25 April 2026, Volume 51 Issue 2

    

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Rural revitalization
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  Regional Differences and Distributional Dynamics of the Construction Level of Livable, Business-friendly, and Harmonious Village in Xinjiang

  ZHAO Xianghao, CAO Lulu, WANG Haofan, SUN Peilei

  Modern Agriculture. 2026, 51(2): 1-18.

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  Against the backdrop of Chinese-style modernization, building a livable, business-friendly and harmonious village in addressing unbalanced regional development in Xinjiang plays a critical role in achieving common prosperity and long-term stability. Based on panel data of 14 prefectures and cities in Xinjiang from 2013 to 2023, this paper divided the research area into Beijiang (Northern Xinjiang) and Nanjiang (Southern Xinjiang). By constructing an evaluation index system for the construction level of a livable, business-friendly and harmonious village, this paper employed the entropy-weight TOPSIS method to measure the rural construction level of each prefecture and city, and used the Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation, and Markov chain to systematically analyze its regional differences and spatiotemporal evolution characteristics. The results showed that: from the perspective of overall changes, the construction level of a harmonious village in Xinjiang presented a fluctuating upward trend during the study period. The construction level in Beijiang was consistently higher than that in Nanjiang, but Nanjiang enjoyed a faster growth rate, leading to a gradual narrowing of the regional development gap. In terms of sources of differences, the overall Gini coefficient was relatively low and slightly increased, and regional development remained generally balanced. The Gini coefficient of Beijiang was higher than that of Nanjiang, and the development gap between Beijiang and Nanjiang showed a pattern of "first narrowing and then expanding". The significant differences mainly stemmed from intra-regional disparities within Beijiang and Nanjiang, followed by inter-regional differences, while hypervariable density exerted the least influence. From the perspective of evolutionary characteristics, the kernel density distribution was multi-peaked. The construction level of a livable, business-friendly and harmonious village in Xinjiang was highly stable, which had been mainly improved step by step and faced significant difficulty in achieving cross-level leaps. In terms of spatial evolution, the evolution trend in Beijiang was more favorable than that in Nanjiang. Accordingly, implementing targeted regional policies and promoting differentiated coordinated development, fostering characteristic industrial clusters in Beijiang and Nanjiang, promoting the two-way flow of urban-rural factors and balancing the allocation of public resources, and establishing a guarantee system for talent introduction and training can effectively boost high-quality rural development in Xinjiang. It is of great practical significance to solve the problem of unbalanced regional development and consolidate the foundation for long-term stability.
Agro-pastoral economy
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  The Impact of Purchasing Behavior of Productive Socialized Services for Animal Husbandry on Household Income: A Case Study of Hulun Buir City

  YONG Mei, DU Fulin

  Modern Agriculture. 2026, 51(2): 19-32.

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  Productive socialized services for animal husbandry serve as a key driver for advancing the development of modern animal husbandry and facilitating sustained income growth for herders. Their income-boosting effectiveness is directly linked to the achievement of high-quality development and the goal of common prosperity in pastoral grassland regions. Based on 371 sets of field survey data collected from herders in New Barag Left Banner and Old Barag Banner of Hulun Buir City, Inner Mongolia in 2024, this paper empirically analyzed the impact of purchasing behavior of productive socialized services for animal husbandry on herder household income through multiple linear regression and propensity score matching, and further explored the mechanisms through this purchasing behavior affected herder household income, using a mediating effect model. The results showed that: purchasing behavior of productive socialized services for animal husbandry could significantly increase herders′ total household income and income from animal husbandry, which were 40.9% and 58.6% higher than the herders who did not purchase such services, respectively, while the impact on non-animal husbandry income was not significant; household size, grassland operation scale, the number of production machines, and distance to the banner government all exerted significant impacts on herders′ total household income; the propensity score matching results indicated that household size and distance to the banner government positively promoted herders′ decision to purchase productive socialized services for animal husbandry, and these results passed the common support test and balancing test; from the perspective of mediating effects, purchasing behavior of productive socialized services for animal husbandry could increase herder household income by expanding livestock breeding scale. Based on the above findings, this paper puts forward policy recommendations, including cultivating diversified service entities, building a multi-level service system, enriching service content and forms to meet the differentiated needs of herders, and strengthening publicity and education to transform herders′ traditional production concepts.
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  The Impact of Digital Economy on Urban-Rural Income Gap: Based on the Perspective of Agricultural Economic Resilience

  CUI Shunwei, WANG Juan

  Modern Agriculture. 2026, 51(2): 33-47.

