Mode Of Agricultural Production Research Articles

From Smart Farming towards Unmanned Farms: A New Mode of Agricultural Production

Agriculture is the most important industry for human survival and solving the hunger problem worldwide. With the growth of the global population, the demand for food is increasing, which needs more agriculture labor. However, the number of people willing to engage in agricultural work is decreasing, causing a severe shortage of agricultural labor. Therefore, it is necessary to study the mode of agricultural production without labor force participation. With the rapid development of the Internet of Things, Big Data, artificial intelligence, robotics and fifth-generation (5G) communication technology, robots can replace humans in agricultural operations, thus enabling the establishment of unmanned farms in the near future. In this review, we have defined unmanned farms, introduced the framework of unmanned farms, analyzed the current state of the technology and how these technologies can be used in unmanned farms, and finally discuss all the technical challenges. We believe that this review will provide guidance for the development of unmanned farms and provide ideas for further investigation of these farms.

Determinants of adoption of agri-environmental practices by maize producers organised in cooperatives in the Centre region of Cameroon

In response to various environmental problems facing the intensive mode of agricultural production, this study analysed the factors influencing the adoption of agri-environmental practices by maize producers organised in co-operatives in the Centre region of Cameroon by using the case study of PIDMA project. For this reason, the survey was undertaken in all the 15 villages grouping maize producers in two out of the four cooperatives under the regional coordinating unit of the project (PIDMA). Data on the socio-economic situation of producers, level of knowledge and applicability of environmental practices were gathered in the study area from 50 out of 88 (i.e. 56.8%) active maize producers. The descriptive field results revealed that the adoption of agri-environmental practices was related to social, psychological and economic characteristics of producers. The binary logit model results indicated that the adoption of agri-environmental practices was associated with the frequency of PIDMA agricultural training and cultivated area under maize. However, certain variables such as gender, age, education level, marital status, cost of implementing practice, lack of funding, labour type, time spent for the implementation of the practice, income source, technical and professional support did not seem to be associated with the adoption of agri-environmental practices. In conclusion, the study recommended to the maize farmers, the setting up of working groups of at least 10 maize producers in order to practice rotations in the fields of each member of the group. The study also recommended the agricultural development projects to define and provide relatively simple mechanisms to enhance farmers’ performance such as financial assistance, demonstration workshops in the fields and to allocate environmental assistants to each co-operative’s headquarters.Keywords: Cooperative, logit model, maize producer, agricultural development project, socio-economic factors.

Explaining Peasants’ Intention and Behavior of Farmland Trusteeship in China: Implications for Sustainable Agricultural Production

Developing countries generally face the problem of sustainable agricultural production during the process of agricultural modernization. Farmland trusteeship is an emerging mode of sustainable agricultural production and has played an important role in China. At present, the Chinese government has taken it as a pilot mode, but its effect also depends on the extensive participation of peasants. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and structural equation model (SEM) method, the paper analyzed peasants’ participation intention, behavior, drivers, and the influence of policy support on peasants’ participation behavior, using survey data of Jiangsu province and peasants’ participation variables. The results suggest that: (1) The behavioral attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control variables of peasants’ participation in farmland trusteeship have a significant direct impact on peasants’ willingness to participate, and these three factors indirectly influence peasants’ participation behavior by influencing peasants’ intention; (2) perceptual behavioral control variables such as the size of farmland trusteeship organization had no significant influence on peasants’ participation behaviors; (3) government policy support has a direct and significant impact on peasants’ participation behaviors. These findings not only generate broad direct implications for Chinese policymakers to improve peasants’ participation for sustainable agricultural production, but also provide lessons for other developing countries for agricultural modernization.

The Hawai’ian Sugar Planters’ Association and the Herbert River Farmers’ Association: Regional Articulations of Agricultural Associations on the Periphery

ABSTRACT In the nineteenth century the stereotypical association representing sugarcane growers was a planters’ association, the epitome of which, was the Hawai’ian Sugar Planters’ Association. The Herbert River Farmers’ Association, formed by a group of small farmers in the tropical north of Australia, was the antithesis. This is because they represented two distinct modes of agricultural production, the plantation and the small farm. Both inherited their associative traditions from the British Isles. Much of agricultural association scholarship has had a tendency to focus on associations formed by the elite and studies of regional and local small agricultural associations are scattered and uncoordinated. Drawing upon the Hawai’ian and Australian sugarcane industries this article explores the differing modes of production adopted in each to explain why their agricultural associations took different paths. Hawai’i and north Queensland offer a unique context for a comparative examination of associational behaviour on the colonial periphery.

