Abstract
Shifting cultivation is still an important form of agricultural production and is suitable for mountainous areas. To ensure food security and improve the lives of mountainous residents, it is necessary to have active swidden management measures based on local experience and technical advances to exploit land resources effectively and sustainably. This paper concludes that an effective shifting cultivation control strategy would require (1) Changes in awareness, farming practices and customs of local people; (2) Changes in policy institutions such as granting land ownership rights to shifting cultivators, linking shifting cultivation areas with local and regional market centres through infrastructure development, and provision of necessary support services such as extension, credit and marketing.