Fang Wang

Against the backdrop of global challenges to food security and China’s push to modernize its agriculture, it is critical to understand how government strategies affect innovation efficiency. This study examines how three modes of intergovernmental competition—fiscal spending competition (strategically increasing public spending to attract resources), tax competition (providing incentives to promote investment), and promotion competition (officials prioritizing short-term projects for promotion)—affect the efficiency of agricultural science and technology innovations across China’s provinces. Utilizing panel data (2000–2021) and a Slack-Based Measure Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA-SBM) model, we find that fiscal spending competition suppresses efficiency, particularly in western regions where infrastructure investments crowd out R&D. Tax competition enhances efficiency, yet its impact is attenuated in central China due to low industrial upgrading. Promotion competition impedes long-term innovation, as frequent official turnover prioritizes short-term projects. Regional heterogeneity highlights eastern China’s market-driven advantages versus central/western regions’ structural constraints. Policy implications advocate for spatially differentiated governance, including R&D tax rebates in the east and cross-regional innovation alliances. This study contributes to fiscal decentralization theory by revealing the nonlinear effects of competition modes on agricultural innovation.

Objective: In Tibetan dietary and folk medicine practices, Rheum austral is commonly used as an alternative to Rheum tanguticum, and there is a prevailing belief that wild rhubarb should not be substituted by its cultivated counterpart. However, these traditions are not supported by scientific evidence, particularly concerning the differences in endogenous metabolites between cultivated and wild rhubarbs, as well as between officially recognized and non-official rhubarbs. These uncertainties have also been hindering the vertical integration development of the local rhubarb industry.Methods: In this study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOFMS) and biostatistical analysis were employed to systematically and comprehensively investigate the chemical constituents of rhubarbs from various sources, focusing on the differences in metabolic components between cultivated and wild rhubarbs.Results: The metabolic differences in rhubarb from various varieties and environments are pronounced. Among them, 39 differential metabolites were identified between cultivated R. tanguticum and wild R. tanguticum. cultivated R. tanguticum is rich in emodin, physcion, and rhapontigenin, whereas wild R. tanguticum exhibits a higher concentration of rhaponticin and is particularly abundant in anthraquinone compounds. Additionally, 33 differential metabolites distinguished wild R. tanguticum from wild R. austral, with R. austral being rich in stilbene derivatives and wild R. tanguticum predominantly containing coumarins. The correlations among these differential metabolites have also been further explored and presented.Conclusion: The metabolic disparities between cultivated and wild rhubarb varieties are substantial, with wild rhuabarb containing higher levels of effective components than its cultivated counterparts. However, wild varieties face issues with component instability and resource depletion, while cultivated varieties exhibit more stable effective components. Given these significant differences in metabolic components, it is essential to differentiate rhubarbs from various species and growing conditions to suit specific medicinal and dietary purposes effectively. This paper can lay a theoretical foundation for the vertical integration development of the rhubarb industry in Tibetan areas.

One of the effective ways to crack the “Three Rural Issues” and promote rural revitalization is to improve agricultural labor productivity (ALP). However, at this stage, improving China’s ALP is still facing many obstacles and bottlenecks. Promoting migrant workers returning home for entrepreneurship is an important breakthrough point for solving this problem. This paper regards the pilot policy of migrant workers returning home for entrepreneurship as a quasi-natural experiment and empirically investigates the influence of migrant workers returning home for entrepreneurship on ALP and explores its potential mechanism and heterogeneity using county area panel data from 2011–2019. It found the following: Firstly, the policy of migrant workers returning home for entrepreneurship significantly increases ALP. Secondly, migrant workers returning home for entrepreneurship indirectly leads to a rise in ALP through the promotion of agricultural mechanization production. Thirdly, the heterogeneity test demonstrates that migrant workers returning home for entrepreneurship purposes have a significant influence in enhancing ALP in the eastern areas, plains areas and non-agricultural strong areas. The findings of this paper not only provide an important real-world basis for the government to further support migrant workers returning home for entrepreneurship but also provide useful policy insights for the modernization and development of agriculture and rural areas.

