Adoption of sustainable irrigation management practices by stone and pome fruit growers in the Goulburn/Murray Valleys, Australia

The management of water resources by orchards in the south-eastern region of Australia is an increasingly important policy issue, especially given the low water allocations and concerns about salinity in recent years. Optimal management for economic and environmental sustainability can be described as best management practice (BMP). A project was developed to run an extension program, which aimed to achieve behavioural change among orchardists through the adoption of irrigation BMPs and benchmarks. The effectiveness of the extension program was evaluated and the drivers for adoption assessed. In the first stage of the project both BMPs and benchmarks were determined for irrigation management. A survey of 200 growers showed no relationship between yield and irrigation system or irrigation volume suggesting that increased yields were not a key driver for adoption of sustainable irrigation practices. Stage two of the project involved undertaking an extension program aimed to facilitate the adoption of BMPs and benchmarks and incorporated a suite of activities to meet the learning needs of a diversity of participants (40 growers). The program was effective in establishing behavioural change for many of the growers involved; however, it was resource intensive requiring significant one-on-one input. Stage three aimed to analyse the key drivers for adoption of sustainable irrigation practices for the whole of the stone and pome fruit industry in south-eastern Australia using market research. The study determined that water use efficiency was not a key driver for adoption of sustainable irrigation practices (micro irrigation and soil moisture monitoring) and adoption was generally not limited by lack of knowledge. Groups of growers were identified where extension programs could be effective by focussing on specific information e.g. redevelopment of orchard. Other groups had no need and/or ability to change unless the external operating environment was to change e.g. regulation, access to pressurised water. The voluntary adoption of more sustainable irrigation practices will probably require extensive resources using one-on-one methodology. The extension program should not focus on the broader social objective of improved water use efficiency but promote other potential benefits (e.g. labour saving, redevelopment of production systems, management flexibility) with targeted messages for specific groups.     

Increasing profits and reducing risks in crop production using participatory systems simulation approaches

The development of cropping systems simulation capabilities world-wide combined with easy access to powerful computing has resulted in a plethora of agricultural models and consequently, model applications. Nonetheless, the scientific credibility of such applications and their relevance to farming practice is still being questioned. Our objective in this paper is to highlight some of the model applications from which benefits for farmers were or could be obtained via changed agricultural practice or policy. Changed on-farm practice due to the direct contribution of modelling, while keenly sought after, may in some cases be less achievable than a contribution via agricultural policies. This paper is intended to give some guidance for future model applications. It is not a comprehensive review of model applications, nor is it intended to discuss modelling in the context of social science or extension policy. Rather, we take snapshots around the globe to ‘take stock’ and to demonstrate that well-defined financial and environmental benefits can be obtained on-farm from the use of models. We highlight the importance of ‘relevance’ and hence the importance of true partnerships between all stakeholders (farmer, scientists, advisers) for the successful development and adoption of simulation approaches. Specifically, we address some key points that are essential for successful model applications such as: (1) issues to be addressed must be neither trivial nor obvious; (2) a modelling approach must reduce complexity rather than proliferate choices in order to aid the decision-making process; (3) the cropping systems must be sufficiently flexible to allow management interventions based on insights gained from models. The pro and cons of normative approaches (e.g. decision support software that can reach a wide audience quickly but are often poorly contextualized for any individual client) versus model applications within the context of an individual client's situation will also be discussed. We suggest that a tandem approach is necessary whereby the latter is used in the early stages of model application for confidence building amongst client groups. This paper focuses on five specific regions that differ fundamentally in terms of environment and socio-economic structure and hence in their requirements for successful model applications. Specifically, we will give examples from Australia and South America (high climatic variability, large areas, low input, technologically advanced); Africa (high climatic variability, small areas, low input, subsistence agriculture); India (high climatic variability, small areas, medium level inputs, technologically progressing; and Europe (relatively low climatic variability, small areas, high input, technologically advanced). The contrast between Australia and Europe will further demonstrate how successful model applications are strongly influenced by the policy framework within which producers operate. We suggest that this might eventually lead to better adoption of fully integrated systems approaches and result in the development of resilient farming systems that are in tune with current climatic conditions and are adaptable to biophysical and socio-economic variability and change.     

