Agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) is a crucial indicator of the green development of agriculture. Agricultural socialized services (AS) provide services for the agricultural production process and they promote the effective input of production factors, such as science and technology, talent, information, and capital, into the agricultural production chain, deepening the division of labor and injecting vitality into agricultural development. We measured AEE based on field research data in Jiangxi Province, China. We also constructed an endogenous switching model to explore the impact of AS on AEE. Our results show that, based on the counterfactual assumption, the AEE increased by 13.19% among farmers who adopted the services compared to those who did not. From the perspective of scale and structural differences, the larger the scale of agricultural cultivation, the stronger the impact of AS on AEE. Furthermore, a large share of cash crops was found to inhibit the impact of AS on AEE. We also investigated whether farmers in close proximity to each other affect their neighbors through knowledge dissemination and technology spillover. The extent of the impact of AS on AEE depended on distance thresholds: it was more pronounced when we increased the distance threshold. Our results suggest that the government should improve the AS system, provide more public welfare services, and appropriately subsidize AS organizations. The AS for food crops should be emphasized; however, those for cash crops should not be ignored.

Reducing agricultural carbon emissions (ACEs) is critical to achieving green agriculture in China. Chinese agriculture has long faced the dilemma of large numbers of people and small landholdings, as well as low-quality arable land. As a result, agricultural production relies heavily on inputs of agricultural chemicals to boost yields, damaging the rural environment. In this study, we use provincial panel data from China and a spatial difference-in-differences model to explore the influence of rural land consolidation policy (RLCP) on ACEs and their spatial spillover effects. The results show that the global Moran’s I of ACEs reflected a downward trend, the spatial correlation gradually weakened, and ACEs developed from a state of polarization to one of balance. RLCP has had a significant reduction and a negative spatial spillover effect on ACEs. Our analysis of the mechanism shows that rural land consolidation promoted the reduction of ACEs by improving the quality of farmland soil and the utilization rate of water resources. Under different geographical conditions, the construction of rural land consolidation has had a significant ACE reduction effect on both the south and the north, although RLCP in southern China has had a negative spatial spillover effect.

Based on the 2021 Jiangxi rural survey data, this paper employs the Alkire–Foster (A-F) method to measure the multidimensional relative poverty index of farmers. Using linear regression and mediation effect models, we empirically analyze the impact and mechanism of land certification on farmers’ multidimensional relative poverty. The results indicate that land certification significantly reduces the overall level of multidimensional relative poverty among farmers. It has a notable positive effect on the allocation of credit, land, labor, and capital factors, effectively encouraging farmers to increase their agricultural investments, expand farmland transfers, and enhance agricultural labor input. Furthermore, farmland certification exerts an indirect effect on multidimensional relative poverty by inhibiting poverty through the allocation of these production factors. Specifically, credit, labor, and capital allocation play partial mediating roles, while land allocation serves as a complete mediator. Based on these findings, recommendations are put forward to further implement the “separation of three land rights” policy, adopt targeted measures for different types of poverty among farmers, and improve factor markets at the county level as soon as possible.

Introduction: This study investigates the impact of non-agricultural employment on food consumption upgrading among rural residents and examines the underlying mechanisms. Methods: Based on data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS), the analysis employs a binary logit model, mediation analysis, an instrumental variable approach, and propensity score matching to empirically assess how non-agricultural employment influences improvements in food consumption structure and quality. Results: The results demonstrate that non-agricultural employment exerts a significant positive effect on both structural and qualitative aspects of rural residents’ food consumption, a finding that remains robust across multiple sensitivity tests. Mediation analysis reveals that this effect is transmitted through enhanced health awareness and improved information acquisition capacity—two key pathways linking employment to dietary improvement. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates that the magnitude of this promoting effect varies significantly across age groups and educational levels, highlighting differential responsiveness within the rural population. Discussion: These findings suggest that expanding non-agricultural employment opportunities for rural laborers, strengthening public education on nutrition and food safety, improving rural information infrastructure and market service systems, and implementing targeted guidance strategies can effectively unlock the latent potential for food consumption upgrading. Such measures are essential for advancing dietary modernization and fostering integrated rural revitalization.

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.