Coupling and Coordination Analysis of High-Quality Agricultural Development and Rural Revitalization: Spatio-Temporal Evolution, Spatial Disparities, and Convergence

Abstract

The coupling and coordination of high-quality agricultural development (HQAD) and rural revitalization is an inevitable choice to accelerate the realization of Chinese-style agricultural and rural modernization. Based on system theory, this study reconstructs the indicator systems of both and conducts measurements by applying the improved AHP–entropy weight method. This study has extended the analytical methods of kernel density estimation, Dagum Gini coefficient, σ convergence, and spatial β convergence to further investigate the spatio-temporal evolution, regional disparities, and convergence effect of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of HQAD and rural revitalization in China from 2010 to 2020. The results show that the CCD has a tendency to increase year by year, presenting the characteristics of ‘high coupling degree–low comprehensive development level–low coupling coordination degree’, and also has the spatial distribution pattern of ‘high in the east and low in the west’. In addition, most of the provinces have a tendency to jump to a higher stage of coupling coordination; the overall trend of the kernel density curves is favorable; the results of Dagum’s Gini coefficient show that inter-regional disparities contribute the most to regional spatial disparities; and there is a significant tendency towards σ convergence and spatial β convergence of the CCD in China and the four regions. This study stimulates a broader discussion of rural revitalization, with potential implications for decision making in practice.