知识经济时代发达国家农技推广对我国的启示

农业技术推广是农业科技发展的重要支撑,直接关系到农业发展、农民增收和农村稳定。在20世纪,信息技术的推广标志着知识经济时代的到来。知识经济能够使国家在建设中不断地进行知识创新与技术创新,同时也推动了农业技术推广体系的革新与发展。为此,通过对欧美、日本等发达国家农业技术推广经验和发展进行分析,结合新时期我国农业技术推广的发展特点和主要问题,总结出有利于我国农业技术推广的启示和借鉴。     

美国的保护性耕作策略

任何一项农业技术的推广使用都属于综合性的运作。它的抉择要受农场和农民的影响,受技术的限制,受经济的和政策的制约。对于保护性耕作来说就更容易受到一些因素的影响。例如,土地所有权的问题就会影响到保护性耕作的实施。农场主比给别人经营农场的农民在是否采用保护性耕作上     

我国农技推广高效协同创新研究——基于机制视角

农业技术推广是农业科技成果转化为现实生产力的关键环节,新时期推动农业农村高质量发展对传统农技推广模式的转型升级提出迫切要求,农业重大技术协同推广计划试点的实施探索了新机制,为打通“农业科技最后一公里”、助力乡村全面振兴开辟了新路径。基于对吉林、江西、湖北、内蒙古、江苏、浙江、广西和四川等8个试点省份的广泛调研,分析梳理农业重大技术协同推广的主要做法,研究总结不同于传统农技推广模式的新机制。研究发现,农业重大技术协同推广计划试点在实施中形成“高效协作”的组织实施机制、“互利共赢”的利益联结机制和“双向反馈”的信息贯通机制,实现农业技术推广的高效协同,有效克服传统农技推广面临的时代困境,是新时期应该大力推广的农技推广新模式。同时,针对存在的有关问题,就如何更好地实施农业重大技术协同推广计划试点提出相应政策建议。     

浙江遂昌县三仁乡的农技推广与建设

加强农技推广服务体系建设,搞好农技推广服务,是国家支持保护农业的一项长期重要政策.当前,着力推进农业结构战略性调整,实现农业增效、农民增收,必须加强农技推广服务体系建设,加快推进农技推广服务体系改革创新,为农业发展提供科技支撑是社会发展的必然要求,是农村社会经济工作的重要内容之一.     

科技革命、颠覆性技术与智慧农业

本文首先阐述了科技革命的概念与满足条件，提出并分析了内生及外生农业颠覆性技术及其差异，特别是提出了跨界技术的概念并论证了其对农业科技进步的外生影响。然后分析了作为跨界技术的集大成者——智慧农业技术的特点，智慧农业对传统农业生产技术与生产方式的替代以及智慧农业与农村经济转型的关系。在此基础上讨论了中国智慧农业发展所面临的问题。最后有针对性地提出了促进颠覆性技术创新和智慧农业发展的政策建议，包括加强关键颠覆性核心技术研发、改革现有的农业高等教育体系、推动跨界技术的农业产业化研发以及在高标准农田及规模化养殖场实施智慧农业生产等。     

Farmer contact and the demonstration of improved farming practices in Nigeria

In spite of the involvement of many research institutes and universities in arriving at suitable agricultural innovations and transferring these to farmers for adoption, agricultural productivity has remained low in Nigeria. The paper critically examines the extension methodology being adopted, which is particularly the Training and Visit approach using survey data obtained from farmer members and non-members of cooperative/group societies in some parts of southwest Nigeria. This approach has been found to be ineffective for a number of reasons. To achieve a rapid transfer and adoption of improved practices, a group approach involving demonstrating new technologies to farmers on their own farms is suggested. A continuous monitoring and evaluation unit can be developed in each area so as to improve on the previous year's performance and bring groups' comments to the notice and attention of researchers.     

农业机械维修与保养的几点思考

增加农业成本也与农业机械化有重要的关系,所以维护机械和保养机械的工作是农机推广部门的重要责任。农业技术培训也因现代农业机械型号不一、维修网点少等问题显得更加迫切。农业机械操作员也在不断实践的过程中积累了大量的个人经验,对具体的保养经验作出了总结。     

农机推广工作中的问题与措施

农机推广体系是农业社会服务体系和国家对农业支持保护体系的重要组成部分,是实施科教兴农战略的重要载体,也是提高农民科学文化素质的依靠力量.颍泉区农机推广工作中存在着资金短缺、基础设施不全等诸多问题.农业发展的根本出路在于积极推进农业科技改革,而科技成果转化为农村现实生产力,关键在于科技推广.     

