Agrarianism and the American philosophical tradition

Paul Thompson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. His textbookEthics, Public Policy and Agriculture, written with Eileen Olsen VanRavenswaay and Robert Matthews, will be published by Macmillan in 1991. He is currently co-editing a book with Bill Stout on agricultural research policy entitledBeyond the Large Farm. He is guest editor of this issue.     

Book reviews

Paul Thompson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. He is currently conducting research under a grant from the National Science Foundation, Ethics and Value Studies program on the role of ethics and values in the planning of agricultural research activities, and completing a textbook entitledEthics, Public Policy and Agiculture with Eileen Olsen VanRavenswaay and Robert Matthews slated for publication by Macmillan in 1990.     

从营养、医学及社会发展的角度看大豆的价值

王绶先生是我国著名的大豆专家、教授,毕生从事农业教育事业。早年曾育成大豆优良品种金大332,并率先倡导生物统计学方法在田间试验中的应用。王绶教授治学严谨,生活朴素,谦虚好学,诲人不倦,为人耿直,待人诚恳,深受广大师生的爱戴。王绶教授1958年任山西农学院院长,并主持大豆科研工作。在他的指导和带动下,大豆科研组的同志坚持科学为生产服务,理论与实践相结合的原则,发扬求实、苦干精神,在大豆育种和大豆生物学理论探讨方面均取得了优异成绩。其中培育的晋豆一号、二号、三号新品种和大豆生物学若干理论问题的研究论文,曾分别获1978年全国科学大会奖,1979年山西省科学技术成果二等奖。但是由于客观条件所限,王绶教授未能为我们留下更多的亲笔遗作。近日(2008年10月19日),苗果园教授翻阅旧资料时,发现一篇王绶院长的论文打印稿,虽不是手写,但亦很珍贵。委托山西农业大学农学院遗传育种教研室主任李贵全教授撰写按语,交山西农业大学学报发表。谨以此文纪念山西农业大学大豆育种五十周年!对农业界老前辈王绶先生表示深切的怀念!     

Book reviews

Christopher B. Barrett is a dual Ph. D. candidate in the Department of Agricultural Economics and the Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is also pursuing a Certificate in African Studies. His previous degrees are from Princeton and Oxford. He spent several years working as a macroeconomist for an international institution, chiefly reporting on and evaluating African structural adjustment programs and debt rescheduling and reduction agreements.     

The social construction of production externalities in contemporary agriculture: Process <Emphasis Type="Italic">versus</Emphasis> product standards as the basis for defining “organic”

The analysis distinguishes two types of standards for defining organic produce; process standards and product standards. Process standards define organic products by the method and means of production. Product standards define organic by the physical quality of the end product. The National Organic Program (NOP) uses process standards as the basis for defining organic. However, the situation is complicated by agricultural production practices, which sometimes result in the migration of NOP prohibited substances from conventional to organic fields. When this interaction alters the value of the product or the costs of production, a production externality is said to exist. Defining organic using process, rather than product standards, influences the burden and character of production externalities. The NOPs emphasis on process standards reduces the likelihood that production externalities will emerge.B. James Deaton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Business and Agricultural Economics, University of Guelph, Canada. His research examines environmental and natural resource issues. He is particularly interested in the manner in which laws, rules, and standards influence environmental quality, natural resource use, and economic development. Additional research examines the relationship between different forms of private property and economic development, public support for various criteria used to preserve farmland, and the social construction of production externalities in agriculture. Prior to his PhD training, he worked on economic development projects in Lesotho (Southern Africa) and the Appalachian region of eastern Kentucky.John P. Hoehn is a Professor of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University. His teaching and research activities address environmental and natural resource policies, benefit-cost analysis of environmental improvements, methods for valuing non-market goods, improved institutions for protecting, managing, and using environmental resources, and the economics of ecological resources. He teaches core courses in the departmental and university-wide graduate programs in environmental and resource economics.     

