Livelihood Strategy and Farmland Use in Xinping County of Yuanjiang Dry-hot Valley

Methods of participatory rural appraisal and mathematical statistics were adopted to study livelihood diversification, livelihood strategy and farmland use of the four types of farmers in Xinping County of Yuanjiang dry-hot valley with field survey data. The results showed as follows： firstly, as farmers are transforming from pure agriculture to non-agriculture, their agricultural livelihood diversification index will decrease, while non-agricultural livelihood diversification index will increase. In term of livelihood activities, pure agricultural farmers are exclusively engaged in agricultural activities, agricultural-dominant and non-agricultural-dominant farmers are engaged in both agricultural and non-agricultural ones, while non-agricultural farmers are basically engaged in off-farm activities. Secondly, as for crops planted, pure agricultural and agricultural-dominant farmers tend to choose those crops with more investment,shorter growth period and higher value, meanwhile non-agricultural-dominant farmers tend to choose crops with less investment, simpler management and longer growth period. Thirdly, to cope with current problems in farming, pure agricultural farmers will adopt measures such as changing planting structure, maintaining or expanding planting scale, increasing planting investment and renting in more land to promote the development of farming; agriculture-dominant farmers will adopt measures such as changing planting structure, reducing planting scale, maintaining planting investment, renting in and taking back the leased land as well as engaging in non-agricultural activities to overcome the difficulties faced; while non-agricultural-dominant farmers will adopt measures such as reducing both planting scale and investment,changing planting structure and engaging in farmland transfer as well as various offfarm activities to avoid livelihood risks.

Livelihood Capital and Livelihood Diversification for Different Farmers in Yuanjiang Dry-Hot River Valley

Under the analytical framework of sustainable livelihoods,we establish the evaluation indicator system for farmers' livelihood capital,to evaluate the current livelihood capital and livelihood diversification for different farmers in the Dai nationality region of Xinping County in the Yuanjiang dry-hot river valley area,and discuss the relationship between livelihood capital and livelihood diversification. Studies have shown that the mode dominated by agriculture,supplemented by non-agricultural activities,combined with breeding,is the commonly used livelihood strategy for farmers in this region. As farmers change from pure agriculture to non-agriculture,their total livelihood capital and nonagricultural livelihood diversification index will increase,while agricultural livelihood diversification index will decrease. In the meantime,their livelihood activities gradually shift from agricultural to non-agricultural ones,which is mainly reflected in the combination of both agricultural and non-agricultural activities. Regression analysis on livelihood capital and livelihood diversification shows that natural and physical capital is the basis of realizing agricultural livelihood diversification. Farmers with rich natural and physical capital will prefer agricultural livelihood strategies. While financial and human capital is the driving force for farmers' transition from pure agriculture to non-agriculture.