Agricultural mechanization is a crucial input to agricultural crop production. It is frequently very capital intensive, compared to other (usually annual) inputs and it has repercussions on the efficiency of all other inputs used in crop production, including seeds, fertilizer, water, and time/labour. It is also much more complex in...

About 70–80 percent of all those actors involved in fish farming worldwide are considered small-scale. The small-scale aquaculture (SSA) sector, is recognized as making an important contribution to food security, poverty alleviation and socio- economic development. However, assessing its contribution in a systematic way has been an uphill task. An...

家庭农场，一个起源于欧美的舶来名词；在中国，它类似于种养大户的升级版。通常定义为：以家庭成员为主要劳动力，从事农业规模化、集约化、商品化生产经营，并以农业收入为家庭主要收入来源的新型农业经营主体。[1]  家庭农场是指以家庭成员为主要劳动力，从事农业规模化、集约化、商品化生产经营，并以农业收入为家庭主要收入来源的新型农业经营主体。2008年的党的十七届三中全会报告第一次将家庭农场作为农业规模经营主体之一提出。随后，2013年中央“一号文件”再次提到家庭农场，称鼓励和支持承包土地向专业大户、家庭农场、农民合作社流转。 [2]  2013年中央一号文件提出，坚持依法自愿有偿的原则，引导农村土地承包经营权有序流转，鼓励和支持承包土地向专业大户、家庭农场、农民合作社流转，发展多种形式的适度规模经营。

Scientific evidence is mounting that rangeland degradation is intensifying and expanding in China’s rangelands, as a consequence of 30 years of inappropriate policies, as well as climate change. Such policies have simultaneously brought negative impacts to herder livelihoods and to the development of pastoral society. Policies have included grasslands property...

The lost decades for China in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s look remarkably like the lost decades of Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. Poor land rights, weak incentives, incomplete markets and inappropriate investment portfolios. However, China burst out of its stagnation in the 1980s and has enjoyed three decades...

Along with its rapid economic growth, increasing urbanization, and accelerating integration into the world market, China has experienced rapid transformation of its food value chains. There has been a surge in the number of its supermarkets and hypermarkets. The advent and rapid expansion of the modern self-service store has transformed...

Yunnan Province of China is the world’s provenance of tea trees. It’s also the province that boasts the largest area of wild tea tree communities and ancient tea plantations with the largest amount of old tea trees and wild tea trees. The area along the Lancang River is the center...

Large, decimated ecosystems can be restored. Bringing large areas back from environmental ruin is possible, and the results are key to stabilizing the earth's climate, eradicating poverty and making sustainable agriculture a reality. Under the guidance of a few people who have knowledge and vision, local uneducated rural poor can...

This book presents findings from a detailed study of how domestic staples value chains are structured and performing in Asia after the food price hike of 2007–2008. Three questions are asked in the study: (1) Are staples value chains transforming structurally? (2) Is the conduct of staples value chains’ actors...

Rural information services make a vital contribution to China’s rural economic and social development. There have been considerable improvements in the last decade in information service delivery. Although it is still evolving, the development and expansion of the various types of service delivery in China can be useful elsewhere in...

The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) initiative was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2002 with the aim of establishing the basis for the global recognition, dynamic conservation and adaptive management of outstanding traditional agricultural systems and their associated landscapes, biodiversity, knowledge...

China has a five-thousand-year history of agricultural civilization. Diversified natural and cultural features across regions have led to a variety of agricultural heritage systems which have evolved from the co-adaptation of the local community and its environment. However, for a long period, their ecological rationality and potential economic benefits have...

Longxian is a traditional Rice-Fish Culture system (RFC) village, located in Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province, China. It spreads over 461 ha and has 50 ha of RFC that represent an ingenious agricultural rice-fish mutuality practiced by farmers over generations. Instead of using pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, fish eat plant hoppers...

Chemical pesticides for controlling plant diseases and insect pests in farmlands cause a series of serious problems including residue effects, environmental pollution, etc. Bio-pesticides and bio-controls are, on the other hand, slowly effective, high cost, and, always with certain targets. Integrated, high-efficient and environmentally friendly disease and insect-pest control measures...

Aohan Bannery is located in the southeast of Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. It is the interface between China’s ancient farming culture and grassland culture. From 2001 to 2003, carbonized particles of foxtail and broomcorn millet were discovered by archaeologists in the “First Village of China”, Xinglongwa in...

Hani Rice Terraces are located in the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, which is in the southeast part of Yunnan Province. People of various races, with Hani being the main minority group, has built this spectacular agriculture and nature wonders. The magnificent Hani Terrace System is a masterpiece of...

我在云南迪庆藏族自治州德钦县云岭乡红坡村 作调查的时候，正赶上村里种植玉米和青稞，又 逢当地政府支持村民种植葡萄。村里除了在外打 工的，老弱妇孺都在田地农忙。红坡村每家平均 每家有7亩地，本村地处山区，土地大部分都在山 上，而且每家分配到的田块也不一定靠近农舍， 有的甚至有好几里的路程，这便无形中加重了农 民的劳动强度。

在云南省滇西北广大的农村地区，妇女在畜牧业生产中扮演着一个非常重要的角色。然而，在以政府为主导的技术推广与培训活动中，妇女往往被排斥在外或很少有机会参与。近年来，为了改善妇女的这种状况，云南省生物多样性和传统知识研究会的“滇西北农牧区生计改良项目”采取和实施了一系列的针对妇女发展的措施和策略。通过增加女性村民对项目活动的参与和提高女性兽医技术人员的专业能力，降低了畜牧业生产中的风险和提高了家庭的经济收入。同时，在农业生产中，女性村民变得更加自信并意识到她们的决策权利。

This publication reflects the outcome of an ambitious initiative to identify instances of exemplary forest management in the region and examine the core components of high quality forest management in an effort to illustrate good forest management to a wide audience and encourage others to take up some of the...

The People, Land Management and Environmental Change (PLEC) project is a largely farmer-driven demonstration project consisting of five ecosystem clusters and spread over eight countries: Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, China, Papua New Guinea and Brazil. PLEC was initiated in 1992 by the United Nations University (UNU) as an international...