Rural livelihoods in the arid and semi-arid environments of Kenya: Sustainable alternatives and challenges

The improvement of the welfare of inhabitants of arid and semi-arid lands, either through the enhancement of existing livelihoods or the promotion of alternative ones, and their potential constraints are discussed. Alternative livelihoods are discussed under regenerative and extractive themes with respect to environmental stability. Regenerative (i.e., non-extractive) livelihoods include activities like apiculture, poultry keeping, pisciculture, silkworm production, drought tolerant cash cropping, horticulture, community wildlife tourism, processing of livestock and crop products, agro-forestry for tree products, and micro-enterprises in the informal sector. Examples of livelihoods that are extractive or potentially so include timber production, woodcarving, basketry, brick making, sand scooping, and charcoal making. Suggestions to improve these livelihoods in a sustainable manner are offered.Robinson K. Ngugi, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in Biosystems Analysis whose specialty is animal resources in the rangelands. He has taught at the University of Nairobi, Department of Range Management for about 15 years and is widely published on various aspects of animal resources in arid and semi-arid lands.Dickson M. Nyariki, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Agricultural Economics whose specialty is Range Resource Economics. He has taught at the University of Nairobi, Department of Range Management for about 15 years and is widely published on various aspects of range resource use and development. Currently, he heads the University of Nairobis Department of Range Management.     

Poultry Farmers’ Preference and use of Commercial and Self-compounded Feeds in Oyo Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

This study investigated poultry farmers’ perceptions, preferences, and use of commercially compounded and self-compounded feeds in the Oyo Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Data were collected from 120 poultry farmers through a structured interview schedule. The study concluded that poultry farmers prefer and use self-compounded feeds (SCF) instead of commercially compounded feeds (CCF) because (a) self-compounded feeds are of better quality than commercially compounded feeds, (b) there are no quality control measures in the poultry feed industry in the Oyo Area, (c) commercially compounded feeds cost more than self-compounded feeds, and (d) farmers choose feed based on the perceived quality of the feed, their technical ability to produce feed by themselves, the cost of CCF, the storability of feed, and the cost and availability of transportation. Based on these findings, it is recommended that interested public and private agencies should organize annual extension workshops and training for poultry farmers in the study area on (a) feed formulation; (b) feed ingredient mixing and compounding; (c) selection of ingredients, mixtures, and additives; and (d) the establishment, operation, and maintenance of feed mills. Farmers should be encouraged to form feed mill cooperative societies. The performance of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) should be monitored and evaluated to ensure its effective oversight of quality standards for agricultural products and inputs such as feeds and feed ingredients. S. O. Apantaku, PhD (Southern Illinois), is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. His research interest is in agricultural extension education processes and development, farmers’ decision-making processes, and community and rural development. He is involved in extension work and teaches group dynamics in extension, rural community development and social change, agricultural extension teaching methods and learning processes, public relations in extension, and advanced rural sociology. E. O. A. Oluwalana is a PhD candidate and an Extension Research Fellow with the Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Center, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. Her research interest is in farmers’ micro-credit financing, agro-processing and utilization, and women-in-agriculture. She teaches agribusiness management, cooperatives and agricultural finance and is involved in extension service in the area of women-in-development, agro-processing, and health and environmental issues. O. A. Adepegba is a graduate of the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria. She is presently a postgraduate candidate at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is an Agricultural Extension Officer I with the Oyo West Local Government Council, Oyo State. She is interested in socio-economic issues in poultry production and farmers’ decision-making processes.     