The Application of DIR Agricultural Supply-side Reform Thinking Model based on Computer Media Marketing in Northwest Shandong Province

The core of DIR agricultural supply-side reform thinking model from the perspective of computer multimedia marketing is to change the traditional agricultural model, reshape the mechanism with market-oriented services as the core, and promote the development of the agricultural industry. The deep connotation behind it is to use computer multimedia marketing to promote agricultural efficiency, agricultural modernization and information technology and a series of agricultural industry development trends. At present, more and more advanced technologies such as “Internet plus”, the Internet of things, cloud computing, big data and multimedia marketing have been applied in China’s agricultural production. To some extent, this has accelerated the transformation of agricultural production mode and reconstructed the operation mode of agricultural industry chain in various fields. In the future, the computer multimedia platform will provide a series of supporting services for large operators, forming a perfect, highly open and Internet eco-sphere symmetrical agriculture[1]. The integration of the development of agricultural multimedia marketing will become an inevitable trend of comprehensive development.

Research on Agricultural Production Efficiency of Lanzhou-Xi’ning Urban Agglomeration

To clarify the efficiency and spatial-temporal characteristics of regional agricultural production is of great significance for adjusting the structure of agricultural production, improving the mode of agricultural production and coordinating the relationship between industries development. Based on the spatial constraints of the main function division, taking the counties providing agriculture products in Lanxi urban agglomeration as the basic research unit, using DEA model, we analyze the spatial-temporal characteristics, dynamic trends and the total factor productivity of the agricultural production efficiency from 2000 to 2015. The results showed that: 1. The overall agricultural efficiency of Lanxi urban agglomeration was very low and a few of regions were in the productive frontier, agricultural scale efficiency was greater than pure technical efficiency. 2. The spatial characteristics of the overall efficiency was “middle collapse”, while the pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency presented a gradient distribution pattern. The provincial differences showed that the overall agricultural efficiency and pure technical efficiency of Gansu Province were relatively high, while the opposite is true in Qinghai Province. 3. The overall TFP of agriculture was on the rise, and the overall efficiency improvement was shifted from the improvement of pure technical efficiency to the increase of scale efficiency. The TFP and its decomposition indicated that technological progress is the most important factor, which drives the rise of agricultural total factor productivity.

Knowledge space and modifying a mode of agricultural production among the Karen communities in Omkoi District, Chiang Mai Province

Knowledge space and modifying a mode of agricultural production among the Karen communities in Omkoi District, Chiang Mai Province

Nitrogen leakage in a rice–duck co-culture system with different fertilizer treatments in China

Nitrogen (N) leakage in paddy fields can cause groundwater pollution. In this study, we conducted a split-plot field experiment over 2 years to compare N leakage in a rice–duck co-culture system and a rice monoculture system with different fertilizer treatments. Four treatments were applied to each field, with consistent N inputs in each fertilizer treatment: no fertilizer (RD and RM, respectively), chemical fertilizer (RDF and RMF, respectively), organic fertilizer (RDO and RMO, respectively), and a mixture of 70% chemical and 30% organic fertilizers (RDFO and RMFO, respectively). In both years, rice–duck co-culture system had lower N leakage than the rice monoculture for the same fertilizer treatment, with average reductions of 14.3 ± 0.1%, 13.5 ± 4.5% and 10.5 ± 3.3% for RDFO, RDF and RDO, respectively. Within the rice–duck co-culture system, the average N leakage across both years was 36.3 ± 6.3% lower in RDO and 16.9 ± 11.5% lower in RDFO than in RMF. RDFO gave the highest grain yield compared with RDF and RDO, average reached 10.35 t ha−1 across both years. In conclusion, our results suggested that rice–duck co-culture reduces environmental risks by controlling N leakage and increasing agricultural productivity. Compared with other treatments in this research, RDFO was the most recommended agricultural production mode in this region because it can reduce the inputs of chemical fertilizer, control nitrogen leakage and increase rice yield.

