scholarly journals The Impact of Agricultural Socialized Services to Promote the Farmland Scale Management Behavior of Smallholder Farmers: Empirical Evidence from the Rice-Growing Region of Southern China

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 316
Author(s):  
Baozhong Cai ◽  
Fang Shi ◽  
Yuangji Huang ◽  
Meseret Abatechanie
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Agricultural Practice ◽  
Small Farmers ◽  
Rural Revitalization ◽  
Moderate Scale ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Growing Region ◽  
Scale Management

Farmland scale management (FSM) is an essential strategy to establish an appropriate management scale for agricultural production, enhance smallholder farmer production efficiency, and improve the utilization rate of farmland. The Chinese government promotes farmland transfer as a tool to establish modern and moderate-scale agriculture. However, farmers remain unable to afford agricultural services and inputs required for appropriate FSM after farmland is transferred-in. This paper aims to examine the impact of agricultural socialized services (ASSs) on the FSM behavior of smallholder farmers through farmland transfer. A theoretical framework for the farmer household production aspect of this relationship is developed. A weighted least squares (WLS) model is applied to empirically examine smallholder farmers’ decisions to expand the scale of farmland induced by the promotion of ASSs based on data collected from 741 households in 2020 in the rice-growing region of southern China. The findings reveal that ASSs have a positive and significant impact on small farmers’ FSM. Small farmers’ behavior regarding farmland transfer is affected positively by the promotion of ASSs. The increase of ASSs encourages small farmers to transfer-in more farmland. However, the impact of ASSs on various steps of agricultural practice varied according to the FSM of smallholder farmers. Our findings imply that the government should take the development of ASSs as one of the main methods for promoting the establishment of moderate and large-scale agriculture and rural revitalization. Strengthening policies and financial support for both private and public ASS providers through financial innovation subsidies and preferential tax policies will help smallholder farmers reduce input costs and increase the scale of production and profits. The findings of this paper will provide a scientific basis and reference for the development of moderate-scale agriculture and rural revitalization.

scholarly journals Performance of community-based water-saving technology under land fragmentation: evidence from groundwater overexploitation in the North China Plain

Water Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongxu Shi ◽  
Xiqin Wang
Keyword(s):  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Water Saving ◽  
Irrigation Efficiency ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Small Farmers ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Land Fragmentation ◽  
Groundwater Overdraft ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The current water shortage crisis has necessitated an increased focus on improving the irrigation efficiency in groundwater overdraft areas. Consequently, the Chinese government has supported small farmers in installing community-based water-saving technologies (WSTs) providing high irrigation efficiency. Based on the data collected from 620 households located in the groundwater overdraft area of Hebei, North China Plain, this study conducts a stochastic frontier analysis to measure farmers' irrigation water use efficiency (WUE) and analyzes the impact of land fragmentation and WST types on their WUE. The results show that the average WUE of groundwater irrigation is 0.606. The WUE between community-based and household-based WSTs differs based on the degree of land fragmentation. A high degree of land fragmentation restricts community-based WSTs from efficiently improving farmers' WUE, whereas household-based WSTs perform better and are easier to adopt. For high land fragmentation, the WUE of the community-based WST is 9.12% lower than that of the household-based WST. However, the WUE of the community-based WST is 12.55% higher than that of the household-based WST when the degree of land fragmentation is low. Therefore, the government should pay attention to small farmers' adaptability toward WST and promote community-based WSTs on a low degree of land fragmentation.

The Supply-Demand Research of Cultural and Tourism Industries Policies in China with the Impact of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-24
Author(s):  
Dr. Jianfei Yang
Keyword(s):  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Real Situation ◽  
The Real ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Post Period

COVID-19 has made a bad influence on economic and society including cultural and tourism industry in China，2020.The industry has received a huge loss in the first quarter of the year and the situation is getting worse in the near future. It is believed that there will be a long impact for the country even the world. In order to recover the industry, Chinese government has published series of policies to support the enterprises and clusters to reduce the bad influence of COVID-19. This paper mainly uses filed survey and documentary research to map the real situation of the industry. It tries to find the policy demand of the industries and then analyze the policies published by government to conquer COVID-19. Meanwhile it will focus on whether the supply meet the demand and give suggestions on how to promote the policy efficiency in the post period of COVID-19 in China. Keywords: Evaluation; Cultural Industries; Policy; Park; Pandemic

Examining the Impact and Influencing Channels of Emission Trading Pilot Markets in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-136
Author(s):  
Qiong Wu ◽  
Kanittha Tambunlertchai ◽  
Pongsa Pornchaiwiseskul
Keyword(s):  
Total Factor Productivity ◽  
Co2 Emission ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Emission Trading ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Synergy Effect ◽  
Factor Productivity ◽  
Plan Period ◽  
Carbon Emission Trading ◽  
The Impact

