SIXTY YEARS OF CHANGES TO THE POTALA PALACE SQUARE

<正>Having traveled to Tibet more than once,I find I have visited 74 counties in seven prefectures of Tibet,such as Lhasa,Ngaqu,Shigatse,Lhoka,Nyingchi and so on...     

Spring Sowing

On March 16~(th)(corresponsive to Feb. 12th of the Rat Year of Tibetan Calendar), the farmers of Gadong Town of Panam County,Shigatse Prefecture,are celebrating their launching of the spring sowing at the field edge and praying for a propitious harvest.     

KYIRONG THE LAST MYSTERIOUS PLACE IN TIBET

Having graduated from university in 1976,The author set out on his journey to Tibet.He took the train from Qingdao of Shandong Province and,via several other places,to Liuyuan in Gansu Province.Changing train,he crossed over Qinghai,passed through Lhasa and then reached Shigatse.Finally,he reached his last stop-Kyirong County,the boundary of China and Nepal,and then stayed there for six years.     

ESTABLISHMENT OF QOMOLANGMA NATURE RESERVE

Qomolangma Nature Reserve (QNR) covers several counties:Tingri, Nyalam, Gyirong and Dinggye under the jurisdiction of Shigatse Prefecture of Tibet     

我国农业结构战略性调整的目标与态势分析

农业结构调整是针对当前我国农业面临的突出问题和面向中长期农业发展目标而实施的农业振兴计划,其根本目标就是把长期以来不符合市场消费需求和没有市场前景的品种及播种面积果断地退下来,形成适应农业发展多样化、优质化、专用化的市场需求,促进农业经营逐步由粗放型向集约型、由数量型向质量效益型的根本性转变。积极推进农业结构调整也是加入WTO后实现我国农业可持续发展的基本出路和动力。近几年来,受国家宏观调控与市场调节作用的影响,我国农业结构调整战略性调整快速推进,农业生产的优势区、产业带新格局正在形成。     

Agriculture in sixth‐century Petra and its hinterland,the evidence from the Petra papyri

Since their discovery in 1993 the Petra papyri have drawn the attention of both historians and archaeologists because of the amount of information they contain. They deal with the property of Theodoros, son of Obodianus, and his family in Petra and its vicinity in the period between AD 537 and 593. This paper focuses on agriculture and its importance in Petra and the surrounding area in the sixth century AD, according to the information derived from the scrolls. It appears that agriculture played a major role in the economy of Petra and its hinterland at the time these documents were written. The papyri repeatedly mention agricultural lands throughout the region and in many cases specify their locations and toponyms. Some of the latter are significantly still in use. There is also information about springs, some of which are still active and contribute to local agriculture. Some papyri even contain information about the type of plants grown in the area. Finally, the authors present the current state of agriculture at selected places and compare it with the state of agriculture in the sixth century AD in the study area.     

‘Romanian Peasants’ into ‘European Farmers’? Using Statistics to Standardize Agriculture

In this article, the agricultural sector in Romania provides the basis of a sociological enquiry into the contribution of statistics to the definition of legitimate economic organization. Using the analytical tools developed by James C. Scott, the emphasis is laid on the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) developed by the European Commission to define ‘economically viable’ farms. The measurement units which the FADN provides are applied at national level to determine legitimate agricultural practices. This imposes a productivist definition of the agricultural economy which diverges from the modes of social and economic organization observed in rural areas in Romania. Four million Romanian citizens make their living directly from working the land. The majority own smallholdings received during decollectivization and practise subsistence farming at the fringes of the legal economy. Instead of employing a definition of agriculture consistent with their practices and developing local distribution channels, quantification instruments provided by the European Commission form the basis of a selection procedure among these smallholders. These instruments have enabled the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture to set a threshold of ‘economic viability’ below which producers are deemed unable to develop a commercial approach to their activities. The objective is to help those who just about reach the required level to consolidate their agricultural holdings and take up intensive farming. The remainder are disqualified and encouraged to leave the sector. To further this objective, the category ‘semi‐subsistence’ agriculture has been created and takes centre stage in all measures implemented. Nevertheless, the statistical dividing lines on which this category is based have no substance and the structure of agriculture is manifesting high levels of inertia.     

