This paper attempts to explore the overall impact of its rural digitization process on agricultural carbon emissions and non-point source pollution in the context of China. By doing so, we analyze whether digitization has an impact on agricultural pollution reduction, analyze its conductive mechanism, and draw its policy implications. To this end, the paper innovatively incorporates new digital infrastructure and urbanization level into of the concept of agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) and adopts the SBM-DEA model, entropy weighting method, and mixed regression to analyze, based on the sample data of the 30 provinces of China from 2011 to 2020. The results indicate that: (1) new digital infrastructure has a significant contribution to the improvement of AEE of China; (2) both information infrastructure and integration infrastructure have a significant positive effect on AEE, and the effect of information infrastructure is more effective, but there is an inverted “U”-shaped relationship between innovation infrastructure and AEE level; (3) the moderating effect mechanism suggests that the level of urbanization reinforces the contribution of new digital infrastructure to AEE; and (4) the heterogeneity test shows that the effect of new digital infrastructure on AEE is more significant in regions with well-developed traditional transportation facilities and in periods when the government pays more attention to agricultural ecological issues. The above results also provide rich insights for China and other similar developing countries on how to balance the agriculture digitization and AEE.

This study conducts a comprehensive analysis of China’s digital village construction, emphasizing its role in rural organizational governance, from bureaucracies to self-governance bodies to market forces and social organizations. Utilizing sample data from 30 provinces from 2014 to 2020, the study dissects the dynamics and diversity of multi-level governance in bolstering agroecological efficiency (AEE). Notable insights include a significant positive correlation between digital villages and AEE. However, it wanes in an “inverted U” pattern beyond a digital development index of 0.8. Furthermore, rural bureaucrats and self-governing entities independently advance AEE, while market forces and social organizations require enhancement. These findings contribute to the field of digital village construction and inform sustainable agricultural strategies in developing nations.

Agricultural carbon emission is an significant cause of global climate change and many environmental and health problems. Achieving low-carbon and green development in agriculture is not only an inevitable choice for countries around the world to cope with climate change and the accompanying environmental and health problems, but also a necessary path for the sustainable development of global agriculture. The promotion of rural industrial integration is a practical way to realize sustainable agricultural growth and urban–rural integration development. The analysis framework of agriculture GTFP is creatively extended in this study to include the integration and growth of rural industries, rural human capital investment and rural land transfer. According to the sample data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020 and the systematic GMM estimation method, and through the combination of theoretical analysis and empirical testing, this paper discusses the influence mechanism of rural industrial integration development on agriculture GTFP growth, as well as the regulating role of rural human capital investment and rural land transfer. The results show that rural industrial integration has significantly promoted the growth of agriculture GTFP. Additionally, after decomposing agriculture GTFP into the agricultural green technology progress index and agricultural green technology efficiency index, it is found that rural industrial integration has a more obvious role in promoting agricultural green technology progress. Furthermore, quantile regression found that with the increase in agricultural GTFP, the promoting effect of rural industrial integration showed an “inverted U-shaped” feature. Through heterogeneity testing, it is found that the agriculture GTFP growth effect of rural industrial integration is more obvious in areas with high level of rural industrial integration. Additionally, as the nation places more and more focus on rural industrial integration, the promotion role of rural industrial integration has become more and more obvious. The moderating effect test showed that health, education and training, migration of rural human capital investment and rural land transfer all strengthened the promoting effect of rural industrial integration on agricultural GTFP growth to varying degrees. This study provides rich policy insights for China and other developing countries around the world to address global climate change and many related environmental and monitoring issues by developing rural industrial integration, strengthening rural human capital investment and promoting agricultural land transfer to achieve sustainable agricultural growth and reduce undesirable output outputs such as agricultural carbon emissions.

Based on the factor endowment theory and the agriculture-induced technological innovation theory, this study examines the impact of high-standard farmland construction (HFC) on agricultural ecological efficiency (AEE) and sustainable agricultural development. Using empirical data from 30 provinces in China between 2005 and 2022, it explores how high-standard farmland construction techniques can enhance AEE, considering factor endowment preferences and geographical characteristics. Empirical research indicates that high-standard farmland significantly enhances AEE, particularly in the eastern region, the main grain-producing areas, and the regions with less geographical fluctuation. Additionally, agricultural innovations, capital accumulation, and land circulation reinforce the benefits of such construction, whereas labor mobility has a moderating effect. Quantile regression analyses show that the impact of HFC on AEE initially increases and then diminishes, potentially due to inadequate post-management and maintenance. Consequently, the study recommends that the government enhance policy support and supervision for high-standard farmland projects, integrate agricultural technology with capital accumulation, optimize human resource allocation, guide labor mobility, and reform land transfer systems to boost AEE and sustainability.