Digital Technology and Agricultural Production Agglomeration: Mechanisms, Spatial Spillovers, and Heterogeneous Effects in China

Agricultural production agglomeration is pivotal for improving productivity and resource efficiency in the agricultural sector. The rapid advancement of digital technologies, including precision farming systems, agricultural big data analytics, and IoT-based monitoring tools, provides a new impetus to strengthen this trend. Through using a series of empirical models such as two-way fixed effects and spatial econometric models, this study systematically evaluated the impact of digital technology on agricultural production agglomeration based on panel data from 2012 to 2022 in China. The results indicated that digital technology significantly promotes agricultural production agglomeration by facilitating land transfers and enhancing rural human capital. Moreover, the estimated coefficient was 0.273 and significantly positive at the 5% level, and a series of robustness tests showed that the robustness of this argument was not interfered with by endogenous issues. Furthermore, the influence of digital technology on agricultural production agglomeration exhibits significant spatial spillover effects, with direct effects outweighing indirect ones. A heterogeneity analysis showed that the effect is more pronounced in non-grain-producing regions and in the eastern, central, and northeastern parts of China but remains statistically insignificant in the western region. Based on these findings, the study recommends advancing region-specific digital integration, expanding rural digital infrastructure, and fostering digital competencies to accelerate agricultural production agglomeration and promote sustainable agricultural development.