Yongxun Zhang

Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences | CAAS · Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development

In contrast to modern agriculture, long-standing traditional agricultural practices such as agricultural heritage systems (AHS) are important inspirations for promoting harmonious human–land relations. However, some AHS have been in danger as their traditional agricultural landscapes (TALs) were changed by rapid modernization and urbanization. Thus...

过去10 多年旅游业在乡村经济和脱贫中发挥着重要作用，已成为各地乡村发展的重要产业。从经济学角度看，现代化的程度和农业文化遗产资源的稀缺性是同步增长的，这为农业文化遗产与旅游业的融合发展提供了契机。而农业文化遗产覆盖范围广，单靠旅游业难以保障对农业文化遗产的整体保护，通过“农业文化遗产+旅游”“以点带面”，促进相关产业融合发展并形成以旅游业为核心的一二三产业新型复合业态是一条可尝试的路径。

Traditional agricultural landscapes (TAL) have a long history. They have received significant attention due to concerns regarding their multiple functions and scarcity. Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (IAHS), designated by the FAO or some countries, are typical TAL that are facing conservation problems. This study takes IAHS as an example a...

Despite the declining hunger in Central Asia, food insecurity remains an important issue due to the dry climate. Taking Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan as examples, this study assesses their land-water resources carrying capacity in 1999, 2009, and 2018, on the premise that agricultural water and farmland are spatia...

Food system transformation has been a widely discussed topic in international society over time. For the last few decades, China has made remarkable achievements in food production and has contributed greatly to the reduction in global hunger and poverty. Examining experiences and lessons from China’s food security practices over the years is helpf...

Terraced tourism sustainability depends on maintenance for terraced landscape. The effective measures for protecting terraces rest on the cooperation among multi-stakeholders. Therefore, a multi-stakeholder involvement mechanism (MSIM) is very important for terraced landscape conservation. Dazhai village in Longji Terraces, Guangxi Province, Southw...

Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (IAHS), as a new type of heritage, has received extensive attention from the international scientific communities. With the increase of IAHS research, reviews on it have been conducted by many scholars. However, visualized research to show future research trends of IAHS are lacking. Therefore, using metrology...

Since Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (IAHS) were launched by the FAO to protect the sustainable traditional agricultural systems around the world, their conservation has become a new difficult issue under the context of urbanization. Farmers in IAHS sites giving up small-scale traditional farming due to their low economic benefit and high...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched the conservation initiative of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in 2002, providing a new solution to current global problems such as widening gap between rich and poor, environmental pollution, biodiversity destruction and degradation of agro-ecol...

With Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) increasing in number around the world, their conservation has become a new international research theme. From the perspective of combining theoretical analyses and practical case applications, this study examines the Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (IAHS) conservation pathways an...

Small-scale agriculture (SA) is regarded as unsustainability because of its low benefit. To protect traditional agricultural landscapes like terraces through SA will be difficult. However, in China, terraces are still maintained well by smallholders now. This study takes the family as a basic unit and SA in Hani terraced region as an object to expl...

The multiple problems of modern agriculture urge people to probe into sustainability of the traditional agriculture. As important representatives of Chinese traditional agriculture, the agricultural heritage systems on aquatic-ecological conservation (AHSAEC) are confronting threats and urgently needs to be protected. In this study, the functions a...

Agricultural landscapes in mountainous areas are facing the destruction due to farmland abandonment. A sustainable conservation mechanism is needed urgently for the rural areas in these places. Dazhai terraces of Longji Terraces, Southwest China are maintained well based on agricultural multi-functions developed by multi-stakeholders. From the pers...

Transportation as a means to support industrial development can impact the economic development of important agricultural heritage sites. Because the central towns in mountainous areas have weak economic interactions with each other, an appropriate method is needed to evaluate their transportation accessibility. This paper takes the Honghe Hani Ric...

