AUTHOR=Guo Jinguang , Fu Yu
TITLE=Green total factor productivity of dairy cows in China: essential facts from the perspective of regional heterogeneity
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Environmental Science
VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023
YEAR=2023
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1164770
DOI=10.3389/fenvs.2023.1164770
ISSN=2296-665X
ABSTRACT=Introduction: Enhancing the green total factor productivity of dairy cows (GPDC) is crucial for fostering the low-carbon sustainable development of the dairy industry.
Methods: This research utilizes the Minimum distance to weak efficient frontier–Meta frontier–Malmquist–Luenberger (MinDW-MML) index to examine the GPDC using the unbalanced panel data on dairy cows in 26 provinces of China from 2004 to 2020, taking into account regional heterogeneity and unexpected output.
Results: The findings revealed that 1) from 2004 to 2020, China’s GPDC displayed a fluctuating and declining trend, with the steepest decrease occurring from 2007 to 2010 (2.26% at the common frontier and 1.81% at the group frontier). The fundamental cause of the low GPDC, as seen from the standpoint of efficiency decomposition, is technical advancement (technological change, or TC); 2) the GPDC exhibits a declining trend from east to west to central China for the two-level frontier. The eastern region benefits clearly from technological advancement (TC) and improved technical performance (EC), while the middle and western regions are mostly constrained by TC; and 3) the GPDC displayed regional heterogeneity at several scales. Although the efficiency values of medium- and small-scale aquaculture were low and large-scale aquaculture GPDC in the eastern and western regions was greater than 1, the GPDC did not reach the effective state in the central region.
Discussion: Based on these findings, we propose policy recommendations such as promoting technological innovation and low-carbon technology in dairy farming, improving the technical system of dairy farming, and optimizing the industrial layout of dairy farming, which will serve as a model for future high-quality and sustainable dairy farming development in China, and provide an experience for green dairy farming development in other countries.