The global warming has become a serious issue in the world since the 1980s. The targets for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol cover emissions of the six main greenhouse gasses (GHGs). China is the world's largest CO2 emitter and coal consumer and was responsible for 27.3 percent of the global total CO2 emission and 50.6 percent of the global total coal consumption in 2016 (BP, 2017). As China plays an important role in the global climate change, China has set goals to improve its environmental efficiency and performance. In 2011, the Chinese government for the first time announced an intent to establish carbon emission trading market in China. Eight regional emission trading schemes have been operating since 2013 (seven pilot markets during the 12th Five Year Plan period and one pilot market during the 13th Five Year Plan period) including provinces of Guangdong, Hubei, and Fujian, and cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chongqing. The goal of these regional emission trading pilot markets is to help the government establish an efficient carbon emission trading scheme at national level. Some researchers have been focused on examining the impact of emission trading schemes in China using CGE model by constructing different scenarios and ex-ante analysis using data prior to emission trading pilot markets implementation. While this paper tries to conduct an ex-post analysis with data of 2005-2017 to evaluate the impact of emission trading pilot markets in China at provincial level using difference-in-difference (DID) model. By including both CO2 and SO2 as undesirable outputs to calculate Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) Index to measure green total factor productivity, this paper plans to evaluate the impact of carbon emission trading pilot markets in China via emission reduction, regional green development, synergy effect and influencing channels. This paper tries to answer the following research questions: (1) Do emission trading pilot markets reduce CO2 emission and increase regional green total factor productivity? (2) Is there any synergy effect from emission trading pilot markets? (3) What are the influencing channels of emission trading pilot markets? Keywords: Emission trading, CO2 emissions, Different-in-difference

Hospital Informatization in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Internet-Based Survey Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Zeng ◽  
Weiguo Zhu ◽  
Caiyou Wang ◽  
Liyan Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Information Security ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Qr Code ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Network Information ◽  
Tertiary Hospitals ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND The rapid spread of COVID-19 has created a severe challenge to China’s healthcare system. Hospitals across the country reacted quickly under the leadership of the Chinese government and implemented a range of informatization measures to effectively respond to the COVID-19. OBJECTIVE To understand the impact of the pandemic on the medical business of Chinese hospitals and the difficulties faced by hospital informatization construction. To discuss the application of hospital informatization measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. To summarize the practical experience of hospitals using information technology to fight the pandemic. METHODS Performing a cross-sectional on-line questionnaire survey in Chinese hospitals, of which the participants are invited including hospital information staff, hospital administrators, medical staff, etc. Statistical analyzing the collected data by using SPSS version 24. RESULTS A total of 804 valid questionnaires (88.45%) are collected in this study from 30 provinces in mainland China, of which 731 (90.92%) were filled out by hospital information staff. 473 (58.83%) hospitals are tertiary hospitals while the remaining 331 (41.17%) are secondary hospitals. The majority hospitals (82.46%) had a drop in their business volume during the pandemic and a more substantial drop is found in tertiary hospitals. 70.40% (n=566) of hospitals have upgraded or modified their information systems in response to the epidemic. The proportion of tertiary hospitals that upgraded or modified systems is significantly higher than that of secondary hospitals. Internet hospital consultation (70.52%), pre-check and triage (62.56%), telemedicine (60.32%), health QR code (57.71%), and telecommuting (50.87%) are the most used informatization anti-pandemic measures. There are obvious differences in the application of information measures between tertiary hospitals and secondary hospitals. Among these measures, most of them (41.17%) are aiming at serving patients and most of them (62.38%) are universal which continue to be used after pandemic. The informatization measures are mostly used to control the source of infection (48.19%), such as health QR Code, etc. During the pandemic, the main difficulties faced by the hospital information department are “information construction projects are hindered” (58.96%) and “increased difficulty in ensuring network information security” (58.58%). There are significant differences in this issue between tertiary hospitals and secondary hospitals. The shortcomings of hospital informatization that should be made up for are “shorten patient consultation time and optimize consultation process” (72.51%), “Ensure network information security” (72.14%) and “build internet hospital consultations platform” (59.95%). CONCLUSIONS A significant number of innovative medical information technology have been used and played a significant role in all phases of COVID-19 prevention and control in China. Since the COVID-19 brought many challenges and difficulties for informatization work, hospitals need to constantly improve their own information technology skills to respond to public health emergencies that arise at any moment.

