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.

Simulation of Morphological Development of Soil Cracks in Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley Region, Southwest China

Soil cracking is an important process influencing water and solutes transport in the Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley region of Southwest China. Studying the morphological development of soil cracks helps to further reveal the close relationship between the soil cracking process and water movement in such semi-arid regions. Here we report regular changes on surface morphology of soil cracks with decreasing water in four different soils (Typ-Ustic Ferrisols,Ver-Ustic Ferrisols,Tru-Ustic Vertisols and Typ-Ustic Vertisols) through simulation experiments. Our results indicate the following: 1) Different soils ultimately have different development degrees of soil cracks,according to their various values of crack area density. Soil cracks in Typ-Ustic Ferrisols can only develop to the feeble degree,while those in the other three soils are capable of developing into the intensive degree,and even into the extremely intensive degree. 2) Soil crack complexity,as expressed by the value of the area-weighted mean of crack fractal dimension (AWMFRAC),is found to continuously decrease as a whole through the whole cracking process in all the studied soils. 3) Soil crack connectivity shows a uniform trend in the studied soils,that is to say,connectivity gradually increases with soil crack development.

Planar morphology and controlling factors of the gullies in the Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley based on field investigation

The plane form of a gully can provide a basis for evaluating the gully volume and erosion rate, acting process, and evolutionary stage. For describing the planar characteristics of a permanent gully and understanding their controlling factors, this study, utilizing a total station and GPS RTK, measured the shoulder lines and channel curves of 112 gullies in six sites of the Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley and then mapped them by Arc GIS software and calculated nine parameters. The results showed that the channel lengths range from 10.88 to 249.11 m; the widths range from 6.20 to 40.99 m; the perimeters range from 54.11 to 541.67 m; the gully areas range from 153.02 to 6,930.30 m2; the left-side areas range from 92.93 to 4,027.20 m2; and the right-side areas range from 63.65 to 3,539.77 m2. The slightly sinuous and straight gullies account for 73.21% of the total gullies; the quantity of the right skewed gullies is 8.93% greater than that of the left skewed ones based on the symmetry ratio; the shape ratios range from 1.12 to 1.40 and the morphology ratios from 0.038 to 1.294; the fractal dimension is 1.192. Gullies in different sites have diverse planar characteristics. Except for the symmetry index, which was close to a negatively skewed distribution, all of the other parameters had the characteristic of positively skewed distribution. The gully area is related to the length and width, but the gully length has a weak correlation with the width. The evolutionary stage, topographic conditions, strata, soil properties, and piping erosion played very important roles in the gully planar morphology. This study could provide useful information for controlling gully erosion and safeguarding human habitation and engineering buildings.

Poverty Alleviation Mode by Developing Sorghum Planting Industry in Dry-hot Valley Areas of Jinsha River in China:Taking Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County of Yunnan Province as an Example

There are many state-level poverty-stricken counties in the dry-hot valley areas of Jinsha River in China,with a wide range of poverty and extreme degree of poverty.The industry-supporting poverty alleviation ranks first in the"five batches"of China's targeted poverty alleviation strategy.The practice of planting in Luquan County since 2017 shows that the valleys and slopes on the dry-hot valley areas of Jinsha River with an altitude above 1800 m have wide land suitable for sorghum planting,and suitable for introduction and planting.In recent years,the county has adopted the mode of enterprise+government+cooperative+poor household,introduced the Langzhitang wine factory,developed sorghum planting with large-scale,industrialized and specialized features to achieve stable income growth for the poor,and significant results have been achieved.Based on many field surveys,household surveys,and interviews with county and village leaders,this paper analyzes the specific practices and main effects of the county's poverty alleviation model by developing sorghum planting industry,aiming to provide necessary reference for the targeted poverty alleviation and poverty alleviation in similar areas of Yunnan Province and other provinces.

Soil Crevice Formation and Erosion in Yuanmou Dry-Hot Valley, Yunnan Province, China

The basic characteristics, X-ray analysis and micromorphology of soil developed from the parent rubified soil is probed. Results show that there are similarities among different types of the rubified soils. The soil clay （D〈0.002 mm） contents （Co） are relatively higher between 29.16% and 80.03%. In addition, organic matter contents are lower between 2.2-6.6 g/kg. The clay minerals in the rubified soils have a high content of 2：l type swelling minerals, e.g., smectite and vermiculite, which are the basic causes of formation of soil cracks and crevices. Soil micromorphology characteristics show that microcosmic crevices universally distributed within the tight and compact soil microstructure are the microcosmic characteristics of crevices formation. The soil cracks and crevices change the erosion process. Obviously, well developed soil crevice carries a significant connection with strong soil erosion in Yuanmou, Yunnan province, China. The term ＂soil crevice erosion＂ was coincided with the viewpoint put forward that soil crevice erosion plays a dominant role in regional and violent soil erosion in this area.