“All Sweden Shall Live!” Reinventing community for sustainable rural development

AllSweden Shall Live! is an umbrella movement of 2,300 rural development organizations that has taken shape in reaction to political and economic threats to “the living countryside.” The movement's strategy combines self-help activities and political mobilization. Ritual events celebrating a shared culture, a culture that blends traditional and newly invented elements, are crucial means of maintaining solidarity and mobilizing energies. The article investigates a self-help activity, saving country stores, and a political event, a “Countryside Parliament,” both motivated by a commitment to sustain rural communities in a critical time.     

我国农地“三权分离”产权制度的剖析与建议

发展现代农业离不开土地规模经营,土地规模经营需要农地流转,农地流转呼唤"三权分离"。梳理了新中国成立以来的历次农地产权改革,对当前的农地"三权分离"进行了产权界定,强调"三权分离"的重要性;继而分析认为农地"三权分离"存在农地"非农化"与"非粮化"、工商资本挤压农民利益、信贷配给等风险,需要党和各级政府警惕,并提出相应的政策建议。     

陕北农牧交错带耕地变化及驱动因子分析

根据陕北农牧交错带社会经济统计资料、土地利用调查数据等 ,对该区 5 0年来的耕地变化及驱动因子进行了分析。结果发现 ,耕地变化态势表现为耕地面积总量减少 ,有效灌溉面积和水田比重大大提高 ,旱地比重明显下降 ;粮食作物面积比重有所上升 ,而经济作物、其他作物比重下降 ;耕地投入增加 ;耕地质量趋于下降。造成耕地变化的主要因素是 :人口增长、城市扩张、工矿与交通建设、农业用地内部结构调整、畜牧业发展及退耕还林还草等。最后 ,提出了合理开发利用资源的战略措施     

城镇化对粮食产区耕地利用效率的影响

耕地是粮食产区经济发展的重要支撑要素，探究城镇化对耕地利用效率的影响及其作用机制，对保障国家粮食安全、促进乡村振兴有着重要的决策参考价值。本文基于2004—2019年吉林省39个县市的面板数据，运用随机前沿生产函数测算了各县市的耕地利用效率，在此基础上采用中介效应模型探究城镇化对耕地利用效率的影响机制。结果表明：城镇化对粮食产区耕地的粮食产出效率和农业总产值效率有着不同的作用方向，样本县市耕地的粮食产出效率均值为0.67，逐年呈上升趋势，但农业总产值效率均值为0.26，逐年呈下降趋势；城镇化通过提升农业机械化水平、土地规模化、经济发展水平和产业结构升级促进了耕地的粮食产出效率，但抑制了农业总产值效率，其中经济发展水平的中介作用最为明显。因此，本文提出粮食产区在未来城镇化进程中，要通过增加绿色、有机等高附加值粮食作物的种植比例，提高相关因素对耕地农业总产值效率的促进作用，达到粮食产出和农业总产值效率双增长的目标。     

The legitimacy of the agricultural extension service

Traditionally, the Swedish Agricultural Extension Service has delivered technical information to farmers with the aim of increasing productivity and efficiency in farming. Present problems with overproduction of food and the negative social and environmental consequences of present farm practices has brought this traditional mission in question. In a situation of budgetary constraints it has been suggested that the funding of the governmental Agricultural Extension Service should be cut down or even discontinued altogether The article argues that this would be a mistake. The various negative consequences of modern agriculture indicate that we are far from an ideal mode of agricultural production. Instead, public opinion and new guidelines for agricultural and environmental policies call for substantial changes in Swedish agriculture with respect to pollution, preservation of non-renewable resources, maintaining an open rural landscape, ethical aspects of animal production, rural development etc. This reorientation of Swedish agriculture presumes that decision-makers, farmers, and the public at large get an opportunity to learn more about the complexities of agricultural production. In contributing to this learning process the Agricultural Extension Service would have an important mission. To be able to fulfill this mission, extension professionals must be provided an opportunity to learn a broader concept of productivity and efficiency in agriculture, for instance, how to extend cost-benefit analyses and technical criteria of efficiency to include social, environmental, and ethical aspects. Our present extension staff has not received adequate training for this task. It is suggested that all agricultural colleges need to create departments of Rural Sociology and Agricultural Humanities to provide agricultural students and professionals an opportunity to develop a better understanding of agriculture and make them prepared to take on the challenges and responsibilities they confront in developing our future agriculture.     

