Primary Agricultural Products Research Articles

Consequences of a government-controlled agricultural price increase on fishing and the coral reef ecosystem in the republic of kiribati.

BackgroundEconomic development policies may have important economic and ecological consequences beyond the sector they target. Understanding these consequences is important to improving these policies and finding opportunities to align economic development with natural resource conservation. These issues are of particular interest to governments and non-governmental organizations that have new mandates to pursue multiple benefits. In this case study, we examined the direct and indirect economic and ecological effects of an increase in the government-controlled price for the primary agricultural product in the Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific.Methods/Principal FindingsWe conducted household surveys and underwater visual surveys of the coral reef to examine how the government increase in the price of copra directly affected copra labor and indirectly affected fishing and the coral reef ecosystem. The islands of Kiribati are coral reef atolls and the majority of households participate in copra agriculture and fishing on the coral reefs. Our household survey data suggest that the 30% increase in the price of copra resulted in a 32% increase in copra labor and a 38% increase in fishing labor. Households with the largest amount of land in coconut production increased copra labor the most and households with the smallest amount of land in coconut production increased fishing the most. Our ecological data suggests that increased fishing labor may result in a 20% decrease in fish stocks and 4% decrease in coral reef-builders.Conclusions/SignificanceWe provide empirical evidence to suggest that the government increase in the copra price in Kiribati had unexpected and indirect economic and ecological consequences. In this case, the economic development policy was not in alignment with conservation. These results emphasize the importance of accounting for differences in household capital and taking a systems approach to policy design and evaluation, as advocated by sustainable livelihood and ecosystem-based management frameworks.

The legal regulation of information and communications technologies as specific forms of a production factor for capital in the food industry

Information and communications technologies (ICT) are usually given attention primarily from the standpoint of the technical aspects. However the legal aspects of this specific area cannot be forgotten, as they significantly influence the efficacy and usefulness to entrepreneurial subjects i.e. the conditions for making business transactions. ICT are one of the factors that markedly influence agricultural primary production and the food industry as well as all other branches of the economy. Therefore it is necessary to analyse the effect Community legal regulations for electronic transactions have on resource utility. The aim of the paper is to analyse the state of the legal regulation of information and communication technologies in the food industry in the CR in comparison with Community law. Currently a basic overall source of law for the ICT area does not exist in the CR in an integral form. This branch of law is regulated complementarily in a whole number of varying legal regulations. With regards to the specifics of the media used in the ICT framework it is essential to resolve certain issues differently from the general regulations.The paper has resulted from the institutional research intention MSM 6046070906 “The Economics of Resources from Czech Agriculture and their Efficient Use in the Framework of Multifunctional Agri-food Systems“.

Closing Data Gaps for LCA of Food Products: Estimating the Energy Demand of Food Processing

Food is one of the most energy and CO2-intensive consumer goods. While environmental data on primary agricultural products are increasingly becoming available, there are large data gaps concerning food processing. Bridging these gaps is important; for example, the food industry can use such data to optimize processes from an environmental perspective, and retailers may use this information for purchasing decisions. Producers and retailers can then market sustainable products and deliver the information demanded by governments and consumers. Finally, consumers are increasingly interested in the environmental information of foods in order to lower their consumption impacts. This study provides estimation tools for the energy demand of a representative set of food process unit operations such as dehydration, evaporation, or pasteurization. These operations are used to manufacture a variety of foods and can be combined, according to the product recipe, to quantify the heat and electricity demand during processing. In combination with inventory data on the production of the primary ingredients, this toolbox will be a basis to perform life cycle assessment studies of a large number of processed food products and to provide decision support to the stakeholders. Furthermore, a case study is performed to illustrate the application of the tools.

Creating a Competitive Advantage by Developing an Innovative Tool to Assess Suppliers in Agri-Food Complex

The main aim of this paper is to introduce a new certified applied methodology for Assessing Suppliers in Agri-Food Complex as a tool for company competitiveness. The work is based on the results obtained in the research project NAZV QG60148/2005 funded by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture and on the requirements of agricultural practice. The novelty lies in the use of practices of the worldwide respected GLOBALG.A.P. standard (formerly EUREPGAP) as yet not well known in our country. Based on the practical experience of the authors with the application of food safety standards in the food manufacturing industry and application of GLOBALG. A.P. standard in agricultural primary production, risk and hazard analysis was developed for the product group of fruit and vegetables. Subsequently, a checklist was designed for the implementation of the suppliers’ audit. The result is a methodology for food manufacturers based on the identification of sources of risks in primary production, which can threaten food safety. As part of the introduced methodology are proposed methodological criteria for evaluating suppliers of fruit and vegetables, including rating scales and the possibilities of its implementation. Different variations of the introduction of this approach are discussed from the management, time, and financial viewpoints. The use of this procedure in practice aims to reduce the likelihood of hygiene and health hazards of the basic input raw material according to the principles of the certified standards and thus strengthen the competitiveness of a given manufacturer on the market.