乌鲁木齐市土地认养研究 ——以耕读园为例

认养农业是共享经济的具体体现之一,依托于互联网、政府以及自身服务三者的有机结合。新疆乌鲁木齐市认养农业起步较晚,目前认养农业范围已扩展至果蔬、禽畜、植被等多种农业生产领域。耕读园自2020年运用于经营体制中,在自然环境、消费群体、消费观念等区位优势的加持下,相较于以往认养模式,其新颖生产方式和多样化娱乐项目备受消费者青睐。在消费者与经营者的共同经营下,实现耕读园员工增收、农业可持续发展。在发展过程中,易受消费者的认知、多样化需求、操作程序等因素影响,致使其存在宣传力度不足、科技生产力低下、网络融合度差等问题,进而就如何增强区域影响力、积极完善基础设施建设、与科技生产融合、培养高素质农业人才等方面为耕读园经营提出改善措施。     

Designing contracts for irrigation water under asymmetric information: Are simple pricing mechanisms enough?

A fertile discussion is developing in the EU regarding the application of the Water Framework Directive (60/2000) (WFD), the legislative act that provides the framework for water regulation in Europe and emphasises the role of economic instruments in water policy. The objective of this paper is to provide an evaluation of different instruments designed to deal with the management of water for agriculture, in the perspective of WFD implementation and agricultural price scenarios. The paper focuses on the regulation of mixed source unmetered water and carries out a comparison of flat rate versus differentiated contracts as the policy instrument. The analysis is based on a combination of linear programming and a Principal-Agent model. The empirical model is applied in an agricultural area of Northern Italy. The results show the feasibility of incentive-oriented policy instruments, even in the less sophisticated form of flat rate area payments. They also show the relevance of agricultural market scenarios and policy scenarios in the design of the optimal policy instruments. The adoption of such instruments, however, could require a revision of the role of different institutions involved in water management.     

Why impact analysis should not be used for research evaluation and what the alternatives are

Many impact studies relate changes in impact indicators to research investments. This is valid only if an implicit assumption is true: that the link between indicators and investments dominates all other relationships that influence the impact indicators. However, this is only true for minor improvements along stable technological paths. In most cases, other factors, such as policies and markets, influence adoption and, consequently, impact. The problem is compounded because impacts often appear after many years and usually cannot be measured. Since many factors influence adoption, research impacts should be analyzed as part of a complex adaptive system that depends on external forces (e.g., markets), the direct and indirect interactions among agents (e.g., researchers, input suppliers and farmers), and the technology's nature and evolution. The complexity framework has broad consequences for agricultural and research policies. Since impacts result from the actions of the whole network, they cannot generally be attributed to individual agents. In evaluating networks, the relevant parameters to study are the rules for generating, collecting and sharing information, financing procedures, intellectual property-rights regulations and availability of human and financial resources. For individual agents the relevant indicators are their patterns of participation in particular networks, benefits and costs of participation, evaluation criteria, financial arrangements and institutional cultures.     

A conceptual approach to dynamic agricultural land-use modelling

We describe a dynamic agricultural land-use model based on a Markov process and governed by a few simple decision rules. Currently, the model is purely conceptual, and was designed with one objective: to investigate the possibility of constructing top-down land-use models based on as few processes as possible that might still be useful for statistical analyses of landuse change in a region. The model appears to behave in a plausible fashion in a simulated landscape with respect to cropping patterns and the effects of initial household size on wealth distribution. If this type of simple model could be validated, the information that could be produced might be of considerable value in a wide range of applications, particularly with regard to technology adoption patterns and resultant regional production impacts.     

农业产业化科技成果评估指标的实证研究

针对农业科技成果产业化和市场化过程中的发展要求,结合评估工作实践,对产业化科技成果评价若干指标进行了探讨、分析和研究;通过农业和农机项目评估的实际操作,重点研究了产业化科技成果评估的方法、指标和权重等内容。这对于推进科技成果产业化及评价指标的研究与应用有积极的作用。     

Water saving technology and saving water in China

Rapid expansion of irrigated agricultural and increasing urban demands for water have important implications for the economy of China, especially for the agricultural sector in the northern part of the nation. In response to the water crisis, China's government has begun in recent years to invest in research on techniques to save water in the agricultural sector, although there is a debate about the extent of success in adoption by farmers. Top policy makers have publicly stated they would allocate billions of dollars in funding if they knew it would succeed in saving water. Unfortunately, there has been relatively little research in China on the economics of water saving technology and there is almost no systematic information on the extent to which the technologies have been adopted, if they are appearing to save water, and the characteristics of the communities that have been adopting them. Our goal is to sketch a picture of the state of water saving technology in northern China to increase awareness of past trends and current status. In simplest terms, we seek to establish a set of first order facts about the role that water saving technology has been playing in China's agricultural sector. We pursue three specific objectives: (1) to illustrate progress in adoption over the past two decades, (2) to identify the characteristics of technologies that have been most successful and those that have not, and (3) to explain factors that might be promoting water saving technology and factors that might be holding back adoption. We find that, although water saving technologies have expanded rapidly in recent years—especially those that can be adopted by individual households (as opposed to those that require the collective action of an entire community), there is still considerable room for water saving technology to be expanded.     

