IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i12p5149-d1416522.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/12/5149/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/12/5149/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jamal Ali & Norhafezah Yusof & Fadzli Shah Abd. Aziz, 2018. "Factors influencing farmer’s perceptions and behavior toward pesticide use in Malaysia," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 45(5), pages 776-792, May.
    2. Wen, Huwei & Liang, Weitao & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2022. "Urban broadband infrastructure and green total-factor energy efficiency in China," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Pasquale Marcello Falcone, 2023. "Sustainable Energy Policies in Developing Countries: A Review of Challenges and Opportunities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Järnberg, Linn & Enfors Kautsky, Elin & Dagerskog, Linus & Olsson, Per, 2018. "Green niche actors navigating an opaque opportunity context: Prospects for a sustainable transformation of Ethiopian agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 409-421.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hui Yang & Xiangda Xu, 2024. "Coupling and Coordination Analysis of Digital Economy and Green Agricultural Development: Evidence from Major Grain Producing Areas in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-29, May.
    2. Vincent-Paul Sanon & Raymond Ouedraogo & Patrice Toé & Hamid El Bilali & Erwin Lautsch & Stefan Vogel & Andreas H. Melcher, 2021. "Socio-Economic Perspectives of Transition in Inland Fisheries and Fish Farming in a Least Developed Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-34, March.
    3. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Fuhao & Lou, Runchi & Wang, Keying, 2023. "How does green finance drive the decarbonization of the economy? Empirical evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 671-684.
    4. Da Gao & Chang Liu & Xinyan Wei & Yang Liu, 2023. "Can River Chief System Policy Improve Enterprises’ Energy Efficiency? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Naama Teschner & Daniel E. Orenstein, 2022. "A transdisciplinary study of agroecological niches: understanding sustainability transitions in vineyards," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 33-45, March.
    6. Liu, Yang & Zhang, Yuchen & Zhao, Xiaoli & Farnoosh, Arash & Ma, Ruoran, 2024. "Synergistic effect of environmental governance instruments embedded in social contexts: A case study of China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    7. Aylin Erdoğdu & Faruk Dayi & Ahmet Yanik & Ferah Yildiz & Farshad Ganji, 2025. "Innovative Solutions for Combating Climate Change: Advancing Sustainable Energy and Consumption Practices for a Greener Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-39, March.
    8. Haikuo Zhang & Chaobo Zhou, 2023. "Construction of the Pilot Free Trade Zone and Chinese Green Total Factor Energy Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-13, June.
    9. Chaikumbung, Mayula, 2025. "The influence of national cultures on preferences and willingness to pay for renewable energy in Developing countries: A meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    10. Janaina Melo Franco Domingos & Diego Gouveia Marques & Valquíria Campos & Marcelo Antunes Nolasco, 2024. "Analysis of the Water Indicators in the UI GreenMetric Applied to Environmental Performance in a University in Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Guo, Bingnan & Hu, Peiji & Lin, Ji, 2024. "The effect of digital infrastructure development on enterprise green transformation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Xiekui Zhang & Lijun Wu & Zefeng Zhang, 2024. "Does Air Quality Ecological Compensation Improve Total Factor Energy Efficiency?—A Quasi-Natural Experiment from 282 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-19, July.
    13. Cristian Barra & Pasquale Marcello Falcone, 2024. "Unraveling the impact of economic policy uncertainty on environmental efficiency: How do institutional quality and political orientation matter?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 1450-1490, November.
    14. Inga C. Melchior & Jens Newig, 2021. "Governing Transitions towards Sustainable Agriculture—Taking Stock of an Emerging Field of Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-27, January.
    15. Feng, Xinhui & Wang, Sensen & Li, Yan & Yang, Jiayu & Lei, Kaige & Yuan, Weikang, 2024. "Spatial heterogeneity and driving mechanisms of carbon emissions in urban expansion areas: A research framework coupled with patterns and functions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    16. Barra, Cristian & Falcone, Pasquale Marcello, 2024. "Environmental performance of countries. Examining the effect of diverse institutional factors in a metafrontier approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    17. Chang, Lei & Moldir, Mukan & Zhang, Yuan & Nazar, Raima, 2023. "Asymmetric impact of green bonds on energy efficiency: Fresh evidence from quantile estimation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Hamid El Bilali, 2019. "The Multi-Level Perspective in Research on Sustainability Transitions in Agriculture and Food Systems: A Systematic Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-24, April.
    19. Salman, Faris & Mori, Akihisa, 2023. "When, where, and how can land governance overcome path dependency? A trajectory of land governance change," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    20. Yang, Senmiao & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Wang, Kun & Fu, Xiaowen, 2024. "Is artificial intelligence technology innovation a recipe for low-carbon energy transition? A global perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:12:p:5149-:d:1416522. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.