Stochastic simulation for determining the design flood of cascade reservoir systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 54-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baohong Lu ◽  
Huanghe Gu ◽  
Ziyin Xie ◽  
Jiufu Liu ◽  
Lejun Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Model ◽  
Stochastic Simulation ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
Simulation Method ◽  
Simulation Approach ◽  
Design Flood ◽  
Design Values ◽  
Stochastic Simulation Model ◽  
The Impact

Stochastic simulation is widely applied for estimating the design flood of various hydrosystems. The design flood at a reservoir site should consider the impact of upstream reservoirs, along with any development of hydropower. This paper investigates and applies a stochastic simulation approach for determining the design flood of a complex cascade of reservoirs in the Longtan watershed, southern China. The magnitude of the design flood when the impact of the upstream reservoirs is considered is less than that without considering them. In particular, the stochastic simulation model takes into account both systematic and historical flood records. As the reliability of the frequency analysis increases with more representative samples, it is desirable to incorporate historical flood records, if available, into the stochastic simulation model. This study shows that the design values from the stochastic simulation method with historical flood records are higher than those without historical flood records. The paper demonstrates the advantages of adopting a stochastic flow simulation approach to address design-flood-related issues for a complex cascade reservoir system.

Does the Contract Type Matter? Impact of Marketing and Production Contracts on Cashew Farmers’ Farm Performance in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Dubbert ◽  
Awudu Abdulai
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Spot Markets ◽  
Switching Regression ◽  
Farm Productivity ◽  
Production Contracts ◽  
Marketing Contracts ◽  
On Farm ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Substantial Heterogeneity

Abstract Many studies show that participation in contract farming has positive impacts on farm productivity and incomes. Most of the literature, however, does not take into account that contracts vary in their specifications, making empirical evidence scarce on the diverse impacts of different types of contracts. In this study, we investigate the driving forces of participation in marketing and production contracts, relative to spot markets. We also study the extent to which different contract types add additional benefits to smallholder farmers, using recent survey data of 389 cashew farmers in Ghana. To account for selection bias arising from observed and unobserved factors, we apply a multinomial endogenous switching regression method and implement a counterfactual analysis. The empirical results demonstrate that farmers who participate in production contracts obtain significantly higher cashew yields, cashew net revenues, and are more food secure compared to spot market farmers. We also find substantial heterogeneity in the impact of marketing and production contracts across scale of operation. Small sized farms that participate in production contracts tend to benefit the most. Marketing contracts, however, do not appear to benefit cashew farmers.

scholarly journals Smallholder perceptions of land restoration activities: rewetting tropical peatland oil palm areas in Sumatra, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Ward ◽  
Lindsay C. Stringer ◽  
Eleanor Warren-Thomas ◽  
Fahmuddin Agus ◽  
Merry Crowson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Land Restoration ◽  
Peatland Restoration ◽  
Drainage Canals ◽  
Perceived Impacts ◽  
The Government ◽  
Restoration Target ◽  
Peat Fires ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe Indonesian government committed to restoring over 2 million ha of degraded peatland by the end of 2020, mainly to reduce peat fires and greenhouse gas emissions. Although it is unlikely the government will meet this target, restoration projects are still underway. One restoration strategy involves blocking peatland drainage canals, but the consequences of this for smallholder farmers whose livelihoods are dependent on agriculture are unclear. This paper investigates perceived impacts of canal blocks on smallholder farmers and identifies factors that affect their willingness to accept canal blocks on their land. We use data from 181 household questionnaires collected in 2018 across three villages in Jambi province, Sumatra. We found that the majority of respondents would accept canal blocks on their farms, perceiving that the blocks would have no impact on yields or farm access, and would decrease fire risk. Respondents who would not accept blocks on their farms were more likely to use canals to access their farms and perceive that canal blocks would decrease yields. The majority of farmers unwilling to accept canal blocks did not change their mind when provided with an option of a block that would allow boat travel. Our results improve understanding of why some smallholders may be unwilling to engage with peatland restoration. Further research is needed to understand the impact of canal blocks on smallholders’ yields. Engaging with stakeholders from the outset to understand farmers’ concerns, and perceptions is key if the government is to succeed in meeting its peatland restoration target and to ensure that the costs and benefits of restoration are evenly shared between local stakeholders and other actors.