Investigating environmental changes as the driving force of agricultural intensification in the lower reaches of the Yellow River: A case study at the Sanyangzhuang site

In many different societies around the world, people transitioned from slash-and-burn agriculture to an intensive mode of agricultural production. However, why agriculture was increasingly intensified by early farmers remains less understood. This study investigates the driving forces of agricultural intensification from an environmental perspective. Based on our fieldwork at the Sanyangzhuang site and previous paleoclimatic studies, we reconstruct the depositional processes and climatic changes at Sanyangzhuang and its surrounding area between 5000 yr BP and 2000 yr BP. Data suggest that farmers in the lower reaches of the Yellow River were confronted with increasingly severe Yellow River flooding and drier and colder climate during this time period. The environmental changes increase risks of crop failure and famine, disrupt the equilibrium of the social system and induce a process that brings about initial agricultural intensification. This environmental pressure is aggravated by social/political factors and results in the further development of agricultural intensification.

Sprinkler Irrigation Is Effective in Reducing Nitrous Oxide Emissions from a Potato Field in an Arid Region: A Two-Year Field Experiment

In arid and semi-arid regions, water-saving irrigation is the primary mode of local agricultural production. Since the chemical fertilizer is the principal source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, we present results from a two-year (2016–2017) field experiment on a potato field to verify the general influence of water-saving irrigation on N2O emissions. A split-plot experiment was established with two irrigation systems and two fertilizer treatments, which give a total of four treatments. Two different irrigation systems were investigated: (i) flood irrigation with nitrogen fertilizer (NF-FI) combined with a control without any fertilizer (C-FI) and (ii) overhead sprinkler irrigation with a nitrogen fertilizer (NF-SI) accompanied with a control without any fertilizer (C-SI). The N2O emissions of the fertilizer treatment were greater than those of the control under each irrigation system. In plots where the fertilizers were applied, using overhead sprinkler irrigation reduced the average cumulative N2O emissions between 40.72% and 59.65% compared with flood irrigation. This was mainly due to the lower amount of water applied and the lower availability of NO3−-N and NH4+-N of soil associated with an overhead sprinkler irrigation. This work shows that the overhead sprinkler irrigation is an effective strategy to use to save water and mitigate emissions of the atmospheric pollutants N2O in comparison to flood irrigation.

Current Development of Farmers’ Professional Cooperatives in Fujian Province of China

Farmer cooperatives is a new type of agricultural production and operation mode formed through the voluntary organization, management and cooperation of farmers. With the support of reinforced national policy in China, the number of famer cooperatives increases rapidly, however, there are inherent deficiencies in cooperatives under rural social environment. Concept, talent, technology, capital and other factors constrain the development of cooperatives. Regarding to standardized management, operational effectiveness and scale size, cooperatives still have problems and shortcomings. In the cooperative operation, the director-general has a central position in the cooperative and play key roles in decision-making and management. Here, the characteristics of development in farmers’ professional cooperatives in Fujian province was analyzed, and influencing factors were discussed. Our research may provide an overview of farmers’ professional cooperatives in Fujian province and clues for counteracting shortcomings in development.

Research on Boundary Recognition and Extraction Method of Field Operation Area based on UAV Remote Sensing Images

Precision agriculture is a mode of modern agricultural production and management on the basis of information technology, and it is an important way to achieve low consumption, high efficiency, fine quality and safety in agriculture. Moreover, accurate recognition and extraction of field operation area (FOA) boundary is a crucial basic data to implement precision agriculture. Due to the irregular shape, different planting ways and inconsistent size of FOA, it is difficult to recognize and extract the boundary. Therefore, the boundary of FOA based on UAV remote sensing images was classified in this paper, and a priori rule was proposed according to the boundary characteristics. Combined with the classical algorithm of image processing, a boundary recognition and extraction system was developed by LabVIEW to obtain the effective boundary of FOA. At last, the boundary recognition method and the accuracy and real-time performance of the extraction system were tested, and the result shows the method and system can accurately recognize and extract the actual boundary of FOA, and they are adapted to three different types of boundaries and image resolutions. The system has good real-time performance, and the single-frame image processing time does not exceed 100ms when the image resolution is lower than 1920⁎1280.

