Objective  According to the idea of the minimum number of rural settlements to provide the maximum agricultural service capacity, this paper explored the method of adjusting the spatial layout of rural settlements in agricultural areas.

  Method  Nodular index, field strength model, collective coverage model, land scale management model were used in the research.

  Result  (1) The rural settlements in this area were mainly non urbanization rural residential areas, accounting for 94.26%, which were characterized by high comprehensive development potential and low urbanization development attraction. (2) Taking the farming radius (4720 m) as the constraint condition, the set coverage model not only achieved the goal of maximizing the agricultural service capacity with the minimum number of rural settlements, but also ensured the balance of the spatial distribution of rural settlements after layout optimization. (3) Under the condition of equal income between urban and rural areas, the appropriate scale of agricultural operation in Wangkui county was 9.6 hm² per household. After the layout optimization, the carrying scale of rural population in rural residential areas was 68,100, the total scale of land use was 953.40 hm², and the average scale of land use was 4.54 hm².

  Conclusion  Taking the farming radius as the constraint condition, the set coverage model is used to select the rural settlements which can maximize the agricultural service capacity. The optimization scheme of rural settlements layout is put forward, which provides a certain reference for the spatial layout adjustment of rural settlements in agricultural areas.