Brachiaria sp yield and nutrient contents after nitrogen and sulphur fertilization

Among the production factors, adequate fertilization is an important tool to raise the productivity of pastoral systems and consequently increase the share of Brazil in the supply chain of primary agricultural products at the global level. The objective of this study was to evaluate the interaction of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization in BRACHIARIA DECUMBENS: Stapf. The experiment in pots with Dystrophic Oxisol was evaluated in a completely randomized design with four replications in a 5 x 3 factorial arrangement, involving five N doses (0, 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg dm-3) in the form of ammonium nitrate and three S doses (0, 20 and 80 mg dm-3) in the form of calcium sulfate, with a total of 15 treatments. In the treatments with low S dose, calcium was provided as calcium chloride, to ensure a homogeneous Ca supply in all treatments. The results showed that the tiller production and dry weight of green leaves and of stems + sheaths and total dry weight were favored by the combination of N and S fertilizer, while the proportion of dry leaves was reduced. Nitrogen fertilization raised the N contents in green leaves and stems + sheaths and reduced K contents in fresh and dry leaves. The response to S rates in the N content of green leaves was quadratic.

Increased microbial activity and nitrogen mineralization coupled to changes in microbial community structure in the rhizosphere of Bt corn

The interactions between plant roots and soil microorganisms are essential for the function and stability of ecosystems, primary agricultural production and plant health. Despite the importance of soil microbes the response of these microbes to large-scale cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops is still poorly understood. This study evaluated the potential impact of two lines of transgenic Bt maize on rhizosphere microorganisms. A time-course field experiment was conducted over a period of two years in two fields in Guadalajara (Spain) with monthly sampling from April to September. Rhizosphere soil was collected from transgenic (TG) and unmodified (WT) maize plants from each field and sampling time for the analysis of several important functional and structural soil quality parameters. Total microbial activity, as determined by H3-Thymidine and C14-Leucine incorporation, was found to be higher in the rhizospheres of the transgenic plants. Similarly, differences in potential ammonification and nitrification were observed in the second year of the study. In contrast, bacterial and fungal microbial catabolic abilities, as determined by Biolog ECO and FF plate analyses, respectively, were more influenced by sampling time than the transgenic nature of the plants. Microbial community structure was also studied by bacterial and phylum-specific PCR-DGGE and PCR cloning approaches. In general, differences were again more pronounced between sampling times, as opposed to between TG versus WT plants, although marked differences were observed within the Betaproteobacteria between plant lines. For the first time it describes the presence of Iamiaceae family in soil, specifically to TG plant rhizosphere. To summarize, the study showed that some important properties of rhizopshere microbes may be impacted by Bt maize cultivation and highlighted the fact that such potential effects need to be viewed within the context of seasonal and spatial variability.

Costs and Benefits of Nitrogen for Europe and Implications for Mitigation

Cost-benefit analysis can be used to provide guidance for emerging policy priorities in reducing nitrogen (N) pollution. This paper provides a critical and comprehensive assessment of costs and benefits of the various flows of N on human health, ecosystems and climate stability in order to identify major options for mitigation. The social cost of impacts of N in the EU27 in 2008 was estimated between €75-485 billion per year. A cost share of around 60% is related to emissions to air. The share of total impacts on human health is about 45% and may reflect the higher willingness to pay for human health than for ecosystems or climate stability. Air pollution by nitrogen also generates social benefits for climate by present cooling effects of N containing aerosol and C-sequestration driven by N deposition, amounting to an estimated net benefit of about €5 billion/yr. The economic benefit of N in primary agricultural production ranges between €20-80 billion/yr and is lower than the annual cost of pollution by agricultural N which is in the range of €35-230 billion/yr. Internalizing these environmental costs would lower the optimum annual N-fertilization rate in Northwestern Europe by about 50 kg/ha. Acknowledging the large uncertainties and conceptual issues of our cost-benefit estimates, the results support the priority for further reduction of NH3 and NOx emissions from transport and agriculture beyond commitments recently agreed in revision of the Gothenburg Protocol.