发达国家的农业现代化对我国农业发展的启示

本文系统地分析了发达国家农业现代化的特点,从发达国家农业现代化与我国农业生产现状的结合点上,探讨了今后我国农业发展的途径与策略。     

农用地集约利用与农产品消费市场可达性关系研究——以江苏兴化市为例

基于农用地集约利用和市场可达性评价方法,计算了兴化市各乡镇农用地集约利用程度和农产品消费市场可达性并通过统计方法初步分析了两者的关系。结果表明:(1)农用地集约利用程度与农产品消费市场可达性具有明显的空间差异;(2)农用地集约利用程度与农产品消费市场可达性之间的秩相关系数为0.23,在α=0.05的置信水平上相关关系不显著,这说明县域尺度下农业用地集约利用与农产品消费市场可达性之间的空间模式已经突破了传统的"农产品消费市场可达性-农业生产方式-农用地集约利用程度"农业区位论模式。     

New data and new issues for the study of origin of rice agriculture in China

China was one of the major centers for the origin of agriculture in the world. The origins of agriculture in China, especially the origin of rice agriculture, made a significant contribution not only to the occurrence of Chinese civilization but also to the development of world history. Recently, the study on the origin of rice agriculture has attracted the attention of the academic community due to the dramatic development of archaeobotanical research in China. In recent years, the flotation technique has widely implemented in archaeological excavations in China. As the result, a tremendous amount of plant remains have been recovered from archaeological sites, including those much related to the study of early rice agriculture. The new data provide direct archaeological evidence for, and raise some new issues about, the origin of rice agriculture in China. For example, the rice remains from the Shangshan site, dated to ca. 10,000 cal. B.P., suggest the beginning of rice cultivation regardless of whether that rice was domesticated or not. The quantitative analysis of plant remains recovered by floatation from the Jiahu site, dated to ca. 8,000 cal. B.P., revealed that the subsistence of the Jiahu people mainly relied on fishing/hunting/gathering, while the products of rice cultivation and animal husbandry were only a supplement to their diet. The ongoing excavation, with floatation and water-sieving, at the Tianluoshan site, dated to 6,000 to 7,000 cal. B.P., suggests that rice farming, though important, was only part of a broader subsistence pattern of the Hemudu Culture, and rice domestication culminated after 6,500 B.P and the beginning of rice domestication remain unclear.     

Why Didn’t Agriculture Develop in Japan? A Consideration of Jomon Ecological Style,Niche Construction,and the Origins of Domestication.

Over the course of some 12,000 years, Jomon cultures developed a highly refined adjustment to the Japanese landscape. Japanese archaeologists have exposed Jomon culture in great detail, but because it rested on wild resources, the Jomon era attracts little worldwide archaeological interest. This paper discusses Jomon ecological style in light of niche construction theory to consider the conditions that gave rise to agriculture and domestication. Jomon communities clearly managed much of their landscape and many plant and animal populations. Drawing on ideas from niche construction theory, we argue that qualities of potential domesticates are a central factor in the development of agriculture.     

The peasantariat and politics: migration,wage labor,and agriculture in Botswana

This article examines Botswana's wage labor migration in terms of 2 reigning theories: 1) as a dichotomy between traditional and modern society, with workers viewing agriculture as an alternative to more desirable wage employment; or 2) as a subordination of colonial society to capitalist society, with workers drawn from the resulting underdeveloped and impoverished areas and divorced from their agricultural potential. Approximately 90% of Botswanan households have a wage worker; less than 1/4 of households rely on the agricultural economy alone. 80% of the population works in agriculture in some way, but agriculture contributes only 35% of total rural income. Over 50% of households are below the poverty level, and most must rely on a variety of income sources for subsistence. 68% of rural households (Botswana is 84% rural) have absent wage earners while 45% have 1 or more wage earners present. Absent wage earners work mainly in unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in Botswanan towns (44%) and villages (22%), and lands and cattlepost locations (5%) in South African mines (19%), and other jobs in South Africa (8%). Individuals with low socioeconomic status tend to migrate to South Africa; those with higher status move to Botswanan towns. Working for wages has become customary for most Botswanans. This article undermines conventional development theories by showing the close interweaving of the modern and traditional societies, and arguing that traditional retention of communal land rights and cattle ownership served the capitalistic system by becoming the basis for wage earning; previous income source (agriculture) did not disappear, but their use was altered. South African mining returns to the Botswanan government since 1965 largely benefited a growing petty-bourgeois class and marginally improved the life styles of the peasant labor class. Botswana's development depends on the relationship between the peripherial laboring class and the dominating petty-bourgeois and its internal structure.     

POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE

This paper suggests that there has been a small shift in American agricultural practices, and more importantly in policy making in this area, toward what can be called organic or alternative agriculture. These policy changes are partially due to triggering devices, exogenous forces that have led to changes in the policy agenda. Two major exogenous factors are reviewed–the energy “crisis” and environmental factors. Both sets of forces have resulted in farmers beginning to turn to alternative agricultural techniques, in government officials changing their attitudes about alternative agriculture, and new research activities in this direction being undertaken by various government bodies.     