继往开来育英才 经世济民谱华章——经济贸易学院十年发展历程

河北农业大学经济贸易学院成立以来,在校党委的正确领导下,学院党建和思想政治工作不断加强;学科发展日趋多样化、合理化,从规模扩大逐渐向学科特色与实力增强的转型,建设成效显著;经过师资优化和资源整合,逐步形成了一支结构合理、综合实力水平较高的教学科研队伍;教学质量和管理水平不断提高,学生综合素质稳步提升;发挥学校涉农学科优势,结合学院学科特点,实施跨学科融合,科学研究与社会服务走上新台阶。10年来,学院总体发展实力从小到大、从弱到强,核心竞争力不断增强,在河北省农村社会经济发展上具备了较强的话语权与影响力。     

Southern University's agriculture and mechanical departments: Descriptive analysis of the New Orleans years, 1880–1913

This is an analysis of the shift in educational emphasis at the first state supported Black institution of higher education in Louisiana during its first three decades. The national emphasis on Agricultural and Mechanical training with the expanded Morrill Act of 1890 was embraced by the University. Thus it qualified and received the Land Grant funding and developed a progressive, well-attended program in Agriculture and Mechanical Arts. This article closely reviews and describes its inner workings, facilities, curriculum, and funding.Charles Vincent, Ph.D. is professor of History at Southern University and A & M College (Baton Rouge). He has served as visiting professor of History at Louisiana State University, and Eminent Scholar at Virginia State University (Petersburg). He is the author ofBlack Legislators in Louisiana Reconstruction; andA Centennial History of Southern and A & M College 1880–1980 and numerous articles in professional journals.     

Divine agriculture

Theological literacy is an important asset in the development of a comprehensive agricultural ethic and philosophy. Four areas are delimited in which theological reflection is relevant for agricultural study.Charles Taliaferro is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. Olaf College. He is also a member of the Environmental Studies Faculty and the Committee for Agricultural Concerns, both of which are made up of representatives from the disciplines of biology, chemistry, geology, political science, economics, philosophy, and theology. Taliaferro has published in the areas of environmental ethics, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion.     

Biotechnologies in the agro-food sector: A limited impact

Within the framework of a general reflection on technical change, this paper is aimed at opposing an approach that assigns a primary role to the progress of biological knowledge in the evolution of the agro-food system. Instead, the importance of the complex and heterogeneous nature of the transformation under way is highlighted. Biotechnological research risks falling into a reductionist rut when it ignores the structural and organizational changes in the agro-food industry and the contribution of other technical innovations, especially in the field of computers and in product innovation. If one really wants to speak of a biotechnology revolution, one must specify that it is essentially a scientific revolution: at the production level the contribution of the biotechnologies is still potential, while the agro-food sector is going through a period of profound change.Roberto Fanfani is professor of Political Economics at the University of Bologna (Italy). He is working on the structural change in the agriculture and food industries in Italy and Europe. He is author of papers on regional development of the agro-food systems and of a Common Agricultural Policy text-book.     

Erratum

In the 18 May issue of Science (p. 719, Don Paarlberg was identified as "former director of Agricultural Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture." The attribution should have read: "Don Paarlberg, 1968, Purdue University, now Director of Agricultural Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture."     

20世纪50年代中期中国农业遗产研究室成立纪实

中国农业遗产研究室成立于1955年7月,是国内唯一的由政府直接设立的农史研究机构。新中国建立初期,党和政府极为重视民族优秀文化遗产,积极营造了中国近代以来少有的自觉弘扬民族文化的社会氛围,为成立专门的农史研究机构提供了前所未有的历史契机。从学术史上看, 1924至1937年,万国鼎等学者在原金陵大学大规模收集整理中国农业史资料,以及此后万国鼎个人长期坚持的学术积累,为农遗室的成立打下了坚实的学术基础和文献基础。1954年夏秋,万国鼎先生对整理祖国农业遗产的工作内容、方法做了详细的阐述;在此基础上,1955年春夏,南京农学院金善宝院长与农业部就开展整理祖国农业遗产工作进行了卓有成效的沟通磋商。金善宝院长和万国鼎先生从行政与学术两方面共同促成了这一国家级农史研究机构的建立。     

Simulating Agricultural Conversion to Residential use in the Hudson River Valley: Scenario Analyses and Case Studies

