The impact of participatory plant breeding (PPB) on landrace diversity: A case study for high-altitude rice in Nepal

Participatory plant breeding (PPB) methods were used to develop two farmer-accepted, cold-tolerant rice varieties in Nepal — Machhapuchhre-3 (M-3) and Machhapuchhre-9 (M-9). Both were derived from the cross Fuji 102/Chhomrong Dhan. Following the introduction of these varieties, the changes in the rice landraces and varieties that farmers grew were studied in ten villages. In seven of them for which data were analysed for both 1996 and 1999, adopting farmers grew 18 landraces and four modern varieties of which three, M-3, M-9 and Lumle-2, were the products of PPB. These three varieties covered 10% of the total rice area and 33% of the rice area of the adopting farmers in the seven study villages in the 1999 survey. The adoption of the PPB varieties impacted most on the more commonly grown landraces. With the exception of two villages, the varietal richness among adopting farmers was either static or increased, and there was an overall increase in allelic diversity. However, in future, the increasing adoption of M-3 and M-9 could result in significant reductions in varietal richness, although, allelic diversity may not be greatly reduced. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

农民抗虫棉技术选择行为及其影响因素分析

自1997年被批准商业化以来,Bt抗虫棉在中国快速发展,其种植面积已由1997年的2000hm2发展到2001年的1500万hm2。本文应用Probit和Tobit方法对农业政策研究中心2000-2001年两年调查的农民抗虫棉技术采用数据,分析抗虫棉技术扩散速度较快的原因,试图探讨影响农民抗虫棉技术选择与采用行为的决定因素,并据此提出相关的政策建议。     

Developments in conservation tillage in rainfed regions of North China

Dryland regions in northern China account for over 50% of the nation's total area, where farming development is constrained by adverse weather, topography and water resource conditions, low fertility soils, and poor soil management. Conservation tillage research and application in dryland regions of northern China has been developed since the 1970s. Demonstration and extension of conservation tillage practices is actively stimulated by the Chinese government since 2002, following the recognition of the increased rate of degradation of the environment due to erosion and water shortage in North China. This paper reviews the research conducted on conservation tillage in dryland regions of northern China, and discusses the problems faced with the introduction and application of conservation tillage practices.Most of the studies reported have shown positive results of soil and water conservation tillage practices. These practices generally involve a reduction in the number and intensity of operations compared to conventional tillage, with direct sowing or no-till as the strongest reduction. Crop yields and water use efficiency have increased (with up to 35%) following the implementation of reduced tillage practices. Under no-till, crop yields are equivalent to or higher than those from conventional tillage methods, especially in dry years. However, during wet years yields tend to be lower (10–15%) with no-till. Other benefits are an increased fallow water storage and reductions in water losses by evaporation. In order to fully exploit the advantages of conservation tillage, systems have to be adapted to regional characteristics. Farmers’ adoption of conservation tillage is still limited.     

Adoption Potential for Conservation Agriculture in Africa: A Newly Developed Assessment Approach (QAToCA) Applied in Kenya and Tanzania

Conservation agriculture (CA) is often promoted as a set of cropping practices to reduce soil erosion and maintain soil fertility, while decreasing production costs and increasing crop yields. However, CA adoption is extremely low in Africa. Most investigations on constraints of its adoption leave out (i) the characteristics of CA as an emerging innovation and (ii) the wider institutional context. A comprehensive self‐assessment tool for a systematic evaluation of factors influencing the CA adoption process at the field, farm and regional scale in a variety of regional contexts in Africa is still lacking. In an attempt to fill this knowledge gap, this article presents the motivation, development and testing of a Qualitative expert Assessment Tool for CA adoption in Africa (QAToCA) and its application. QAToCA is directed to regional experts, research teams and managers of development projects with a focus on CA, and allows them to assess their CA activities along a systematic, expert‐based list of questions and criteria. Specifically, it aims at assessing the adoption potential of CA under the varied agro‐ecological, socio‐economic, cultural and institutional conditions of Africa as well as the specific supporting and hindering factors influencing this process. As an example, its application in Kenya and Tanzania identified a relatively high CA adoption potential. The following factors, however, are noticed to require further improvement: accessibility of markets for CA products and inputs; adaptation of machinery and seeds to the CA practices; introduction of quality implementation measures; and a renewed motivation (interest) among CA service providers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

食品安全信息标签猪肉的消费偏好与生产意愿差异研究北大核心CSCD

食品安全信息标签是传递食品信息的重要工具,研究生产者和消费者对具有不同信息标签食品的供求差异,对保障食品安全具有重要意义。本文构建了食品安全信息标签所包含的四种不同信息属性及相应层次,以猪肉为例,利用浙江省生猪养殖户和猪肉消费者的调查数据,运用选择实验法,借助随机参数Logit模型实证分析养殖户与消费者对具有不同食品安全信息标签猪肉的生产意愿和消费偏好的差异,探讨养殖户对不同食品安全信息标签的实际采纳行为和消费者对相应标签的支付意愿。结果表明,在产地、合格证、可追溯和认证四类信息属性中,除认证信息外,消费者更偏好可追溯信息,而养殖户更愿意提供产地信息。尽管养殖户对提供认证信息表现出较为强烈的意愿,但实际生产中的采纳率仅为1.81%。消费者偏好包含更高层次食品安全信息标签的猪肉,对委托检验合格的合格证具有更高的偏好,但养殖户的生产意愿却为负。消费者对自检合格的合格证的支付意愿仅为1.385元/kg,但愿意为追溯到养殖环节的可追溯信息支付超过20%的溢价,然而在实际生产中,养殖户对可追溯信息的采纳率不足10%。因此,养殖户要加大对信息层次更丰富的食品安全信息标签的使用,市场和政府应增加对养殖户参与可追溯体系、开具合格证的激励,加强对养殖户的教育培训。     

