Straw returning has been shown to improve farmland soil, increase crop yield, and reduce global warming. This study investigated the models of six rice straw-returning techniques based on the life cycle assessment method. Compared to the direct modes, the indirect ones showed a greater environmental impact; up to 20.56 times in acidification and emission potentials. There was no significant difference in climate change among the six types. Except for the burning effect, all other modes showed improvement in soil fertility; phosphorus and organic matter content increased by 66.66% and 30.85%, respectively, microbial biomass carbon content doubled (105%), the four organic carbon components increased by >50%, crop morbidity was reduced, and diversity of soil fungus was improved. Feeding, as an indirect method for enhancing soil fertility and economic benefits, is set to emerge as a leading practice in China’s straw management. However, straw-returning technology is limited by cost, greenhouse gases, and increased risk of diseases and pests. There is an urgent need for further improvement and development of carbon sequestration and emission reduction in China’s agriculture.

Although recent years have witnessed a considerable increase in studies on the economic value of ecological products, the extant literature has overlooked the multidimensional enhancement of ecological product value from the perspective of farmers’ well-being. This research aims to examine how the Realization of Ecological Product Value (EPVR) serves as a crucial pathway to promoting the overall well-being of farmers in developing countries. Through a case study of a village in southeastern China, this research reveals that EPVR can enhance farmers’ well-being via various mechanisms as follows: (1) Economic solution to enrich farmers’ livelihood diversity, achieved by leveraging rural resource endowments and comparative advantages; (2) Fair social protection program enabling farmers to enjoy ecological benefits and further achieving urban-rural integration; (3) Environmental protection plan that balances production, living, and ecology; and (4) Grassroots governance tool promoting the governance ability to form collaborative governance model in a community of shared interests. This study offers theoretical support for enhancing human well-being through the realization of ecological product value in rural areas.

Studying the policy effectiveness and impact process of the high-standard farmland construction (HSFC) on the green agricultural development (GAD) provides reference for sustainable development of agriculture. Based on the quasi experimental conditions for the sub regional promotion of China’ s HSFC policy and making use of the balanced panel data from 2004 to 2022 in China, this article diagnoses the level and evolution characteristics of GAD in China, empirically tests the effects of the China’s HSFC policy on the GAD level by the continuous difference-in-differences (DID) model, and then further analyzes the mediating roles of horizontal agricultural production division and land management scale efficiency. The research results indicate that (1) the GAD level of China continues to improve form 2004 to 2022; (2) the HSFC policy has been positively influencing the GAD level, and has gone through a significance level test of 0.01; (3) further study reveals that the HSFC policy promotes the GAD level primarily through the agricultural green technology progress (AGTP) and the agricultural green efficiency change (AGEC), with the AGTP being the main contributor; and (4) the HSFC policy positively influences the GAD level by enhancing horizontal agricultural production division and land management scale efficiency. To improve the level of GAD, it is essential to continuously optimize policy for the HSFC, promote the AGTP and the improvement of the AGEC, and effectively improve the horizontal agricultural production division level and land management scale efficiency.

Concern has been expressed in many parts of the world that community relations in rural areas are breaking down, making issues such as rural environmental degradation harder to resolve without external regulation. Guanxi is a specific Chinese idiom for characterizing social networks, as a broad term to represent existing relations among people, which can be loosely translated as ‘‘relationship’’. Based on a case study of an underdeveloped mountainous area of Southern China, this paper examined the problem from the perspective of guanxi, and explored the impacts of internal group differentiation catalyzed by pig farming pollution and the subsequent influences on the distribution of costs and benefits of different shareholders. It was found that the guanxi in the village were changed from blood relationship centered to economic interest centered. This disparity exerts a significant influence on the distribution of costs and benefits of pollution control and exacerbates environmental inequalities. This means that pig farmers dominated the narrative of pig farming pollution, while the ordinary villagers chose to suffer without protesting, which hinders the advancement of pollution control, and pig farmers took the benefits of weak pollution control and managed to transfer the external cost to others, while others became direct victims. The paper concludes that the rich become richer and the poor become poorer in both economic and environmental perspectives. It is strongly suggested that guanxi should be integrated into the consideration and decision-making process of rural environmental governance in order to guarantee the efficiency and efficacy of its implementation.

As repositories of high-quality ecological resources, rural areas hold significant potential for advancing China's goal of common prosperity. However, a persistent challenge lies in how to leverage these ecological advantages to generate sustained income growth for rural populations. Drawing on a case study of village X in Nanping city, Fujian province, this study explores the mechanism through which Ecological Product Value Realization (EPVR) promotes farmers' income growth. Based on long-term field observation and in-depth interviews, the research adopts a value co-creation perspective to investigate how the collaborative creation and distribution of ecological value drives rural economic outcomes. Findings indicate that the key to linking EPVR with sustained farmer income lies in the establishment of a value co-creation mechanism that emphasizes both sustainability and inclusivity. Specifically, it involves coordinated participation among multiple stakeholders, including government agencies, enterprises, village collectives, and villagers, across four interconnected processes: (1) Consensus-building, through which actors align on shared goals for ecological resource utilization; (2) Value symbiosis, which facilitates collaborative development of ecological products and associated services; (3) Benefit-sharing, ensuring fair and transparent distribution of ecological gains to foster trust and long-term engagement; and (4) Sustainable realization, which institutionalizes practices and builds capacities to secure long-term ecological and economic value. Through the value co-creation mechanism, farmers are positioned not merely as passive beneficiaries but as active participants in value generation and distribution, enabling them to share more equitably in the added value of ecological products. This study provides a novel perspective and practical pathway for sustaining farmers' income growth, offering insights for advancing rural revitalization and achieving a broader goal of common prosperity.