scholarly journals Who is the African Farmer? The Importance of Actor Representations in the Debate About Biotechnology Crops in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Beumer ◽  
Jac. A. A. Swart
Keyword(s):  
Gene Editing ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Agricultural Biotechnology ◽  
Agricultural Change ◽  
World Summit ◽  
Crucial Aspect ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Main Fault ◽  
Biotechnology Crops ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe discussion about the impact of agricultural biotechnology on Africa is deeply divided and contains widely diverging claims about the impact of biotechnology on African farmers. Building upon literature on the ‘good farmer’ that highlights that farmers identities are an important factor in explaining the success or failure of agricultural change, we argue that the identity of the farmer is an undervalued yet crucial aspect for understanding the debate about the impact of agricultural biotechnology on African farmers. In this article we therefore investigate what farmers’ identities are implicated in the arguments about the impact of biotechnology on African farmers. We aim to identify the main fault lines in different accounts of the African biotechnology farmer by analysing the identities ascribed to them in two prominent cases of controversy: the debates at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and the discussion about the impact of biotechnology on smallholder farmers in the Makhathini flats in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Our findings demonstrate that arguments about biotechnology are informed by diverging conceptions of who the African farmer is, what is important for the African farmer, and what role the African farmer has in relation to agricultural biotechnology. These findings remain relevant for current discussions on gene editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas. Openly discussing these different views on the identity of smallholder farmers is crucial for moving forward in the biotechnology controversy and can inform future attempts to elicit the farmer’s voice.

scholarly journals The Impact of Climate Change on the Sugar Content of Grapes and the Sustainability of their Production in the Czech Republic

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Miroslava Navrátilová ◽  
Markéta Beranová ◽  
Lucie Severová ◽  
Karel Šrédl ◽  
Roman Svoboda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Sugar Content ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Vegetation Period ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Growing Region

The aim of the presented article is to evaluate the impact of climate change on the sugar content of grapes in the Czech Republic during the period 2000–2019 through selected indicators on the basis of available secondary sources. Attention is focused on the developments in both the main wine-growing regions of Moravia and Bohemia. In the field of viticulture and wine-growing, the sugar content of grapes, as a basic parameter for the classification of wines, plays an important role. In the Czech Republic, the average sugar content of grapes has had a constantly growing trend. This trend is evident both in the wine-growing region of Bohemia and in the wine-growing region of Moravia. The impact of climate change, especially the gradual increase of average temperatures in the growing season, cannot be overlooked. It greatly affects, among other things, the sugar content of grapes. Calculations according to the Huglin Index and the Winkler Index were used to determine the relationship between climate and sugar content. These indexes summarize the course of temperatures during the entire vegetation period into a single numerical value. The results show that both indexes describe the effect of air temperature on sugar content in both wine regions of the Czech Republic in a statistically significant way. The Huglin Index shows a higher correlation rate. The Winkler Index proved to be less suitable for both areas. Alternatively, the Winkler Index calculated for a shorter growing season was tested, which showed a higher degree of correlation with sugar content, approaching the significance of the Huglin Index.

scholarly journals Nitrate-dominated PM<sub>2.5</sub> and elevation of particle pH observed in urban Beijing during the winter of 2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 5019-5033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuning Xie ◽  
Gehui Wang ◽  
Xinpei Wang ◽  
Jianmin Chen ◽  
Yubao Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Ammonia Concentration ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Molar Ratio ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Nitrate Content ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pollution Episodes

Abstract. The Chinese government has exerted strict emission controls to mitigate air pollution since 2013, which has resulted in significant decreases in the concentrations of air pollutants such as SO2. Strict pollution control actions also reduced the average PM2.5 concentration to the low level of 39.7 µg m−3 in urban Beijing during the winter of 2017. To investigate the impact of such changes on the physiochemical properties of atmospheric aerosols in China, we conducted a comprehensive observation focusing on PM2.5 in Beijing during the winter of 2017. Compared with the historical record (2014–2017), SO2 decreased to the low level of 3.2 ppbv in the winter of 2017, but the NO2 level was still high (21.4 ppbv in the winter of 2017). Accordingly, the contribution of nitrate (23.0 µg m−3) to PM2.5 far exceeded that of sulfate (13.1 µg m−3) during the pollution episodes, resulting in a significant increase in the nitrate-to-sulfate molar ratio. The thermodynamic model (ISORROPIA II) calculation results showed that during the PM2.5 pollution episodes particle pH increased from 4.4 (moderate acidic) to 5.4 (more neutralized) when the molar ratio of nitrate to sulfate increased from 1 to 5, indicating that aerosols were more neutralized as the nitrate content elevated. Controlled variable tests showed that the pH elevation should be attributed to nitrate fraction increase other than crustal ion and ammonia concentration increases. Based on the results of sensitivity tests, future prediction for the particle acidity change was discussed. We found that nitrate-rich particles in Beijing at low and moderate humid conditions (RH: 20 %–50 %) can absorb twice the amount of water that sulfate-rich particles can, and the nitrate and ammonia with higher levels have synergetic effects, rapidly elevating particle pH to merely neutral (above 5.6). As moderate haze events might occur more frequently under abundant ammonia and nitrate-dominated PM2.5 conditions, the major chemical processes during haze events and the control target should be re-evaluated to obtain the most effective control strategy.

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