ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1538024
This article is part of the Research TopicHarnessing Digital Innovation for Sustainable Agricultural DevelopmentView all 25 articles
Digital Transformation in Agricultural Circulation: Enhancing Rural Modernization and Sustainability through Technological Innovation
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
- 2South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan, China
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As digital transformation accelerates globally, the digitalization of agricultural product circulation (DAPC) is becoming a key driver of rural revitalization and sustainable agricultural development.This study introduces a digital agriculture product circulation index (DAPCI) to assess the level of digitalization in agricultural product circulation and the influence of digitalization on rural modernization in China. Additionally, this study develops a rural agricultural modernization development index (RAMDI) to measure the extent of modernization across 30 provinces (from 2012-2023). The entropy weight method and a spatial error model are applied to capture both direct and indirect effects. The findings reveal that digitalization significantly enhances rural agricultural modernization (RAM), particularly in technologically advanced regions, with strong spatial spillover effects benefiting neighboring areas. The results further reveal that the digitalization of agricultural circulation positively correlates with improved rural economic development; green innovation and industrial structure optimization emerge as key mechanisms for driving both environmental sustainability and economic growth. This research contributes to understanding how digital tools can reshape agricultural practices, making those practices more resilient, efficient, and environmentally friendly. By demonstrating the impact of digitalization on rural agricultural sustainability, this study highlights the importance of integrated technological innovations and management strategies for advancing sustainable agricultural development and climate resilience in rural economies.
Keywords: Rural agricultural modernization (RAM), Agricultural Product Circulation Digitalization, Spatial spillover effects, green innovation, Industrial structure optimization
Received: 02 Dec 2024; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Zhang and An. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhongyin An, South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan, China
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