变政府参与方式等措施。     

Land Tenure,Tenure Security and Farm Efficiency: Panel Evidence from the Philippines

This article tests the relationships among formalised property rights, land tenure contracts and productive efficiency in farming. Using four rounds of panel data from 230 rice farms in the Philippines, we measure the effects of land tenure arrangements on farm efficiency using a stochastic production frontier model. We test for the allocative efficiency of observed land rental markets. We also test how land tenure security affects farmers' investment decisions. Results suggest that, despite the presence of formalised titles, the rental market remains inefficient at allocating land. In contrast, the unformalised tenure contracts used by farmers appear to provide tenure security.     

台湾地区第二次土地改革对广东开展土地承包经营权流转的启示

台湾地区的土地改革被国际社会称为成功的典范。本文归纳了台湾第二次土地改革的背景和主要内容,力求为广东开展土地承包经营权流转寻求借鉴和启示。