台湾农地金融的发展与启示

简要介绍台湾土地银行的发展过程,分析了台湾农地金融制度的特点,从中得出有益的启示和借鉴：（1）农地金融制度建立与农地制度改革并行;（2）进一步明晰农地产权关系,推动农地流转市场发展;（3）建立完善的农业金融法律体系;（4）加大政府支持农地金融和商业银行服务农业的力度;（5）组建专业的土地金融部门。     

Indigenous rice production and the subtleties of culture change: An example from Borneo

This analysis is based on a combination of participant observation, census data, and an agricultural survey in two Kenyah Dayak communities in East Kalimantan: isolated Long Ampung, and “modernizing” Long Segar. The dramatically higher rice yields per household in the more “modern” community are first investigated, from indigenous and “scientific” points of view. Demographic and yield data are then used to demonstrate a) a decrease in women's contribution to rice production in Long Segar compared to men, and b) an emerging conflict between production and care of dependents. Both trends point to a decrease in women's status in Long Segar. Suggestions are then offered on possible interventions that could reduce such negative impacts of agricultural development on farm families, without adversely affecting yields.     

新疆绿洲农业耕作制度演变驱动因子分析

[目的]对新疆绿洲农业耕作制度演变及驱动因素进行综合分析.[方法]依据新疆农业统计资料.[结果]60年来新疆绿洲农业耕作制度的不断演变是多种因素综合作用的结果.[结论]国家及新疆维吾尔自治区农业发展政策是驱动耕作制度演变的直接动力;科学技术进步和农田大量物质投入提高了农田生产力水平,而较高的生产力水平为耕作制度的改革提供了保证和条件.新疆绿洲农业耕作制度已由最早追求粮食增长为中心逐渐演变为以粮为主、经济作物为辅过渡到90年代的粮、经并重,又进一步发展到目前粮、经并重、林果快速发展的新格局.     

市场经济环境下不同类型农户土地利用行为差异及土地保护政策分析

从生产规模、收入水平和兼业行为方面对农户土地利用行为之间的差异进行比较，初步探讨了不同类型农户对经济政策刺激的反应及其可能采取的土地利用方式对土地退化（保护）的效果。在此基础上，提出旨在使政府宏观目标与农户经济收益两者兼得的“双赢”政策调控模式。     

家庭农场对农地经营权抵押贷款的需求及影响因素研究——以江苏省南京市高淳区及其周边地区为例

着眼于江苏省南京市试点区(高淳区)与非试点区,从家庭农场基本情况、家庭农场主贷款意愿及其影响因素3方面进行,通过问卷调查、访谈、实地考察等方式,结合Logistic模型分析进行实证检验,探讨家庭农场对农地经营权抵押贷款的意愿需求及其影响因素。结果表明,受教育程度、家庭农场的年毛收入水平、家庭农场的耕地面积、贷款利率、贷款期限以及其他贷款满足程度对于家庭农场农地经营权抵押贷款的意愿需求有着显著的影响。提出了相应的政策建议:政府要加大对农地经营权抵押贷款政策的宣传和普及力度,银行、农村合作社等金融机构要结合现阶段家庭农场的实际需求调整农地经营权贷款的利率和期限,同时要增加家庭农场主教育年限以及鼓励更多知识分子进入家庭农场的经营管理。     

家庭农场长期存在的原因探讨

在世界农地规模化经营的过程中,家庭农场经营发展很快。但目前我国内还在为究竟采用什么样的农地规模化经营模式争论,文章力图对其内在原因进行探讨以正中国农地规模化经营之视听。文章主要从农民的生产优势、社会资本难以进入农业领域、实行大农场经营会产生农民如何生存的问题,以及农业技术水平的制约等四个方面分析家庭农场长期存在的原因。     

