In order to cope with the ecological pressure caused by the uncontrolled expansion of cultivated land in arid areas and ensure regional food security, the implementation of a cultivated land fallowing system has become an effective way to restore the ecology, alleviate the pressure on cultivated land, and increase productivity. In view of this, this paper takes the Tarim River Basin, located in the arid zone of China’s agricultural continent, as the research object. Using a land use transfer matrix and a gravity center migration model, the paper analyzes the spatiotemporal characteristics of cultivated land expansion in the Tarim River Basin from 2000 to 2020. Through remote sensing and the integration of multi-source data, the paper constructs an arable land fallow urgency index (SILF) from multiple dimensions such as human activity intensity, ecological vulnerability, output value, water resources status, and terrain conditions. The research results show that (1) cultivated land in the Tarim River Basin expanded by 15,665.133 km² in general, which is manifested by spreading around based on existing cultivated land, mainly from the conversion of grassland and unused land; the center of gravity of cultivated land moved 37.833 km to the northeast and 7.257 km to the southwest first. (2) The area of not urgently fallow (NUF) in the watershed showed an overall downward trend, decreasing by 10%, while the area of very urgently fallow (VUF) increased by 16%. VUF is mainly distributed in the marginal areas of cultivated land close to the desert and is gradually expanding into the interior of cultivated land. (3) The overall ecological environment of cultivated land in the watershed is showing a deteriorating trend, and the deterioration is gradually spreading from the edge of the cultivated land to the interior. (4) There are significant differences in the SILF values of different land use types after conversion to cultivated land. The urgency of fallowing cultivated land converted from unused land is the highest, followed by grassland, forest land, water bodies, and construction land. The expanded cultivated land has a higher SILF value than the original cultivated land. The research results can provide insights into regional land resource management, the formulation of cultivated land protection policies, and the ecological restoration of cultivated land.

Rural tourism is a new driving force for achieving rural revitalization and development, promoting rural economic prosperity, and serving as a new industrial approach to achieving the transformation and upgrading of farmers’ livelihoods. This paper focuses on Manas County as the research subject and employs farmer questionnaire interviews and participatory rural appraisal methods to categorize villages into four types: “scenic area-dependent” villages, “industry-dependent” villages, “folklore-dependent” villages, and “suburban-dependent” villages. Based on the sustainable livelihood analysis framework proposed by the Department for International Development, we developed a sustainable livelihood framework for farm households in Manas County and analyzed the effects of rural tourism on farm households’ livelihood capital and livelihood strategies as the watershed of the rural tourism takes shape, taking livelihood capital and livelihood strategies as the entry point. The factors influencing the livelihood capital and livelihood options of farm households in the context of rural tourism are analyzed. The results show that: (1) The overall livelihood capital of farmers engaging in rural tourism is significantly greater than that of farmers not participating in rural tourism. Additionally, variations exist in the livelihood capital of different types of rural tourism within villages. (2) Participation in rural tourism significantly influences farmers’ choices of livelihood strategies. Compared with individuals who do not engage in rural tourism, those involved in rural tourism are more likely to opt for self-management livelihood strategies. The proportion of self-managed farmers in villages based around scenic areas is the highest. (3) The effect of rural tourism on farm households in Manas County is generally positive, and various types of villages yield different impact effects. (4) Participation in rural tourism significantly increases the possibility of farmers choosing self-management livelihood strategies, while it reduces the possibility of farmers choosing agriculture-oriented livelihood strategies. In all villages, except those dependent on industry, the decision to engage in rural tourism significantly impacts farmers’ selection of self-management livelihood strategies.