Insufficient rainfall in the dry season and scarcity of surface water has resulted in firms’ reliance on groundwater for agriculture in the northern part of Bangladesh. Most irrigation systems in the country are diesel or electric, which raises the cost and demand for energy and pollutes the environment. Utilizing the abundant sunshine and disseminating solar-based irrigation systems is expected to be a fittingly rewarding experience for irrigation purposes. Therefore, this study identifies the factors influencing the adoption of solar irrigation facilities (SIFs) and the impacts of their adoption on irrigation cost, return on investment (ROI), and production costs, using survey data collected from 405 rice farmers of Dinajpur district. The study employed three treatment effect estimators, namely inverse probability weighting (IPW), regression adjustment (RA), and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA), to address the potential selection bias issue. The results revealed that farming experience, knowledge, environmental awareness, soil fertility, and irrigation machinery ownership significantly influenced adoption decisions. The treatment effect model result indicated that farmers who adopted this method could minimize irrigation costs by 1.88 to 2.22%, obtain 4.48 to 8.16% higher ROI, and reduce total production cost by 0.06 to 0.98% compared to non-adopters. Our findings suggested that policy interventions targeting scaling up SIFs should consider focusing on government and stakeholders’ greater attention on designing more appropriate schemes through experimentation and multiple iterations.

Due to the combined effect of biotic and abiotic constraints, rising population pressure, and inelastic demand in the crop and horticulture sector, Bangladesh has had to adopt heavily subsidized and intensified fertilizer policies to enhance crop productivity, achieve and sustain self-sufficiency in food production, and food security provision. Although the initiative has played a vital role in boosting production, it has also invigorated the unbalanced amount of fertilizer application practices raising questions about maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services while feeding the nation’s population. Further research in this area must thus be applied to monitor and improve this sector. This study attempts to understand the issue by investigating the factors influencing Boro rice farmers’ adoption decisions of recommended fertilizer doses. The study employs an ordered probit model with a sample selection approach. The investigation is based on collected data from 405 randomly selected farmers using a face-to-face interview method. The farmers were classified into low, middle, high and non-adopter groups. The study revealed that farmers’ age, land typology, soil water retention, knowledge, and availability of cow dung significantly influenced farmers’ decision to apply fertilizers. However, farmers’ carry an aversion to following recommendations for fertilizer application due to their ambiguity about the whole system, their current fertilizer application-seeking behavior, and the lack of understanding of the environmental benefits of adoption. These issues urge policy interventions to initiate village-based demonstration programs that synthesize better synergies between recommended dose adoption, yield amelioration, sustainable soil care, and economics.

Improving resource use efficiency is an effective way to accelerate the realization of “carbon emission peak” and “carbon neutrality.” To perform a thorough analysis of the temporal and spatial variations in Zhejiang’s agricultural sustainable development, the present study adopted the entropy weight TOPSIS method and built a RUE-based evaluation index system for sustainable agriculture. The system covered six evaluation aspects: agricultural resource endowment, the agricultural production and agricultural science and technology levels, and ecological, economic, and social benefits. Based hereon, the present study evaluated the agricultural sustainable development of Zhejiang province from 2013 to 2019, and that of its 11 prefecture-level cities and 25 national agricultural sustainable development pilot demonstration zones in 2019. The results showed that chronologically, Zhejiang made steady progress in its agricultural sustainable development from 2013 to 2019, despite slight fluctuations, and spatially, evident regional disparities were found across its 11 prefecture-level cities and 25 pilot demonstration zones. Moreover, resource use efficiency had a significant impact on agricultural sustainable development. Zhejiang’s practices in the efficient use of cultivated land, water resources, forest resources, agricultural labor force, agricultural material goods, and agricultural science and technology offer valuable references for sustainable agriculture worldwide.

Agricultural green development is crucial for achieving the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, with the digital technology revolution acting as a catalyst for both China’s green agricultural transformation and global sustainable development efforts. This study utilizes panel data from 30 Chinese provinces (including autonomous regions and municipalities) from 2012 to 2022 to assess the digitalization level and agricultural green development through a combined entropy weight and TOPSIS method. It also investigates the spatial agglomeration of agricultural green development using Moran’s I index and empirically evaluates the impact of digitalization on agricultural green development through OLS and spatial Durbin models. The findings reveal that, while China’s agricultural green development has progressed slowly yet steadily during the study period, it demonstrates significant spatial agglomeration, driven primarily by agricultural production efficiency and resource recycling. Notably, a non-linear U-shaped relationship exists between digitalization and agricultural green development, suggesting that digitalization fosters agricultural green development only after surpassing a certain threshold. Additionally, digitalization has spatial spillover effects: advancements in neighboring provinces correlate with local agricultural green development in a U-shaped manner, with an initial “siphon effect” followed by a “trickle-down effect.” These insights inform policy recommendations aimed at optimizing the use of digital technology to facilitate green agricultural transformation, offering valuable guidance for policymakers.

Introduction: Informal land transactions remain prevalent in transitioning economies and constrain efficient land allocation. While prior studies emphasise supply-side explanations, little is known about whether demand-side shocks can promote market formalisation. Focusing on rural China, this paper examines the effect of the emergence of New Agricultural Operators ( NAO s) on the formalisation of land rental markets. Methods: Drawing on nationally representative panel data from 23,105 households, we estimate a Heckman selection model to address sample selection in land leasing decisions and identify the effect of NAO entry on rental pricing and contract formalisation. Results: We find that NAO entry significantly increases the probability that lessors charge monetary rent and use written contracts. Mechanism analyses reveal two channels. The first is a “Lessee Substitution” effect: NAO s provide lessors with an outside option that reduces dependence on acquaintance-based leasing. The second is a “Spillover” effect: NAO s establish local price benchmarks and weaken monopsony power, inducing lessors to demand market-based terms even from relatives. We further document a “Hybrid Governance Structure,” under which clan norms do not obstruct price formation but partially substitute for formal contractual enforcement. Discussion: The findings demonstrate that demand-side actors can play a pivotal role in land market development. Policy should therefore place greater emphasis on cultivating new agricultural business entities and improving local price discovery institutions to accelerate the modernisation of customary land markets.