Contextualizing farmers’ attitudes towards genetically modified crops

Analyses of the role of technological development in agriculture are central to an understanding of social change in agri-food systems. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the formation of a broader perspective of how farmers are positioning themselves with respect to controversial agricultural technologies through an empirical analysis of Washington State farmers’ willingness or unwillingness to try Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) technology on their farms. The use of this type of biotechnology in farming has been criticized for its potential harmful effects on natural environments and socio-cultural systems, while proponents highlight the possibilities for increasing production with minimal use of other inputs. An analysis of the extent of farmers’ expressed willingness to use GMOs provides an opportunity to better understand how their diverse thoughts about controversial agricultural technologies are shaped not only by their own experiences but also by social context. The present study does this by analyzing data from a farm survey conducted on a random sample of farmers from across Washington State. The results show that the production practices farmers utilize and the market strategies they employ may be at least as useful as farmers’ socio-economic characteristics in explaining what types of farmers appear to be more or less interested in potentially using this technology. Furthermore, the relationship between level of formal education and willingness to use GMOs is not straightforward. It may hide differences between farmers with respect to where and how they received their formal education as well as the type(s) of knowledge they gained. It is argued that future research should recognize the diversity that exists in farmers’ interests vis-á-vis particular technologies and should also explore how these interests are shaped by farmers’ past and present social networks and life experiences. Kazumi Kondoh is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Washington State University. Her research interests include environmental policies, science and technology, and sustainable agriculture. Raymond Jussaume is an Professor and Chair, Community and Rural Sociology at Washington State University. His primary areas of interest are sociology of agriculture, development sociology, and political sociology.     

农户绿色防控技术采纳意愿及其影响因素研究——基于湖南省长沙市348个农户的调查数据

为制定适合农户需求的绿色防控技术推广政策,利用微观调查数据,运用Binary Logistic模型,分析影响农户绿色防控技术采纳意愿的关键因素。结果表明:1)76.15%农户对绿色防控技术具有采纳意愿;2)性别、受教育程度、绿色防控技术感知易用性、绿色防控技术感知有用性、邻居的影响、生态环境关注程度是影响农户绿色防控技术采纳意愿的关键因素。据此提出顺利推广绿色防控技术的对策建议:加强适用性较强的绿色防控技术和产品的研发工作,加大对农村带头人的培训,发挥新技术采用示范户的辐射带动作用。     

环境友好型农业技术的农户采纳及其影响因素——基于农业技术传播的系统性分析

将农业技术推广与农户采纳作为一个系统,全面分析了系统中涉及的主要要素以及要素的类型,如技术供给者、技术接受者、技术类型、技术传播与反馈、以及环境要素,并提出影响农户采纳环境友好型技术的因素以及5个方面共15个研究假设,以此作为实证研究的基础,旨在能进一步系统化地提出促进农户采纳环境友好型技术的策略.     

家庭农场测土配方施肥技术采纳行为及收入效应研究

测土配方施肥技术不仅有利于减少化肥的施用,还有利于控制农业面源污染,促进农民节支增收,是实现农业可持续发展的重要方式。基于理性小农理论,利用东北地区种植型家庭农场调查数据,运用内生转换模型,分析影响家庭农场采纳测土配方施肥技术的行为因素,探究测土配方施肥技术对家庭农场农业收入效应的影响。结果表明,东北地区家庭农场测土配方施肥技术采纳率仅为44.62%,采纳率偏低。年龄对该技术采纳呈现负向影响,受教育程度、农业技术培训、风险偏好、经营规模、土地流转期限和示范农场显著正向影响家庭农场对该技术的选择;受教育程度越高、接受过农业技术培训、风险偏好和示范农场对采纳该技术的家庭农场增收效果显著,经营规模大的家庭农场其采纳测土配方施肥技术收入提升效果最好。研究表明,测土配方施肥技术具有明显正向收入效应,能够显著提高家庭农场农业收入。因此,提出加快健全测土配方施肥技术推广机制,提升家庭农场主的人力资本水平,逐步改善测土配方施肥技术应用的约束条件,完善风险补偿机制,提倡家庭农场适度规模经营等政策建议。     

水稻“三控”施肥技术创新扩散过程中的障碍因素分析

【目的】深入分析水稻“三控”施肥技术扩散中的障碍因素,以提高现阶段我国农业技术扩散效果。【方法】选取珠江三角洲发达地区、东西两翼次发达地区、粤北不发达地区6个典型自然村的水稻“三控”施肥技术采用者及技术提供单位和科研推广人员为调查对象,对水稻“三控”施肥技术扩散过程中的扩散源、被扩散技术本身特性、技术采用者、技术扩散环境中的障碍因素进行分析。【结果】水稻“三控”施肥技术适应性广、效果稳定,扩散过程中有课题项目支持和行政手段激励将推广得更顺利;空间距离越小、交通越便利、语言和信息交流越顺畅,则技术人员的的推广主动性越强;户主文化程度越高、越年轻,水稻种植面积越具规模,采用该技术的可能性越大。【建议】应激励技术扩散源实施主体、充分发挥其主观能动性,缩小技术势差、开展不同层次不同形式的技术培训和指导,政策倾斜完善基础建设,鼓励规模化经营、促进成立农民合作经济组织,以促进农业技术扩散效果的提高。