Abstract
The article focuses on the spatial complexity of agricultural green development (AGD) in different regions. The article first constructs an evaluation index system for the level of AGD from four dimensions: Social development, economic benefits, resource input, and ecological environment. Then, the article uses an improved entropy weight method to evaluate the level of AGD with panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2007 to 2018. Finally, on the basis of Moran Index and the Spatial Durbin Model, the article analyzes the spatial heterogeneity of the factors that affect the green development of agriculture in China. The results show that: (1) From 2007 to 2018, the overall level of AGD shows a fluctuating upward trend in China, and there are differences among provinces. The level of AGD in the three major regions presents the characteristics of Eastern > Central > Western; (2) China’s provincial AGD level has an obvious positive autocorrelation in spatial distribution, showing significant spatial agglomeration characteristics in space; (3) the four factors of urbanization level, agricultural mechanization level, scientific and technological R&D investment, and arable area, have different effects on the level of AGD in three major regions. This study provides a reference for understanding the status of China’s agricultural green development level and policy recommendations on how to improve the level of agricultural green development. The results imply that some effective policy measures, such as prompting the integrated development of the three major industries and optimizing the industrial structure, should be taken to coordinate “green” with “development” from national and regional perspectives.
Highlights
Agriculture plays a central role in sustainable development, which determines the relationship between the global economy, society, and the natural world [1]
It can be seen that the provinces with a higher level of agricultural green development in China are concentrated in the eastern area, and the provinces with a lower level of development are concentrated in the western region
In order to analyze the spatial characteristics and spatial spillover effect of the factors affecting the level of agricultural green development in different regions, China can be divided into three areas based on the geographical and administrative location, i.e., the eastern, central, and western areas, as is shown in Table 10 [48]
Summary
Agriculture plays a central role in sustainable development, which determines the relationship between the global economy, society, and the natural world [1]. Since China implemented the reform and opening policy in 1978, China’s agriculture has developed rapidly, producing considerable economic benefits and meeting the growing food demand of people [2,3]. China has paid a huge environmental price. Environmental problems such as water eutrophication, soil acidification, air pollution, the reduction of biodiversity, etc., have become increasingly prominent, which greatly hinders the green and sustainable development of agriculture [5,6,7]. China needs to coordinate the relationship between agricultural development and environmental protection urgently and promote the green transformation of agriculture
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