The Relationship between Land Transfer and Agricultural Green Production: A Collaborative Test Based on Theory and Data

Abstract

Under the background of tighter resource and environmental constraints, whether and how land transfer can promote the green development of agriculture has become a realistic question that needs to be answered urgently. This paper analyzes the internal mechanism between land transfer and agricultural green production by using property rights theory and sustainable development theory. Taking the data of the “investigation on household energy consumption and green agricultural development” in Sichuan Province in 2022 as a sample, it empirically analyzes the impact of land transfer on agricultural green production by using OLS and 2SLS models. The results show that: (1) land inflow significantly improves the level of agricultural green production, with a unit impact of 22.3%; (2) whereas land outflow will inhibit agricultural green production, with a unit impact of 5.46%; (3) the family’s long-term agricultural labor, social capital, migrant experience, non-agricultural income, and household clean energy use have a promoting effect on agricultural green production; (4) age, education level, health level and agricultural subsidies inhibit agricultural green production; (5) the heterogeneity analysis found that the inflow of land would significantly promote the level of green agricultural production of farmers who have environmental awareness, have been village cadres, have purchased agricultural insurance, and have not suffered from agricultural disasters; (6) agricultural training, farmers’ digital literacy, and agricultural related loans have a positive and strengthened regulatory role in the impact of land transfer on agricultural green production. Based on this, this paper gets policy enlightenment from the government, market, and farmers.