Agricultural production mode transformation and production efficiency

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of farmers’ agricultural production mode transformation, from the perspective of agricultural division of labor and cooperation, on their agricultural production efficiency including technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyzes the impact of the agricultural production mode’s transformation on farmers’ agricultural production efficiency, based on the classical theory of division of labor and specialization, transaction costs and cooperation. It uses 2013 survey data from 396 farms in 15 Chinese provinces to explore the contributing factors of agricultural production efficiency using a double selection model (DSM), which can correct the endogenous selection bias in farmers’ decisions.FindingsFarmers that participate in agricultural division of labor and cooperation means transform their agricultural production from a traditional self-sufficient mode to one that is specialized and intensive. Agricultural division of labor measured by farmers’ participation in an agricultural division of labor in the production stages, or in agricultural products, and agricultural cooperation measured by farmers’ participation in farmers’ cooperatives significantly and positively influence their agricultural production efficiency after correcting farmers’ endogenous selection bias.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a unified framework to analyze the impact of farmers’ agricultural production mode transformation on their production efficiency. Further, it builds a DSM for an empirical analysis to avoid the endogenous biases in farmers’ self-selection behavior. This paper also provides ways for policy makers to improve farmers’ agricultural production efficiency from the modern agricultural production perspective.

The Gendered Patterns of Climate Information Service Use in Africa

Climate information services (CIS) are increasingly viewed as a means to achieve greater resilience to climate hazards. However, the architecture of CIS is not always sensitive to the needs of all of its users. To understand better how to engage users through CIS requires an approach that highlights decision‐making processes relevant to both the material and non‐material elements of one’s livelihood. This research, as part of the wider USAID-funded Climate Information Services Research Initiative (CISRI) uses the Livelihoods as Intimate Government (Carr 2014) framework to understand the more non‐material processes relevant to livelihood decision‐making. Through this approach, we were able to identify gendered patterns of climate information services in Sub‐Saharan Africa and uncover how one’s gender identity impacts one’s modes of agricultural production, access to land, information, and capital, thus highlighting how certain users may be limited or excluded from CIS. The results of this work include recommendations on how to best refine systems of monitoring and evaluation of CIS programs in Africa.

Research progress on soil methane uptakes in different land-use change

Land-use changes from the conversion of grassland and cropland are typical agricultural production mode that constitute one of the important sources of atmospheric methane(CH4). Traditional grasslands have been experiencing conversion to croplands for pursuing higher economic benefits over the past decades in the arid and semi-arid lands of Asia. How the land-use changes in grasslands conversion to croplands altered the soil properties and the CH4 uptakes remains unknown. Articles retrieved from SCI periodicals are summed up and refined to find the effects on the CH4 uptake in the land-use change. In order to set up the basis on measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The results of this study suggest that The production mode of land-use change that traditional grasslands was converted into croplands for pursuing higher economic benefits over the past decades would also probably lead to a higher ecosystem CH4 uptake rate and needs to be stopped in the arid and semi-arid lands of Asia.

Comparative Research on Human Settlements in Asian Rural Areas Based on Collaborative Construction Mechanism

Rural planning is perceived as a spatial planning centered on the human settlements and there are many activities for rural reconstruction and researches conducted from the perspective of active intervention, with fewer studies regarding the village as the main body for the establishment of self-built system. And the other-organization built by the rural areas is strongly oriented. In Asian countries like China, South Korea and Japan, there are farming traditions, in which the familial and small-scale farmland holding and agricultural production mode are deep-rooted. Traditional agriculture and rural areas are not fundamentally changed by industrialization and modernization process. And the small-scale peasant in the East is marked by the decentralized possession of farmland and management in the rural areas and a large number of farmers to be remained. But the rural population keeps decreasing. After analyzing the status quo of human settlements in China, Korea and Japan, the paper makes an analysis from the different ways of thinking and professional perspective and focuses on putting forward the solutions to the problems on macro level, with the feasibility of the practical significance and the landing researches still staying in the testing stage. In the context of increasingly missing regional and contextual features, the launching and researches of “co-constructed community” as the folk protection way to emerging rural heritage are just started, and the researches on rural construction in Northeast China from the perspective of catalyst are absent. The contact agent with the catalytic action mechanism of seeing big things through small ones fits the rural areas marked by vast territory and diversified aspect, which is applicable to the bottom-up operation mechanism autonomously built by the villagers.

Wine Production and Exchange and the Value of Wine Consumption in Sixth-century BC Etruria

This paper attempts to bridge the gulf between two often separate research agendas in Archaic period Etruria, one concerned with the archaeology of wine and agricultural production and redistribution, the other with figured representations of drinking and the associated symbolic visual language. It does so by examining the relationship between changing processes of production, consumption and exchange and the symbolism of drinking in the visual and material culture of sixth-century bc Tyrrhenian Etruria. In this analysis, I maintain that changing modes of agricultural production and distribution had an impact on such symbolism in elite funerary and domestic contexts, with key evidence also coming from sanctuaries. In particular, it is argued that during the seventh century bc, the visual language related to wine drinking alludes to experiences of bodily otherness; this is indicated by the symbolic correlation between accessibility to wine, the dangers of maritime travel and death. From the sixth century bc, we can trace a shift towards a visual language that centred on cultural difference or otherness: this is noticeable in the introduction of Dionysiac imagery and new mythological narratives of cross-cultural encounters, as well as in a new emphasis on codified drinking and culturally differentiated drinking vessels. This shift is more or less contemporary with other changes, namely the production and distribution of agricultural surplus in the Tyrrhenian region and beyond, and shifting values of objects in that exchange.