黄土高原沟道农地转换特征及影响机制初探

生态建设和土地整治工程驱动黄土高原沟道土地利用及农业生产发生较大变化，为探讨其农地转换特征及影响机制，以延安市地处黄土高原丘陵沟壑区的8个区县为研究区，选取2000—2005、2005—2010、2010—2018年3期24幅Landsat TM/OLI数据，采用CART决策树分类方法提取出研究区的沟道农地分布并分析其空间变化，构建时空地理加权回归模型，挖掘延安市沟道人地系统特征，探究其空间要素沟道农地的时空转换及其影响机制。结果表明：近20年延安市沟道农地呈现发散式分布、阶段性扩展且总体波动式收缩趋势，重心整体向北迁移；加入时间序列坐标的时空地理加权回归在沟道农地转换研究中具有较强的适用性，社会经济因素是近20年延安市沟道农地转换的主要驱动力，且影响效应呈现逐年上升态势；延安市沟道农地转换的不同驱动因子系数时空分布各异，人口因子和坡度因子的作用强度始终处于主导地位，地均GDP因子高值分布区在北部和中西部地区，形成“核心边缘”的漏斗状格局，其变化趋向于核心“流动”。黄土高原沟道农地发展变化受多种因素驱动，地区本底差异及不同的行为主体促使沟道农地发展变化趋于不同方向，但根本上均受国家及区域重大发展政策导向的影响。     

A “curious blend”: The successful farmer in American farm magazines, 1984–1991

Mass media images offer audiences models for how to perform the social roles they depict. Opinions and other attributes of credible media models may likewise be embraced by audience members seeking to identify with those models. Thus farm magazine narratives about “successful” farmers may encourage readers to model or aspire to featured farmers' production and management techniques and ascribe legitimacy to models' responses to current agricultural issues. However, production of agrarian images in the mass media — including images of farms, farmers, and farmers' values — are inevitably biased such that media representations of successful farmers selectively present objective characteristics in terms of the media's own ideological frameworks, which in turn reflect the dominant ideology of the social relations in which the media are engaged. As a first step in identifying farm magazines' role in creating social models for farmers, this study analyzes articles featuring “successful,” “leading,” or “innovative” farmers in leading agricultural magazines. The featured farmers are categorized according to enterprise characteristics and characterizations of them and their management philosophies. Findings show that farmers in farm magazines have larger than average operations and are portrayed in a way that blends a “farming as business” orientation with more conventional agrarian values but that generally omits non-business aspects of farm life.     

Tweeten as exorcist: A response to “Sector as Personality”

In “Sector as Personality: The Case of Farm Protest Movements,” Luther Tweeten argues that farm activism is motivated by irrational and dysfunctional traits of the “dark side” of a sector-specific farm personality. In response, this article questions the assumption that movement activism can be explained by reference to a few discrete personality traits, challenges the usefulness of the concept of a sector-specific personality, and disputes the accuracy of Tweeten's attributions of negative traits to all farm movement activists. Evidence is presented to indicate that farm activists are much more diverse in their beliefs and behavior than Tweeten's article portrays them, and it is argued that farm activism is not generally motivated by deluded conceptions of farmers' circumstances and interests.     

Agriculture as an asset class: reshaping the South African farming sector

According to portfolio managers, agriculture in general, and farmland in particular, can be considered an emerging asset class. Specialized financial vehicles, such as private equity and mutual funds, are emerging and competing to attract potential investment in this asset class. In recent years, there has been significant development of such vehicles targeting South Africa’s farming sector. These innovations are led by a group of market intermediaries (e.g. asset managers or consultants) who endeavour to “re-shape” South African farmland as an opportunity for institutional investors. These “pioneers” engage in a multifaceted mediation process between global financial investors on one hand, and the South African agricultural sector on the other. Drawing upon an empirical study of such intermediaries in South Africa, this paper analyses the concrete mechanisms that facilitate this particular form of commodification. The paper presents and compares the intermediaries, giving particular attention to their structure, governance mechanisms and asset allocations within this “market in the making”. It describes how intermediaries develop different paths of asset valorization to unlock the “financial value” of South African farmlands (i.e. “liquifying”, standardizing, neutralizing, and depoliticizing agriculture as an asset). But, it also highlights some of the difficulties faced in the process of translating between international investors and local managers, questioning the “land-asset fiction” that is materializing through the subordination of farmland to the needs of financial society.     