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  Narrowing the urban-rural income gap is of great significance for steadily advancing common prosperity in China. Based on provincial panel data of 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities(directly under the central government)in China (excluding Xizang Autonomous Region, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions) from 2012 to 2023, this paper empirically examined the impact and mechanism of digital economy on the urban-rural income gap by using econometric methods such as the panel model and the mediating effect model. The results showed that: the development of digital economy could significantly narrow the urban-rural income gap, and this conclusion was still valid after robustness tests; digital economy reduced the income gap by enhancing the resilience of the agricultural economy, while rural labor migration weakened this positive effect. Heterogeneity analysis revealed that the convergence effect of digital economy was more significant in non-major grain-producing areas and regions with low urbanization levels. Accordingly, it should accelerate the layout of digital infrastructure, strengthen the agricultural economic resilience, optimize the structure of rural human capital, and implement differentiated regional development strategies, in order to narrow the urban-rural income gap, promote coordinated urban-rural economic development, and help achieve the goal of common prosperity.
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  The Impact of Farmers′ Participation in Professional Cooperatives on Agricultural Insurance Purchase Behavior: A Test Based on the Moderating Effect of Social Capital

  HOU Chen

  Modern Agriculture. 2026, 51(2): 48-63.

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  Agricultural insurance is an important tool to mitigate agricultural production risks and stabilize farmers′ income. Relying on its socialized service functions, farmers′ professional cooperatives provide a new pathway to boost farmers′ willingness to purchase agricultural insurance and raise its coverage rate. Based on the comprehensive survey data of China′s rural revitalization conducted by Rural Development Institute of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, this paper adopted the propensity score matching method to empirically analyze the impact of farmers′ participation in farmers′ professional cooperatives on agricultural insurance purchase behavior, and constructed a moderating effect model to explore the moderating effect of social capital in this influence mechanism. The results show that: participation in farmers′ professional cooperatives could significantly improve farmers′ agricultural insurance purchase behavior, and the conclusions passed robustness tests. Heterogeneity analysis indicated that farmers′ participation in farmers′ professional cooperatives had a promotional effect that more pronounced among low-income farmers with annual household income below 73 162 yuan and small-scale farmers with cultivated land operation area less than 0.444 hm². Moderating effect verification confirmed that social capital exerted a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between farmers′ participation in farmers′ professional cooperatives and agricultural insurance purchase behavior. Accordingly, this paper puts forward suggestions including fostering new-type agricultural business entities represented by farmers′ professional cooperatives, building regular interactive communication platforms, improving the comprehensive service system of agricultural insurance, and promoting agricultural insurance popularization empowered by social capital. The research aims to further improve farmers′ initiative in agricultural insurance participation, optimize the agricultural risk prevention and control system, and boost the high-quality development of the agricultural industry.
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  Measurement and Promotion Path of Total Factor Productivity of Grain in the "Tianfu Granary": Based on the Panel Data of Sichuan Province from 1998 to 2023

  WANG Yang, LUO Zhenhua, XIANG Zuojian

  Modern Agriculture. 2026, 51(2): 64-77.

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  Accurately measuring the total factor productivity (TFP) of grain production in the "Tianfu Granary" and revealing its growth sources and influencing factors are of great significance for Sichuan Province to build a high-level "Tianfu Granary", strengthen regional stable grain supply capacity, and consolidate the foundation of national food security. Based on panel data of 21 cities (prefectures) in Sichuan Province from 1998 to 2023, this study adopted the DEA-Malmquist index method to calculate and decompose grain TFP, and constructed an econometric model to identify the possible mechanisms affecting grain TFP. The results showed that: from 1998 to 2023, the grain TFP of the "Tianfu Granary" showed an overall growth trend; technological progress constituted the primary driving factor of grain TFP growth, and the improvement of technical efficiency lagged behind the pace of technological progress; the growth of grain TFP, technological progress and technical efficiency change in the "Tianfu Granary" exhibited significant regional heterogeneity; the implementation of the "Tianfu Granary" strategy had substantially increased grain TFP; grain yield per unit area, grain sown area per labor, grain research investment per unit area and effective grain irrigation rate had positive impacts on grain TFP, while total mechanical power per labor and the degree of grain production structure adjustment had negative impacts, and regional economic development level had no significant impact on grain TFP. Therefore, it′s suggested improving the multi-level collaborative governance mechanism, establishing a "dual-wheel drive" pattern of technological progress and technological efficiency, refining the agricultural science and technology innovation mechanism, and promoting moderately large-scale planting, to promote the optimization and enhancement of grain TFP in the "Tianfu Granary".
Ecological and environmental protection
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  The Impacts of Rural Labor Transfer and the Digitalization and Intellectualization of Farm Machinery on Agricultural Green Total Factor Productivity