雅典外邦人的社会地位与历史作用

作为一个主要由外来移民所组成的社会阶层,外邦人(Metics)是解读雅典城邦社会形态的重要载体.古典时代,雅典的开放和繁荣吸引了大批的外邦人.由于雅典公民的重农轻商意识和对政治权利的垄断,外邦人不能从事农业生产与政治活动,但是在雅典的工商业与文化领域外邦人拥有相对自由的发展空间.雅典外邦人以其独特的社会地位为雅典城邦的繁荣和稳定发挥了不可或缺的特殊历史作用.     

Household Incomes in Cuban Agriculture: A Comparison of the State,Co-operative,and Peasant Sectors

This article presents the results of a 1991 household income survey of the three main groups in Cuban agriculture: wage workers on state farms, members of production co-operatives, and peasant producers. It is shown that since the 1959 revolution household income levels in the agricultural sector have improved dramatically, while regional differences have been ameliorated considerably. Households in the private sector of Cuban agriculture have fared the best. It is also demonstrated that agricultural households rely on multiple sources of income to generate their livelihood. Rather than being strictly proletarian, collective, or petty commodity producers, these households are best characterized by the multiple class relations in which they participate.     

Indigenous agriculture in the Americas

Significant advances in our understanding of ancient agricultural practices in the Americas have been made in recent years. This review of the literature focuses on studies published between 1987 and early 1994. Issues pertaining to the transition from foraging to farming include the habitability of the American tropics prior to the development of agriculture, theories on plant domestication and the origins of agriculture, regional syntheses of agricultural development, and the origin, evolution, and dissemination of domesticates in the Americas. Other topics reviewed include new techniques that have recently been applied to the study of prehistoric agriculture in the Americas, various approaches to the study of agricultural change, and ways in which research on ancient agricultural practices is being applied in modern experimental agriculture and rural development projects.     

The local traveler: farming,food, and place in state and provincial tourism guides, 1993–2008

Over the past fifteen years, Americans and Canadians have become increasingly interested in and conscious of the sources of their food. Local food movements such as farmers’ markets and community supported agriculture have expanded dramatically in popularity. This study focuses on a heretofore unexamined aspect of this phenomenon, the widespread rise in use of local food and agriculture in tourism marketing. Nearly absent in 1993 promotions, “eating locally” is now a cornerstone of tourism advertising by states and provinces. This study examines the ways that local food is employed in tourism booklets, and by extension, the desires of the travelers to whom such booklets are targeted.     

The importance of strong regional leadership in Russia: the Belgorod Miracle in agriculture

Belgorod oblast is a highly successful region in Russia. The economic successes in Belgorod stem from the dynamic leadership is provided by Yevgeny Savchenko for the past 24 years. Savchenko supports agroholdings and industrial agriculture, while also adopting policies that foster the growth of small-forms of farming and organic farming. Savchenko’s agrarian policies have led to the so-called Belgorod Miracle. The Belgorod experience shows that despite a decline in gubernatorial power vis-à-vis the federal center, governors have vast powers within their regions. Personality and leadership characteristics are important variables that impact the performance of a region.     

吉林省循环农业发展评价及优化调控研究

在分析循环农业内涵、原则和技术目标的基础上,结合吉林省农业发展现状,建立循环农业发展评价指标体系,运用熵权系数法对1990-2008年吉林省循环农业发展水平进行综合评价。研究结果表明:1990-2008年,吉林省循环农业发展水平不断增强,循环农业演化过程经历了停滞、缓慢提升、快速发展3个阶段,对1990和2008年循环农业发展制约因素和障碍度进行了对比分析。研究发现:2008年吉林省循环农业发展障碍因素依次为资源减量投入、资源循环利用、经济社会发展和资源环境安全。最后,根据评价结果提出了吉林省循环农业发展优化调控对策。     

Disparity Despite Diversity: Social Injustice in New York City's Urban Agriculture System

Many studies have documented the benefits of urban agriculture, including increased food access, job creation, educational opportunities, and green space. A focus on its social benefits has fed an association of urban agriculture with social justice, yet there is a distinction between alleviating symptoms of injustice (such as disparate access to food or environmental amenities) and disrupting structures that underlie them. Despite its positive impacts, urban agriculture systems may reinforce inequities that practitioners and supporters aim to address. This paper reports findings from a 2‐year study of urban agriculture in New York City, which found race‐ and class‐based disparities among practitioners citywide. Using the lens of critical race theory, it argues that a failure to examine urban agriculture's role in either supporting or dismantling unjust structures may perpetuate an inequitable system. The paper concludes with recommendations for urban agriculture supporters and scholars to help advance social justice at structural levels.