工业化和城市化过程中，城乡经济差距日益拉大，农村衰落已成为城市化过程中各国面临的共同问题。2015年中央政府提出了“农村一二三产业融合发展”推动农村经济发展，引起了多学科研究者从不同角度开展研究，但相关研究多以理论探讨为主。农业文化遗产地作为一个以保护为前面的特殊农村地区，如何推动一二三产业（下称“三产”）融合发展，如何量化“三产”融合度，研究尚未深入。本研究基于对农业文化遗产特点、资源特征以及农业文化遗产保护要求等方面的分析，阐释了农业文化遗产地“三产”融合发展的概念和内涵，并构建了由产业融合度与劳动力融合度组成的农业文化遗地“三产”融合度评价方法体系及具体核算方法。以云南红河哈尼稻作梯田系统十大片区所在的8个乡镇为研究对象进行评价，结果表明，产业融合度分项指数间越均衡则产业融合度越高；各...

Tourism, as a type of non-pollution industry with low cost and short return period on investment, has become the first choice of local governments for economic development. Agricultural heritage site, as a kind of traditional rural area, has obvious advantages in terms of its abundant tourism resources. However, agricultural heritage site usually c...

The cooperation for eco-environmental conservation (CEC) as a common countermeasure to eco-environmental problems has been practiced widely in China. However, it has not gotten in-depth study due to lack of the theorization. Therefore, in this paper, we aim to provide a CEC theoretical framework from a new perspective. Using literature analysis met...

The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces System (HHRTS) is one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) sites approved by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2010. In recent years, with the development of modern agriculture and tourism, cultivation practices for high yield and uniform variety cropping, has threatened the stabilit...

Heritage conservation is an important recurring research theme on agricultural heritage systems. Improving the income of farmers from agriculture is regarded as an effective conservation approach. This study examined how the improved rice-fish-duck coculture (IRFDC) promotes the protection of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraced System (HHRTS) by keeping...

Rural landscape changes have attracted wide interest from related researchers. Economic factors driving land use changes in rural areas have been studied frequently. Up to now, however, the importance of culture in enhancing the resistance of landscapes to external shocks has not been given attention. In this paper, the key aim is to identify the i...

Although the urgency of their conservation has been recognized, Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 2002 and China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (China-NIAHS) certified by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of China since 2012 are faced with que...

With rapid urbanization and increasing opportunity cost of farming, the jasmine planting area in Fuzhou City has been de-creasing sharply and thereby severely threating the important agricultural heritage system—Fuzhou Jasmine and Tea Cultural System. Sustainability of jasmine farming lies in whether the growers have the willingness for continually...

Agri-cultural Heritage Systems (AHS) have not only various values but also important enlightening roles for modern agriculture. With agro-scientific and technological progress, the traditional agriculture that has lasted for thousands of years is declining gradually, thus is attached the importance of exploring and protecting our AHS. As a traditio...

In past decades, ecological services and functions of alpine grassland in the Three-River Headwater Region (TRHR), Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, have been severely degraded due to overgrazing and overuse of yak dung as a fuel. Therefore, the eco-migration project has been implemented by the national government for improving eco-environmental quality in...

Agricultural Heritage Systems Tourism (AHST) has increased considerably in the past ten years and is projected to continue growing in the future. Despite such growth, there is not a shared understanding of many aspects of the tourism development framework for all kinds of agricultural heritage sites. Given that meanings and characteristics are crit...

Agricultural heritage sites have been gaining popularity as tourism destinations. The arrival of large numbers of tourists, however, has created serious challenges to these vulnerable ecosystems. In particular, water resources are facing tremendous pressure. Thus, an assessment of tourism water footprint is suggested before promoting sustainable to...

Studies on the conservation of agricultural heritage systems have received extensive attention since the development, in recent years, of the concept of GIAHS (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Unlike industrial agriculture, agricultural heritage systems emphasize on the protection of...

N2O fluxes from the Cyperus malaccensis var. brevifolius marsh were measured using enclosed dark static chamber and float chamber technique during three periods (before flood, in course of flooding and ebbing, and after ebb), and N2O fluxes from the invasive Spartina alterniflora Loisel marsh, C. malaccensis marsh added nutrient and bare marsh trea...