Administrative cooperation and disease control in cross-border pork production

In recent years, the continuous structural change in the value chain of modern food production has been characterised by an increasing international division of labour among manufacturing companies. A regional specialisation of primary agricultural production is especially apparent in meat production. Thus, the German–Dutch border area has developed into a region of unprecedented intensive pork production. While The Netherlands specialises in piglet production, the production of fattened pigs continues to grow in northwest Germany. As a result of this increasing transnational value chain development, German imports of Dutch piglets have risen continuously since 2000. However, this structural interweaving of pork production between The Netherlands and Germany has resulted in many new challenges for the cooperation between the various participants and in particular for the administrative authorities in the field of food and feed safety as well as efficient animal disease control. The motivation for this exploratory study stems from the lack of scientific work on this topic to date. The aim of this research is to illustrate the relevance of functioning cross-border cooperation in the food sector, using commodity flow structures and disease spread analysis. Results indicate that cross-border cooperation between authorities during a CSF epidemic can reduce the risk of recurrence and the duration by 50%.

Home Bias in Primary Agricultural and Processed Food Trade: Assessing the Effects of National Degree of Uncertainty Aversion

AbstractThis study investigates the effects of national degrees of uncertainty aversion (unfamiliarity avoidance) on the magnitude of bias towards domestic products rather than imports. The empirical analysis is implemented for primary agricultural and processed food products, using a panel dataset covering trade between and within OECD countries. Primary agricultural products are often blended and associated with reference prices. Conversely, processed food products exhibit higher levels of product differentiation. The empirical results confirm expectations by emphasizing the magnifying effects of uncertainty aversion on home bias in the case of processed food products but not in the case of primary agricultural products. These magnifying effects are primarily associated with processed food products destined for final household consumption. Other results reveal significant variations between different countries (based on geo‐economic and national income categories). Our results also indicate that home bias and uncertainty aversion effects on home bias have not decreased over time. The empirical results remain robust under different estimation methods.

Print E-mail edit The Potential of an "Agriculture of the Middle" Model in the Context of EU Rural Development: An American Solution to an Irish Problem?

In the context of historical policies that pursue economies of scale in agriculture, and of ever-declining farm incomes among small and midsized farms, rural policies of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (EU CAP) have demonstrated a shift from productivist commodity agriculture toward modes of economic activity that are innovative as well as environmentally and socially sustainable. One of the key policy initiatives implemented by the EU is the Liaisons Entre Actions de Developpement de l'Economie Rurale (LEADER) initiative, a governance and rural development program designed to foster a participatory approach to cultivating economically diversified, innovative local economies. Indigenous Irish farmers have been slow to engage with the LEADER program, however. Recent research points to farmers' experiences of occupational and cultural estrangement when challenged with making the transition from primary agricultural production activities (and the associated forms of social and cultural capital that are esteemed by farmers) toward economic activities supported by LEADER that are based on service provision and processing. In light of this research, rather than focusing on encouraging farmers to adopt alternative rural enterprises, this paper proposes that a more promising policy approach may lie in a form of organizational innovation that builds on and valorizes indigenous farmers' existing range of agricultural practices. Drawing on the example of the American Agriculture of the Middle (AotM) movement, parallels are drawn between the policy aspirations of the EU governance and rural development model, and the economic, social and cultural aspirations of the AotM model. The organizational characteristics of how middle agriculture could be practicably operationalized in the Irish context are explored.

