Study On The Sustainable Development Of Gansu Agriculture In China

The sustainable development of agriculture is the embodiment of sustainable theories in terms of agriculture, rural economy, resources and environment as well as society, and the fundamental base and the priority for sustainable development. Gansu, located in the Western region of China, is a province mainly engaging in agricultural production. Due to the constraints of natural condition, geographical location and its economic development level, the agricultural development in Gansu province is challenged by the problem of sustainability. Therefore, it is imperative and urgent to conduct an assessment of agricultural sustainability in the province in order to deepen the understanding of the current situation of agricultural development. It is also of great significance for the establishment and implementation of sustainable agricultural strategies and the adjustment of agricultural structure as well as the improvement of rural development policies.Based on the general theories and specifically successful practices at home and abroad relating to sustainable agriculture development, this paper developed a set of indicators for assessment of agriculture sustainability and assessed the sustainability of agriculture development during the periods of 1991 to 2005 through weighted-and–synthetic score approach. The result shown that the sustainability in subsystem of agricultural economy and social subsystem increased gradually during the periods of 1991 to 2005, with an increase of evaluation index from 0.0081 and 0.0536 to 1.6105 and 1.8081, respectively. The evaluation index for agricultural resources and environment subsystem increased from -0.0304 to 0.2614, presenting a substantial fluctuation of trend.Under the basis of evaluation of agricultural development and constraint analysis, the recommendations for the sustainable development of agriculture in the province have been figured out, which are:I. To expand and strengthen the base of agricultural economy and accelerate rural economicdevelopment.Through development of regional-specialized agriculture and adjustment of agricultural structure to promote the progress of agriculture industrialization and improve the efficiency and cost-benefits of agricultural production in dependence on reform of research and extension system.II. To ease the ecological pressure imposed by agricultural production, upgrade the efficiency of resources use and balance the natural environmental system. The ecological pressure is expected to be mitigated by expanding animal husbandry industry and forest industry, and development of specialized, organic and water-saving agriculture. To promote environmental protection education and enhance management of rural pollutants discharge for purification of rural environment.III. To accelerate the creation of harmonious rural community associated with economic development, poverty alleviation and environment protection project. By training of farmers to upgrade their capacity in life skill and production skill and foster their awareness of self-support, self-esteem and self-confidence. To update the rural infrastructure and sanitation and improve rural habitant condition.