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Evaluating the Effects of the ‘Pilot Zone’ Policy on China’s Agricultural Green Development

Author

Listed:
  • Lanlan Yao

    (School of Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
    Editorial Department of Journal of Lanzhou University (Social Sciences), Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China)

  • Wenxuan Si

    (School of Marxism, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China)

  • Ruirui Si

    (Henan Provincial Climate Centre, Zhengzhou 450003, China
    Henan Key Laboratory of Agrometeorological Support and Applied Technique, China Meteorological Administration, Zhengzhou 450003, China)

Abstract

Green agriculture is a new sustainable agricultural development model that coordinates agricultural development with the environment which has been vigorously promoted in China in recent years. With the support of national policies, China has set up 130 pilot zones for green agricultural development. Taking these pilot zones as quasi-natural experimental areas, the difference-in-differences (DID) method and agricultural green total factor productivity are used to evaluate the effect of the policy in the pilot zones. The findings indicate that the pilot zones notably diminish non-point source agricultural pollution without affecting agricultural added value and improve agricultural green total factor productivity by improving technical efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effectiveness of this policy varies regionally. The eastern region of China, the main agricultural producing areas, and the regions with higher initial environmental pollution levels and abundant educational resources experience more pronounced benefits. Based on the regional characteristics of different regions, this study considers the factors such as agricultural resource endowment and development basis and explores how the policy effects of agricultural green development in different regions, which has certain guiding significance for the continuous improvement in China’s agricultural green development policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Lanlan Yao & Wenxuan Si & Ruirui Si, 2024. "Evaluating the Effects of the ‘Pilot Zone’ Policy on China’s Agricultural Green Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:12:p:5149-:d:1416522
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    References listed on IDEAS

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