ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1639062
This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Food Consumption and Production in the 21st Century: Volume IIView all 14 articles
Advancing Sustainable Agricultural Productivity through Structural Adjustment and Digitalization in China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, China
- 2Zhejiang A and F University, Hangzhou, China
- 3Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, Jammu, India
- 4Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- 5Korea University, Seongbuk-gu, Republic of Korea
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Sustainable agricultural productivity is a critical priority for China amid environmental challenges and evolving food demand. This study examines how agricultural structural adjustments—such as crop-livestock integration, service-based agriculture, and digital transformation—affect Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) across 1,743 counties from 2003 to 2022. The analysis shows that technological progress is the main driver of GTFP growth, while structural changes contribute a “structural dividend” by improving sectoral efficiency and advancement. Notably, service-oriented models initially slow productivity but show long-term benefits, and digitalization amplifies these positive effects. Regional differences are evident, with eastern and western areas gaining more from structural upgrades than central regions. These findings underscore the importance of tailoring policies to local contexts and integrating digital innovations to promote inclusive and environmentally sustainable agricultural development.
Keywords: Green total factor productivity, Agricultural structural adjustment, Sustainable FoodSystems, Digital agriculture, Spatial spillover effects
Received: 01 Jun 2025; Accepted: 20 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Feng, Nisar, Khalid and Ahmad. 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:
Fengcun Feng, fengfc2024@163.com
Dr. Ubair Nisar, ubair.nisar@gmail.com
Zainab Khalid, zainabkhalid@seu.edu.cn
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