With the rapid evolution of the rural digital economy, analyzing the impact of digital literacy level on farm households’ formal borrowing is crucial for easing credit constraints and fostering rural economic growth. Leveraging the data from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies (CFPSs) and applying binary probit models and the Karlson–Holm–Breen (KHB) method, this study delineates the positive correlation between the digital literacy level and increased formal borrowing among farm households. The findings, which were robust against endogeneity and robustness tests, underscore the role of digital literacy level in augmenting farmers’ earnings and social networks, with a notably stronger mediation by earnings. The effects are particularly significant for middle-aged and older, less educated males in the central and western regions, in contrast with younger, highly educated females in the east. This research advocates for enhancing rural digital infrastructure and education, alongside financial system reforms, to advance rural financial development and support sustainable rural revitalization.

Protecting cropland quality is a fundamental national policy that China must adhere to for the long term. This study examines the impact of market-oriented allocation of land factors on farmers’ cropland quality protection behaviors and its mechanism of action, based on survey data from 3804 farm households in the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS). The study employs the Ordered Probit (O-probit) model, the mediated effect model, and other econometric tools to analyze the data. The study found that the market-oriented allocation of land factors can significantly promote farmers’ adoption of cropland quality protection behaviors. The robustness test supports this conclusion. The market-oriented allocation of land factors indirectly promotes the adoption of cropland quality protection by expanding the plot size and improving agricultural income. The analysis of heterogeneity indicates that farmers are more likely to adopt cropland quality protection behaviors in the plains, suburban areas, or areas with better developed labor markets. Therefore, it is essential to continue promoting market-oriented reforms of rural land factors, actively promoting land transfer policies, and guiding the development of agricultural operations towards scaling, specialization, and modernization. This will achieve the rational allocation of land resources. It is important to consider geographical variations in each area when implementing policies to guarantee effective utilization and protection of cropland.

This study explores the influence of household technological advancements on children’s nutritional intake, specifically within the context of the Chinese government’s “Home Appliances Going to the Countryside” (HAGC) initiative. Utilizing data from the China Health and Nutrition Surveys of 2006, 2009, and 2011, we employed a Propensity Score Matching Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) framework to ascertain the repercussions of enhanced household technology on the dynamics of children’s nutritional consumption patterns. Our analysis reveals that the HAGC-inspired integration of household appliances, including color televisions, washing machines, and refrigerators, has beneficially reshaped the nutritional consumption patterns of children, with a pronounced effect among female children. This finding remains consistent even when employing alternate methodological robustness tests. A deeper examination of the HAGC policy’s mechanisms underscores the pivotal roles of parental time allocation, improved food storage capabilities, and augmented information accessibility as significant drivers bolstering children’s nutritional intake. These insights bear considerable significance for strategizing interventions aimed at elevating the nutritional wellbeing of children in rural settings, offering valuable input for shaping public health policies tailored for such demographies.

Effective biosecurity measures are crucial in controlling and preventing major pig diseases, ultimately ensuring farm income and social stability. This study extracted data from 205 farmer surveys in Sichuan Province, China, to construct a biosecurity index system for pig farms. The biosecurity levels of pig farms were evaluated using a projection pursuit method to identify weak areas. The Tobit model was then utilized to determine the factors that influenced the biosecurity levels. The results indicated that the overall biosecurity levels of the pig farms were low. The study found that the average biosecurity score among farms was 0.61, with a minimum score of 0.37 and a maximum score of 0.89 (on a scale of 0 to 1). These results suggest that there are significant differences in biosecurity levels among the farms. The study also found that the scores for first-level indicators related to breeding environment management, as well as second-level indicators related to personnel management and awareness of African swine fever prevention and control, were significantly lower than scores for other indicators in the farmers’ biosecurity systems. This study investigated the factors influencing biosecurity on farms and found that technical training, farm size, income share, production organization, and government inspections had a significant impact on the level of biosecurity implemented. This study emphasizes the significance of biosecurity in enhancing pig farm biosecurity and its role in improving farm resilience to major animal diseases like African swine fever. It also provides valuable insights for policymakers to make informed decisions regarding related policies.