  YU Weiyong, ZONG Hejian

  Modern Agriculture. 2026, 51(2): 78-92.

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  Green development is not only the key to the transformation of agricultural modernization, but also an inherent requirement for empowering agricultural modernization. Based on the field survey data of 5 administrative villages (Village X, Village Y, Village Z, Village M, and Village N) in Guizhou Province in 2024, this paper adopted the SBM-BCC model to measure agricultural green total factor productivity. Using the Tobit model and the mediation effect model, this paper empirically analyzed the relationships among rural labor transfer, digitalization and intellectualization of farm machinery, and agricultural green total factor productivity. The results showed that: rural labor transfer had a significant negative impact on agricultural green total factor productivity, while the digitalization and intellectualization of farm machinery significantly promoted the improvement of agricultural green total factor productivity. The mediation effect test indicated that both rural labor transfer and the digitalization and intellectualization of farm machinery could exert indirect effects on agricultural green total factor productivity through mediating transmission paths, showing characteristics of partial mediation effects. The heterogeneity test results revealed that the influence coefficients of the digitalization and intellectualization of farm machinery in Village Y and rural labor transfer in Village N passed the significance test, while the other three villages failed to pass the significance test. Accordingly, this paper proposes countermeasures including cultivating leading industries to stimulate the vitality of returning talents, improving the technology promotion system to foster new professional farmers, and optimizing the agricultural production structure to promote appropriate scale management, so as to boost rural revitalization and the high-quality green development of agriculture.
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  The Impact of Digital Rural Construction on Cultivated Land Use Eco-efficiency in Major Grain-Producing Regions in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River

  HUANG Xianzhe

  Modern Agriculture. 2026, 51(2): 93-112.

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  As a core driver of agricultural and rural modernization, digital rural construction is profoundly reshaping cultivated land use patterns and their eco-efficiency. Based on panel data of major grain-producing regions in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (covering 31 prefecture-level cities in Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi) from 2009 to 2023, this paper empirically examined the impacts and underlying mechanisms of digital rural construction on cultivated land use eco-efficiency via two-way fixed-effects model, threshold model, mediation effect model and spatial Durbin model. Heterogeneity analysis was further conducted to explore differentiated impacts of digital rural construction on cultivated land use eco-efficiency. The empirical results showed that: digital rural construction exerted a significantly positive promoting effect on cultivated land use eco-efficiency with a double-threshold nonlinear characteristic, which survived multiple robustness tests. Mediation and spatial spillover analyses revealed that digital rural construction indirectly improved cultivated land use eco-efficiency by boosting digital finance penetration, advancing farmers′ digital literacy, and accelerating agricultural industrial upgrading. In addition, digital rural construction could collaboratively improve the cultivated land use eco-efficiency of neighboring regions through spatial spillover effects. Heterogeneity analysis results confirmed significantly positive effects in both plain and non-plain regions, with stronger marginal gains observed in plain areas. Specifically, digital rural construction had significant positive effects on factor inputs and desirable agricultural outputs, and significant negative effects on undesirable outputs, and its marginal promoting impact intensified sequentially at higher quantiles of cultivated land use eco-efficiency. Accordingly, this papers puts forward targeted policy recommendations: promoting differentiated digital rural construction across subregions, crossing critical development thresholds, smoothing intermediate transmission channels to strengthen digital empowerment, establishing interregional coordination systems to amplify spatial spillover gains, and optimizing factor allocation for low-carbon and green cultivated land use. These measures aims to advance the coordinated green transformation and modernization of agriculture in major grain-producing regions in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.