关键词: 农地利用, 生计多样化, 边际化, 酉阳县, 丘陵山区

Abstract: The authors take the Autonomous County of Tujia and Miao Nationality of Youyang, Chongqing, as an example, and adopt the method of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) to study the livelihoods of rural households in six typical towns. Based on the investigated data and the statistical yearbooks, the study demonstrates the marginalization of agricultural land and presents the responses of farmers to agricultural land use. The results are as follows. During the recent 10 years, the sown area of farm crops and the year-end cultivated area in common use are decreasing. Geographic, geomorphic, and anthropogenic factors have resulted in the abandonment of agricultural lands. Moreover, potential natural disasters threaten agricultural production, including sowing and cultivation. For the diagnosis factors mentioned, it can be predicted that land marginalization has emerged in Youyang. Agricultural land use, especially the marginalization of agricultural land, has been driven by farmer’s livelihood strategies and their agricultural land management behavior. The integrative factors, such as threats of geographic environment, small-scale agricultural business, and bad agricultural production conditions, have influenced this behavior as well. Consequently, the livelihood strategies of farmers have become diversified. The fact that income from agricultural production is comparatively low and that the main labor force of agricultural production engages in the secondary and tertiary industries are the primary causes of the shortage of rural labor force and the marginalization of agricultural land. Imitating the process of the county and studying the micro response of the farmer can explain the microcosmic interaction between the marginalization of agricultural land use and farmers’ livelihood.

Key words: agricultural land use, livelihood diversification, marginalization, Youyang County, hilly areas