전과정평가를 활용한 복합비료 생산 시스템의 온실가스 배출량 평가

현재까지 농작물의 온실가스 배출량 산정은 주 투입 물질인 비료의 국내 LCI DB가 없어 외국 LCI DB를 사용하였다. 이로 인해 우리나라 실정에 맞는 정확한 온실가스 배출량을 산정할 수 없었다. 따라서 본 연구를 통해 농작물의 생장을 위해 필수 요소로 투입되는 복합비료의 온실가스 배출량을 계산함으로써 농작물의 탄소성적 산정을 위한 기초자료를 제공하고자 하였다. 또한 각 농산물 연간 온실가스 배출량과의 비교를 통해 복합비료가 차지하는 정도를 살펴봄으로써 복합비료 사용량 감축 정책 등을 위한 정보를 제공하고자 하였다. 분석결과 복합비료 1 kg 생산에 따른 온실가스 배출량은 21-17-17, 17-21-17, 15-15-15, 기타 각각 2.42E + 00, 2.10E + 00, 2.23E + 00, <TEX>$3.56E+00kg\;CO_2\;eq.\;kg^{-1}$</TEX>를 나타냈다. 다음으로 작물에 투입되는 복합비료로 인해 발생하게 되는 온실가스는 쌀, 겉보리, 쌀보리, 노지고추, 양파 작물 대비 각각 48.3%, 47.6%, 40.4%, 32.3%, 29.0%로 큰 부분을 차지하였다. 따라서 맞춤형 비료 정책, 효율적인 시비 등의 노력을 기울여 복합비료 사용량을 감소시킨다면 농업부문의 온실가스 배출량 또한 저감시킬 수 있을 것이다. Currently among the several methods to estimate an environmental impact of products, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique is mostly used. The Ministry of Environment has been performed the carbon footprint labelling to give the carbon record of product by using this method. But the calculation of carbon footprint in primary agricultural product which is raw material of the processed food cannot be made because there is lack of methodology and LCI DB at agriculture sector. Therefore, LCA carried out to estimate carbon footprint, and established LCI DB for complex fertilizers (21-17-17 1 kg, 17-21-17 1 kg, 15-15-15 1 kg, Unspecified 1 kg) in the production system. The result of LCI DB analysis focussed on the GHG, and it was observed that the values of carbon footprint were <TEX>$2.42E+00kg\;CO_2-eq.kg^{-1}$</TEX> for 21-17-17, <TEX>$2.10E+00kg\;CO_2-eq.kg^{-1}$</TEX> for 17-21-17, <TEX>$2.23E+00kg\;CO_2-eq.kg^{-1}$</TEX> for 15-15-15 and <TEX>$3.56E+00kg\;CO_2-eq.kg^{-1}$</TEX> for Unspecified. For the analysis of LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Assessment) on complex fertilizers in the production system, the carbon footprint from pre-manufacturing phase is contributed to 98.96%, 98.81%, 98.88% and 99.30% on each complex fertilizer with 21-17-17, 17-21-17, 15-15-15, and Unspecified, respectively. These results will be used in basic data for estimation of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

Sugar and ethanol production as a rural development strategy in Brazil: Evidence from the state of São Paulo

Sugar and ethanol production are key components of Brazil’s rural development and energy strategies, yet in recent years sugar production has been widely criticized for its environmental and labor practices. This study examines the relationship between rural development and sugarcane, ethanol, and cattle production in the state of São Paulo. Our results suggest that the value added components of sugarcane production, which include sugar refining and ethanol production, may have a strong positive affect on local human development in comparison to primary agricultural production activities and other land uses. These results imply that sugar production, when accompanied by a local processing industry can stimulate rural development. However, this paper also highlights the significant environmental and social harms generated by the sugar industry at large, which may undermine its development benefits if not addressed.

ANALISIS KELAYAKAN DAN KONTRIBUSI PENDAPATAN USAHATANI TERPADU RUMAH TANGGA PETANI PADA LAHAN KERING

Bengkayang district is a district in the province of West Kalimantan have enough upland for agriculture. The village of Sinar Tebudak is dry land potential for the development of food crops, vegetables, crops and livestock. To find out the feasibility of each farm and contribution to the household income required of a research. This study aims to determine the feasibility of the business of commodities grown village Sinar Tebudak and know the sources of income and multiformity contributing to the household income of farmers village Sinar Tebudak. Sinar Research conducted the survey with the method / interviews and PRA. Sampling in take with strata ownership of land. To determine the extentto which each strata in the population represented in the sample used proposional, so the methods used method stratified proportional random sampling. The number of respondents as much as 40 farmers. Collecting data is done by direct interviews with the questionnaire. Results of research show that all the farming system is feasible grown with the value RIC&gt; 1. The agricultural sector still has a major contribution in the household contribute income farmers. Income per capita village Sinar Tebudak already above U.S. $ 1000. Non agricultural sector and other sectors in rural areas is expected to grow well. Development of agro-industries in rural areas will create the market, and production facilities for primary agricultural products.