Land use changes threaten agricultural land. If agricultural land is going to be preserved, the social and economic causes of conversion must be understood. However, analyzing the causes of agricultural conversion is complex because trends need to be documented before analyzing the causes. One of the leading uses of agricultural land is for residential purposes. This paper projects residential development in a Hudson River Valley watershed within Dutchess County in New York State using an integrated modeling framework consisting of an econometric model, a geographic information system (GIS), and Monte Carlo simulation. The econometric model is used to project residential development, providing parcel-specific probabilities of residential development. The GIS is employed to extract socio-economic and county-level tax parcel data to be used in conjunction with bio-geophysical attributes, such as slope, soil, and location, to calculate and project growth trends on a residential level for undeveloped land parcels. Monte Carlo simulation is used to distribute these projections into the GIS to display outcomes of scenario analyses to provide policy-makers a demonstration of how policies would likely affect the agricultural landscape of the watershed. John M. Polimeni is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Albany College of Pharmacy in Albany, New York. Dr. Polimeni received a PhD in Ecological Economics and a BS in Mathematics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His professional interests include: quantitative economics, spatial and regional economics, land use change, economic development, and graduate education in Ecological Economics. He is currently working on linking ecological economics with the laws of thermodynamics and neuroeconomics into one unified model.     

烟草化学精品课程建设的研究与实践

以河南农业大学农学院为例,从改革教学内容、加强师资队伍建设等方面介绍了烟草化学精品课程建设的研究及实践成果,并提出了河南农业大学农学院烟草化学精品课程建设的目标和规划。     

Resilience in the US red meat industry: the roles of food safety policy

We use the case of red meat food safety to illustrate the need to problematize policy. Overtime, there have been numerous red meat scandals and scares. We show that the statutes and regulations that arose out of these events provided the industry with a means of demonstrating safety, facilitating large-scale trade, legitimizing conventional production, and limiting interference into its practices. They also created systemic fragility, as evidenced by many recent events, and hindered the development of an alternative, small-scale sector. Thus, the accumulated rules help to structure the sector, create superficial resilience, and are used in place of an actual policy governing safety. We call for rigorous attention to not only food safety, but also the role and effect of agrifood statutes and regulations in general, and engagement in policy more broadly.

ESSAYS ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY: In Search of Einstein's Genius

Steve C. Wang is a lecturer in the Department of Statistics at Harvard University. He earned his B.S. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago. He has taught statistics and mathematics at the University of Chicago and Williams College. His research interests include applying statistics to paleobiology, endocrine diseases, and image recognition.     

Shanxi Agricultural University Visitor Professor Donald Grierson

正Nihao!My name is Don Grierson.I am an Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham and a visiting professor at Zhejiang University and Shanxi Agricultural University.I am writing this message to introduce myself to you,so that you know who I am if you see me walking around the Campus.I retired from full-time work in the UK in 2010and now I visit China twice each year with my wife     

荔枝酒香气成分的GC/MS分析

利用溶剂萃取法对荔枝酒中的挥发性成分进行提取,采用气相色谱-质谱(GC/MS)技术对其分析,经过NIST02谱库检索对比,在荔枝酒中共检测出68个峰,鉴定出67种化合物。醇类和酯类是荔枝酒中香气贡献最大的两类化合物。初步得出该荔枝酒中的特征香气化合物为β-里哪醇、香叶醇和2,6-二甲基-7-辛烯-2-醇。     

从河北农业大学早期期刊溯"太行山道路"的起源与发展

“六五”期间,河北农业大学走出了一条教学-科研-生产相结合的教育改革之路、育人之路、科学技术与经济建设紧密结合的科教兴国之路、使山区摆脱贫困的致富之路,被国家科委誉为“太行山道路”,充分彰显了河北农业大学的办学特色。从1905年河北农业大学的前身——直隶高等农业学堂时期创办的《北直农话报》及其相沿承续者——《农学月刊》、《河北通俗农刊》、《河大农刊》、《河北农林学刊》、《农民须知》等一系列早期期刊可以看出,“太行山道路”的一些思路与做法早在办学初期已见端倪。