我国智能化农业机械应用及发展建议

在我国社会经济加速发展的进程中，农业机械技术的发展是一个必须且重要的过程，在科学发展观的引导下，对农业进行现代化的设备和技术变革是促进其发展的重要举措。农业机械智能化是必然发展趋势，因此，农机操作人员必须提高自身的专业素养，以适应我国农机智能化的需求，全面推广农机新技术，这样农业发展才能稳步前进。该文基于此形势对农机智能化进行了分析与应用探索。      

互联网使用对农机服务采纳的影响及其异质性

现代信息技术在农业农村的普及促进了“互联网+农机服务”的融合,是提升农业机械化水平的重要路径,因而探究互联网使用对农机服务采纳的影响具有重要意义。以2014年、2016年和2018年的三期中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）数据为基础,利用面板Probit模型分析互联网使用是否会影响农户对农机服务的采纳及其异质性。互联网使用对农机服务采纳具有显著的正向影响,农户家庭互联网使用率每提高1个百分点,农机服务采纳概率增加0.068个百分点,运用工具变量法解决内生性问题后,依然得到稳健性结论;互联网使用对男性、中青年、较高教育程度农户农机服务采纳的影响更大,说明个体的学习与劳动能力会影响互联网使用的效果;互联网使用对无家用农机户农机服务采纳的影响系数为0.332远大于对有家用农机户的0.175,说明互联网使用是促进传统小农户农机服务采纳的重要手段;互联网使用对非平原地区农户的农机服务采纳显著为正,边际效应为0.114,比基准模型高出了0.046个百分点,说明互联网信息技术对非平原地区农业机械化发展具有突出贡献。因此,建立“互联网+”的农机服务信息平台,加大对农村地区互联网基础设施的建设,加强对农户的互联网信息技术培训,是支持农机服务业发展和推进农业机械化进程的重要政策手段。     

加强农机推广策略研究

农业机械化是农业现代化的重要标志,也是农业生产力的重要组成部分。农业机械化的实质,就是农业生产手段的技术变革。农业机械的推广与应用,不仅是传统农业向现代农业转变的重要物质基础,更是建设现代农业不可逾越的发展阶段,因此要努力做好农机推广这项工作任务。     

Factors influencing potential scale of adoption of a perennial pasture in a mixed crop-livestock farming system

Evaluating the potential scale of adoption of a technological innovation or management practice at the farm business scale can help gauge the potential size of an industry for the purposes of prioritising resources for research and development. In this paper we address the question of quantifying the potential area of adoption of a perennial pasture, lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), in dryland mixed farming systems in Australia. Lucerne pastures play a significant role in dryland farming systems in the wheat-sheep zone of southern and western Australia. While there are benefits of integrating lucerne into cropping systems there will inevitably be additional costs, and the scale of adoption of lucerne will depend largely on the increase in farm profit resulting from the introduction of lucerne. Whole-farm economic models of representative farms in the Australian wheat-sheep belt were used to determine the key drivers for the scale of adoption of lucerne.For a particular farming system the optimal area of lucerne which maximises whole-farm profit is found to depend on production, price and cost conditions. Generally, no more than 30% of a farm was allocated to lucerne according to those conditions and location of the farm. For most scenarios examined the response of profit was flat around the optimal area. This implies that lucerne could be grown on areas greater than the optimum, in order to reduce groundwater recharge (and thereby reduce the risk of dryland salinity), without greatly reducing whole-farm profit. The optimal area of lucerne in all regions was limited by the area of suitable soil types and proportion of lucerne in the most profitable lucerne-crop sequences.At all price levels assumed in this study lucerne remained as part of the optimal enterprise mix for all farm types examined. Lucerne productivity was also a major determinant of the optimal area of lucerne. The sensitivity of profit to changes in winter and/or summer production varied between regions and for different livestock enterprises. The differences were driven by the timing of energy demands and supply of feed in individual farming systems.In all regions the optimal area and profitability of lucerne varied with livestock enterprise. The analyses showed that changing from wool production to meat production enabled greater economic benefit to be realised from lucerne. This was consistent across farm types and demonstrated the value of lucerne as a source of high quality feed for finishing prime lambs in summer.The results of this study demonstrate that lucerne is profitable in a range of environments on a significant proportion of the farm area, but that this area is small relative to that required to significantly influence in its own right the environmental issue of salinity.