Dangerous levels of climate change for agricultural production in China

There are increasing attempts to define the measures of ‘dangerous anthropogenic inference with the climate system’ in context of Article 2 of the Framework Convention on Climate Change, due to its linkage to goals for stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations. The criteria for identifying dangerous anthropogenic interference may be characterized in terms of the consequences of climate change. In this study, we use the water stress index (WSI) and agricultural net primary production (NPP) as indictors to assess where and when there might be dangerous effects arising from the projected climate changes for Chinese agricultural production. The results showed that based on HadCM3-based climate change scenarios, the region between the North China Plain and Northeast China Plain (34.25–47.75°N, 110.25–126.25°E) would be vulnerable to the projected climate change. The analyses on inter-annual variability showed that the agricultural water resources conditions would fluctuate through the period of 2001–2080 in the region under IPCC SRES A2 scenario, with the period of 2021–2040 as critical drought period. Agricultural NPP is projected to have a general increasing trend through the period of 2001–2080; however, it could decrease during the period of 2005–2035 in the region under the IPCC SRES A2 scenario, and during the period of 2025–2035 under IPCC SRES B2 scenario. Generally, while projected climate change could bring some potentially improved conditions for Chinese agriculture, it could also bring some critical adverse changes in water resources, which would affect the overall outcome. At this stage, while we have identified certain risks and established the general shape of the damage curve expressed as a function of global mean temperature increase, more works are needed to identify specific changes which could be dangerous for food security in China. Therefore, there is a need for the development of more integrated assessment models, which include social-economic, agricultural production and food trade modules, to help identify thresholds for impacts in further studies.

Occurrence of Fusarium T-2 and HT-2 toxins in oats from cultivar studies in Germany and degradation of the toxins during grain cleaning treatment and food processing

For the Fusarium trichothecene mycotoxins T-2 and HT-2, a combined (T-2 + HT-2) temporary tolerable daily intake (tTDI) of 0.06 µg kg−1 body weight day−1 was proposed at the European level in 2001 (Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food). In the near future, maximum levels for these trichothecenes will be regulated by the European Commission as announced in EU (VO) 1881/2006. For the implementation of these maximum levels, more data on occurrence and behaviour of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in primary agricultural products as well as during cleaning treatment and food processing are needed. In the current work, we determined the T-2/HT-2 concentrations in four oat cultivars (Aragon, Dominik, Ivory, Pergamon) from ten different agricultural sites in Germany, grown in cultivar studies in 2007. The grains were de-hulled, oat meal was prepared, and bread with 20% oat meal and 80% wheat flour was baked. In the cereal-processing chain, samples were taken at various steps and subsequently analysed for their T-2/HT-2 content. We employed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and an immunological screening method (enzyme-linked immunoabsorbant assay (ELISA)) for T-2/HT-2 determination. Detection limits were between 1 and 10 µg kg−1 in different matrices. T-2/HT-2 concentrations determined by ELISA in oat samples from ten different agricultural sites in Germany were between 9 and 623 µg kg−1. The median and 90th percentile were 48 and 191 µg kg−1 T-2/HT-2, respectively. One site showed six times higher T-2/HT-2 levels than the other sites, where concentrations ranged from 322 to 623 µg kg−1. In 80% of the samples the cultivars Pergamon and Ivory had the lowest concentration of T-2 and HT-2 toxins. Using LC-MS for T-2/HT-2 determination, cleaning of the raw material did not lead to significant reductions of T-2 and HT-2 levels, whereas de-hulling led to a reduction of over 90%. Boiling of oat meal produced from cleaned raw material to yield ‘porridge’ resulted in varying T-2/HT-2 levels in experimental replicates. No major reduction of T-2/HT-2 levels in cooked porridge was obtained. Standardized baking experiments using 20% oat meal showed that T-2 and HT-2 toxins are relatively stable during the baking process, probably due to their temperature stability.

Agriculture as Provider of Both Food and Fuel

A database of global agricultural primary production has been constructed and used to estimate its energy content. The portion of crops available for food and biofuel after postharvest losses was evaluated. The basic conditions for agriculture and plant growth were studied, to ensure sustainable scenarios regarding use of residues. The available energy contents for the world and EU27 was found to be 7200-9300 and 430 TWh, respectively, to be compared with food requirements of 7100 and 530 TWh. Clearly, very little, or nothing, remains for biofuel from agricultural primary crops. However, by using residues and bioorganic waste, it was found that biofuel production could theoretically replace one-fourth of the global consumption of fossil fuels for transport. The expansion potential for global agriculture is limited by availability of land, water, and energy. A future decrease in supply of fossil energy and ongoing land degradation will thus cause difficulties for increased biofuel production from agriculture.

