Abstract: Agroforestry systems play a vital role in rural development, especially in tropical upland areas. This new technique combines agriculture, forestry and husbandry, linking closely with social, environmental and economic factors. The dissertation deals with dynamics of social, technical and economic elements in agroforestry practices, alternative to shifting cultivation. The study was conducted in a Jinuo Mountain of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, southwest China. The contents include identifying land use changes at village and household level respectively, examining the relationships between fal-low systems and agroforestry practices, and describing farmers strategies in agroforestry development and its impact on other agri-culture systems, environment, indigenous agriculture and agro - biodiversity. Methods of household - based socioeconomic survey on- farm monitoring, participant observation and interview have been applied in this research.

Key words: Agroforestry systems