Spatiotemporal Evolution and Improvement Potential of Agricultural Eco-efficiency in Jiangsu Province

Abstract

This study evaluated the agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) of 77 counties and districts in Jiangsu Province from 1999 to 2018 using the slack-based measure (SBM) of efficiency in data envelopment analysis (DEA) (SBM-DEA) and analyzed its spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors. We found that 1) the overall AEE, pure technology efficiency (PTE), and scale efficiency (SE) exhibited a fluctuating downward trend. AEE exhibited a significantly positive spatial association and an increasingly widening regional inequality. 2) AEE featured the “high south” and “low north” spatial pattern, with the high-value regions concentrated around the Taihu Lake plain region in southern Jiangsu Province (Sunan) and low-value regions scattered across most of the northern Jiangsu Province (Subei) cities. The high-high and low-low spatial association types further confirmed the existence of the north–south agglomeration pattern. 3) PTE and SE exhibited a similar “high south” and “low north” spatial pattern to that of AEE. The areas with the growth trends of AEE, PTE, and SE were clustered in Xuzhou and Nanjing city and in the bordering regions between Yangzhou and the Huai’an city, and also between Changzhou and the Wuxi city. 4) Excessive redundant input and use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, agricultural diesel, labor, land, and agricultural carbon emissions, all have been the primary factors affecting Jiangsu’s AEE. Irrigation also considerably affected AEE, while mechanical power and agricultural film have minimal effects. The majority of counties and districts in the Subei, central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), and Ningzhen Yang Hilly region experienced excessive usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, agricultural diesel, labor, and land. The findings can improve understanding of the spatial association effect and underlying impediment of AEE and can further help policymakers promoting agricultural eco-efficiency.

Spatial Analysis of Agricultural Eco-Efficiency and High-Quality Development in China

“…It has been widely used to measure the efficiency in different research topics. This method was proposed by Farrell in 1957, and by 1977, Aigner, Meeusen, and Van DenBroeck conducted independent research on this method (Li et al, 2021). In the process of measuring Agricultural Ecoefficiency, the first step is to determine the form of the production function.…”

Agricultural Eco-Efficiency: Challenges and Progress

“…Influential factors of AEE include agricultural endogenous environmental problems and exogenous socio-economic factors [50,51]. On the one hand, the application of various chemical fertilizers is related to the transformation and development of agriculture, which has a significant impact on agricultural output and input [52,53]. On the other hand, socio-economic systems and policies, especially those related to sustainable agricultural development, are important external factors, which play a crucial role in influencing AEE [54].…”

Spatial–Temporal pattern and evolutionary trend of eco-efficiency of real estate development in the yangtze river economic belt

“…In terms of the evaluation indicator design, scholars typically use data about resource consumption, economic output, and pollutant emissions for the characterization (Moutinho and Madaleno., 2021). In terms of the spatial-temporal evolutionary characteristics, scholars mainly analyze the change in eco-efficiency in terms of time and the distribution difference in space (Li et al, 2021). In terms of the influencing factors, scholars usually select the status of economic development, level of urbanization, and intensity of scientific and technological innovation as components of the ecoefficiency analysis system (Zhang, 2020).…”