Imperfect competition in the primary agricultural commodity market in Serbia

Development of the primary agricultural production sector in the Republic of Serbia is predominantly restricted by a disorganized and inefficient market of purchase of primary agricultural products. The government should be held responsible for this, because its existing legislation and law-implementing instruments and institutions are failing to secure a healthy market economy. In the future the country will have to demonstrate systematic activity towards regulating and developing the agricultural commodity market, and provide an input for agricultural production. This only represents the first step, yet nevertheless it is the essential prerequisite for developing a competitive agricultural sector in Serbia.

Energy from biomass

The potential future bioenergy contribution to the global energy supply is outlined. Severe constraints have to be applied since biomass is used for many different purposes. It is likely that biofuels from primary agricultural products may not increase much above the current 1% of all liquid motor fuels in order to secure food for people and cattle. Bioenergy from forestry should only be used whereever it is absolutely essential. Deforestation results in a net emission of CO2 to the atmosphere that is equal to that of the USA. Rather than to replace fossil fuels by forest bioenergy, deforestation must be halted. The management of the Swedish annual forest growth shows how a carbon sink can be developed in parallel with biomass for energy and industry. The most promising way of getting energy from biomass is to use the residues in forestry and agriculture. If this is properly done the current annual global bioenergy may double from its present value of 13,000 TWh in the next few decades.

Entrepreneurs and producers: Identities of Finnish farmers in 2001 and 2006

The farmers' role within the EU has recently been under reconstruction: in addition to primary agricultural production farmers should fulfil multiple functions such as maintaining the rural landscape, conserving nature and providing services. One essential feature of this new role is the demand for entrepreneurship. Farmers should be capable of competing in the worldwide, global agricultural market. They are also encouraged to diversify into business activities beyond agriculture. How do farmers see themselves in this situation? Is their self-perception compatible with this new reconstruction of the farming economy and the farmers' role? Research, thus far, seems to indicate that traditional or production oriented identities are still dominant among farmers. But there is also some evidence that new identities, such as the entrepreneurial identity, are emerging. In our study we are especially interested in how Finnish farmers have met the demand for adapting to the role of an entrepreneur. We approach the issue of the farmers' changing role from a social psychological perspective by utilizing the concept of identity. Our empirical evidence comes from two nation-wide postal questionnaire data sets, both containing samples from three subgroups: conventional farmers focusing solely on primary agricultural production, diversified farmers who also had other business besides agricultural production, and rural non-agricultural small-scale businesses. The results show that Finnish farmers do not experience “entrepreneur” as something distant from themselves and as not fitting in with their world of ideas, as the work of some researchers would depict. Instead, the majority of Finnish farmers, especially diversified farmers, conceive of themselves both as entrepreneurs and as producers.

The spatial variability of heavy metal distribution in the suburban farmland of Taihang Piedmont Plain, China

The understanding of the spatial variability of soil heavy metals is an important precondition for suitably monitoring and evaluating eco-environment quality in a primary agricultural production zone. 100 topsoils were sampled from the Zhengding County of the urban-rural transition zone in Taihang Piedmont Plain, China. The contents of eight heavy metals Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, Pb, Cd, Hg and As were tested for each soil sample, and their spatial patterns were analyzed by using the semivariogram approach of geostatistics, with which the kriging method was used to estimate the unobserved points. Then GIS technology was employed to produce spatial distribution maps of the 8 elements. The results showed that the concentration of Cd exceeded its background level. The local pollution from Cd was attributed to the anthropogenic influence. The concentrations of the eight heavy metals are relatively lower than the critical values of the national soil quality standard. The correlation distance of soil heavy metals ranged from 3.28 to 11.63 km, with the eight heavy metals having moderate spatial dependence. Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and As were associated with and controlled by parent material. The spherical model was fitted to the semivariograms of Cu, Cr, Cd, Hg, Pb and As, and the Zn and Ni were fitted with the Gaussian model and the linear model, respectively. The results are helpful for improving agricultural and forest ecosystem in the region. To cite this article: P.G. Yang et al., C. R. Biologies 332 (2009).