Population origin effect on formation and shaping of villages in west Serbia

Kosjeric area settling happened during 18th and 19th century. Families that had moved there, brought with them certain needs and habits in: site selection, mode of agricultural production, position of the building on the plot and house shaping. The paper analyzes the influences immigrating families brought from former habitat, influences that shaped arrangement of village settling and how aforementioned impacts manifested on physical structure of hamlets and villages. Registered processes are useful for understanding current processes in the Serbian village. The paper is based on the documentation collected from 1994 to 2004.

Changing livestock vaccination policy alters the epidemiology of human anthrax, Georgia, 2000-2013.

Anthrax is a widely spread zoonotic disease found on nearly every continent. To control the disease in humans and animals, annual livestock vaccination is recommended. However, in 2007, the country of Georgia ended its policy of compulsory annual livestock anthrax vaccination. Our objective was to assess how the epidemiology of human anthrax has evolved from 2000-2013 in Georgia, in the wake of this cessation. We used passive surveillance data on epidemiological surveys of human anthrax case patients. Risk factors and rates of self-reported sources of infection were compared, before and after the change in livestock vaccination policy. We mapped ethnicity-adjusted incidence during the two periods and assessed changes in the spatial pattern of risk. The overall risk of human anthrax increased >5-fold, from 0.7 cases per 100,000 in 2000 to 3.7 cases per 100,000 by 2013. Ethnic disparities in risk became pronounced; from 2000 to 2013, incidence increased >60-fold in Azerbaijanis from 0.35 to 21.1 cases/100,000 Azerbaijanis compared to 0.61 to 1.9 cases/100,000 among ethnic Georgians. Food-borne exposures from purchasing meat increased from 11% in 2000-2006 to 21% in 2007-2013. Spatial analyses revealed a shift from a random pattern of reporting pre-policy change to clustering among district municipalities following the change in policy. Our findings indicate there were unintended human health consequences associated with changing livestock vaccination policy. Following a reduction in the immunizations administered, there was a major shift in the epidemiology of human anthrax in Georgia. Current infection risk is now highest among ethnic minorities. Increased reporting among individuals uncharacteristically at risk for anthrax from foodborne exposures suggests spillover from modes of agricultural production. Given the importance of human-livestock health linkages, careful evaluations of policy need to be undertaken before changes to animal vaccination are made.

Carbon balance of household production system in the transition zone from the Loess Plateau to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China

The transition zone from the Loess Plateau to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the regions with most dramatic changes in agricultural production mode and most sensitive response to the carbon balance effect. This paper analyzed the carbon balance of the agriculture system along the altitude gradient in Tongwei, Weiyuan and Xiahe counties. The results showed that with the increase of altitude, the carbon emission, carbon fixation and carbon sink capacity of crops per unit area decreased accordingly, while the average carbon emission, carbon fixation and carbon source capacity of each household in livestock system increased. The integrated crop-livestock production system changed from carbon sink to carbon source. The average carbon emission of each household rose with altitude, but the carbon fixation was the opposite. The change of percentage ofhousehold in the transition zone from the Loess Plateau to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with carbon balance could be fitted with Logistic equation. In the crop system of Tongwei, Weiyuan and Xiahe with the altitude increase, carbon emission at the inflection point where the household percentage accounted for 50.0% was 1491, 857 and 376 kg CE·household-1, and carbon fixation was 6187, 3872 and 778 kg CE·household-1, respectively. For the livestock system, carbon emission was 2218, 3725 and 49511 kg CE·household-1, and carbon fixation was 138, 230 and 2706 kg CE·household-1, respectively. For the integrated crop-livestock system, carbon emission was 3615, 4583 and 49918 kg CE·household-1, and carbon fixation was 6289, 4113 and 3819 kg CE·household-1, respectively, which could be the key point for the regulation of regional carbon balance.