第三代农民时期农地保护问题探讨

对三代农民和第三代农民的主体作了界定,着重探讨第三代农民时期农地保护问题。通过分析农地非粮化、城镇化和农户兼业等因素对未来第三代农民时期农地保护产生的影响,得出第三代农民时期农地保护形势更加严峻的结论。借鉴美国、日本、韩国以及台湾地区的农地保护制度和政策来解决第三代农民时期农地保护问题,如借鉴美国的加强农地保护办法引导种植优质粮食作物方向流转、韩国的代耕制度、日本的控制私人拥有的公司制企业直接进入农业生产以及台湾地区第二次土地改革经验等。     

How knowledge deficit interventions fail to resolve beginning farmer challenges

Beginning farmer initiatives like the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP), farm incubators, and small-scale marketing innovations offer new entrant farmers agricultural training, marketing and business assistance, and farmland loans. These programs align with alternative food movement goals to revitalize the anemic U.S. small farm sector and repopulate landscapes with socially and environmentally diversified farms. Yet even as these initiatives seek to support prospective farmers with tools for success through a knowledge dissemination model, they remain mostly individualistic and entrepreneurial measures that overlook structural barriers to productive and economic success within U.S. agriculture. Analysis of the BFRDP’s funding history and discourse reveals a “knowledge deficit” based program focused on the technical rather than the structural aspects of beginning farming. This is contrasted with qualitative analysis of beginning farmer experiences in California’s Central Coast region. The discrepancies between the farmer experiences and national structure of the BFRDP program ultimately reveal a policy mismatch between the needs of some beginning farmers and the programs intended to support them.     

土地确权能够优化农户农地质量保护行为吗？——基于苹果户正向行为和逆向行为的再检验

基于黄土高原苹果产区苹果户的调查数据,探析农地确权对农户农地质量保护中正向行为和逆向行为的影响。研究表明:农地确权有效促进了苹果户的正向行为投入,该促进作用主要体现于投资回报期限较长的正向行为,且主要通过安全效应实现;但农地确权并未促使农户减少逆向行为投入,反而对逆向行为农药投入产生正向影响。PSM模型、工具变量法和替代变量法检验结果依然支持该结论。进一步讨论还发现,农户损失厌恶、风险规避、路径依赖心理和有效替代行为缺乏是造成农地确权未对农户逆向行为形成负向激励的主要原因。需通过促进替代行为对逆向行为的有效替代和完善农业要素市场,强化农地确权对农地质量保护行为的优化作用。     

粮食安全背景下“非粮化”的演化特征、形成机理及突破路径

随着土地流转和规模化经营的加快,"非粮化"问题越发凸显。为保证我国粮食安全,本文从历史角度分析我国"非粮化"的演化特征,并从土地、劳动力、市场和政府四个视角讨论"非粮化"的形成机理。研究发现:"非粮化"在不同历史阶段呈现"去粮化"与"趋粮化"交替波动特征。"非粮化"现象背后的主要原因是市场经济背景下粮食作物的经济效应较弱,进而导致劳动力和土地等生产资料从第一产业向第二、三产业转移,加之近年来耕地质量下降、政府过度强调GDP和"伪生态化"问题等。因此应强化土地监管、培养新型职业农民、加大粮食科技投入以及完善对地方政府的考核体系。     

土地整治项目全面质量控制与管理

土地整治项目是指通过一定规划方案和工程措施对现有未利用地或利用率较低土地进行综合治理的行为,为保障我国粮食安全和落实最严格的耕地保护政策作出了重要贡献。但结合工程实施现状来看,重多土地整治项目由于资金缺口较大、管理不到位等原因,出现了工程质量较差无法达到严格验收条件的现象,工程质量已成为影响工程形象和加强土地利用的巨大障碍。由于土地整治项目包含内容较多,且涉及农业、林业、水利以及环保等部门政策限制较多,在具体实施过程中存在较多困难。因此,做好项目实施过程中的质量控制和管理,成为了做好土地整治项目的关键,也是项目面临的必须要解决的重大问题。