Over the past 4 decades, China has experienced a nutritional transition and has developed the largest population of internet users. In this study, we evaluated the impacts of internet access on the nutritional intake in Chinese rural residents. An IV-Probit-based propensity score matching method was used to determine the impact of internet access on nutritional intake. The data were collected from 10,042 rural households in six Chinese provinces. The results reveal that rural residents with internet access have significantly higher energy, protein, and fat intake than those without. Chinese rural residents with internet access consumed 1.35% (28.62 kcal), 5.02% (2.61 g), and 4.33% (3.30 g) more energy, protein, and fat, respectively. There was heterogeneity in regard to the intake of energy, protein, and fat among those in different income groups. Moreover, non-staple food consumption is the main channel through which internet access affects nutritional intake. The results demonstrate that the local population uses the internet to improve their nutritional status. Further studies are required to investigate the impact of internet use on food consumed away from home and micronutrient intake.

Ending hunger, achieving food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture are the main targets of sustainable development goals. It is well known that cropland resources are the most essential factor in achieving sustainable development goals. However, China has been facing the problem of a continuous reduction in cropland resources. Reducing the abandonment of cropland has become an important way to curb the reduction in cropland resources. Can agricultural machinery harvesting services reduce cropland abandonment in rural China? To answer this scientific question, this study employs the Survey for Agriculture and Village Economy data from 8345 samples of 12 provinces in rural China. The extended regression models (i.e., the extended probit regression model and the extended interval regression model) are used to empirically analyze the relationship between agricultural machinery harvesting services accessed by farmers and cropland abandonment. The results are as follows. Agricultural machinery harvesting services accessed by farmers significantly reduced the probability of cropland abandonment and the proportion of the area of abandoned cropland in farmers’ contracted cropland area decreased by 18.5% and 20.3%, respectively. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis results showed that farmers’ access to agricultural machinery harvesting services significantly reduced cropland abandonment in small-scale groups, without elderly households, with nonagricultural income groups, and in the eastern region. This study also provides some policy implications for policymakers to reduce cropland abandonment in rural China.

The transformation of agricultural production modes is an inevitable trend in China’s agricultural development. It is important to study the willingness of smallholder farmers to adjust their agricultural production modes to promote the transformation of China’s agricultural production modes. Agricultural production services are an effective way to realize the organic linkage between smallholder farmers and modern agriculture. To analyze the impact of agricultural production services on smallholder farmers’ willingness to adjust their agricultural production modes, this study uses data from a thematic study of 590 smallholder farmers in the Huang–Huai–Hai regions in 2022 to measure the extent of smallholder farmers’ full-cycle adoption of agricultural production services from the perspective of regional cropping systems for the first time and analyzes the impact of agricultural production services on farmers’ willingness to adjust their agricultural production modes. The study results show that the extent of full-cycle adoption of agricultural production services significantly affects farmers’ willingness to adjust their agricultural production modes. For each unit increase in the extent of full-cycle adoption of agricultural production services in line with the regional cropping system, the probability of farmers choosing “farmland transfer” and “agricultural production trusteeship” becomes 11.31 and 7.24 times higher than that of choosing “self-growing”, respectively. Based on the research results, this paper proposes the following countermeasures: first, we should pay more attention to the supply and demand of agricultural production services, especially to support the key weak links in developing agricultural production services for the process of grain production. Second, we should undertake more active and effective publicity measures to make full use of expressions that are acceptable to farmers to improve their understanding of productive agricultural services further and enhance their willingness to adopt productive agricultural services.

Introduction: With the rise of the digital economy, e-commerce has become a significant driver of agricultural modernization, offering opportunities to increase farmers’ income by expanding sales channels, reducing transaction costs, and enhancing product value. However, despite growing empirical research, disparities remain in the research findings, and the impact and mechanisms of farmers’ involvement in e-commerce operations on their income require further investigation.Methods: This study utilizes the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey to both theoretically and empirically examine the impact of farmers’ participation in e-commerce on their total household income, while also exploring the mechanisms driving this relationship.Results: (1) The empirical results of the endogenous switching regression model show that farmers’ participation in e-commerce operations can increase their income. This conclusion remains robust after applying winsorization, the instrumental variable approach, and core variable substitution. (2) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that, under the counterfactual hypothesis, if non-e-commerce households were to participate in e-commerce operations, their average treatment effect in the low-income group would be greater than that in the high-income group. That is, their increase in household income would be larger than that of the corresponding high-income group, suggesting that farmers’ participation in e-commerce would reduce income disparities among farmers. (3) Mechanism analysis indicates that farmers’ participation in e-commerce operations promotes income growth primarily through three channels: enhancing information acquisition capacity, promoting social participation, and saving operating costs.Discussion: Therefore, this study recommends that the government refine policymaking to facilitate the integration of small-scale agricultural operators into emerging e-commerce models and establish a robust institutional support system. Additionally, efforts should focus on optimizing the rural e-commerce environment, enhancing farmers’ digital awareness and social participation efficiency, and supporting their engagement in e-commerce. Lastly, strengthening rural digital skills education, cultivating and retaining e-commerce talent, and fostering sustained income growth for farmers.

This study employs panel data and a dynamic Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model to investigate the habit formation effect of food consumption among Chinese rural residents and its consequential impact on nutritional intake. The dataset, spanning from 2012 to 2018, encompasses nine provinces in China and involves 5390 rural households. The findings reveal that, excluding beef, mutton, and poultry, there are significant habit formation effect on the consumption of food categories, notably grains, vegetables, and edible oils. Lower-income and younger demographics demonstrate a more pronounced reliance on established dietary habits. Influenced by the habit formation effect, there is a substantial reduction in the income elasticity differences across various food types. Overlooking the habit formation effect in food consumption would lead to an underestimation of the income elasticity of energy, fat, and carbohydrates. This suggests that, over the long term, food consumption habit formation is a pivotal factor in enabling the enhancement of residents’ dietary structures, amplifying the incremental energy intake associated with income increases, and accelerating the transition towards nutritional surplus. The conclusions drawn from this study offer valuable insights for ensuring food security and nutritional balance. Policy-makers of food and nutrition strategies should duly consider the habit formation effect on residents’ food consumption, and seek to optimize dietary patterns and promote nutritional transformation by food consumption habit intervention.