Abstract: Based on the data of grain output and agricultural labor force in 81 counties of Hubei Province from 2003 to 2017, the spatial-temporal variation characteristics and corresponding coupling patterns of grain-labor were analyzed by using the grain-labor elastic coefficient model method. The results showed that grain production showed a trend of steady growth in Hubei Province from 2003 to 2017. The spatial characteristics of grain production were high in the middle and low in the surrounding area, increasing in the middle and decreasing in the surrounding area. The high grain production areas had been concentrated in the middle part of northwest Hubei Province and the south of Jianghan Plain. The total amount of agricultural labor force continued to decrease, and showed the spatial characteristics of more in the east and less in the west and increasing in the east and decreasing in the west. The labor-intensive areas were concentrated in the east of Jianghan Plain and the west of the northeast hills of Hubei Province. From 2003 to 2017, the most typical coupling change pattern of grain and labor was grain increasing and labor decreasing（60.49%）, followed by grain and labor decreasing （23.46%） and grain and labor increasing （11.11%）, and the proportion of grain decreasing and labor increasing was the lowest（4.94%）. Under the influence of geographical conditions and agricultural policies, rural development types in Hubei Province showed a diversified and coexisting pattern. The extension type and agricultural modernization type counties were mainly distributed in the central part of Hubei Province, while the industrial transfer type and the planting and breeding integration type counties were mainly distributed in the eastern and western parts. In the two periods before and after 2010, the transformation of rural development types in the county was complicated, and relatively few remained unchanged.

Key words: grain output, agricultural labor force, coupling mode, type of rural development, Hubei Province