Environmental regulation is the basis for achieving green agricultural development, and urban-rural integration is the key to optimizing the allocation of agricultural elements and achieving sustainable agricultural development. This paper aims to investigate the spatial spillover effect of environmental regulation on China’s agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) and examine the mediating effect of the urban-rural income gap. Both the Super-SBM-DEA model and the Global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index are used to account for the AGTFP of China’s 30 provinces, and the spatial Durbin model and the mediating effect model are used to analyze the impact of environmental regulation. We found that firstly, during the sample period, China’s AGTFP has increased with an average annual growth rate of 3.27%, which is mainly promoted by agricultural green technology progress (AGTC). Secondly, both the direct and spatial effects of environmental regulation on AGTFP show a significant “U”-shaped feature and have regional heterogeneity based on differences in economic development levels and factor endowments. Thirdly, there is an “inverted U”-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and the urban-rural income gap, and the urban-rural income gap negatively affects AGTFP. Based on the empirical results, we propose that the Chinese government should pay attention to green technology innovation, break the market segmentation, promote urban-rural integration, and then promote the AGTFP.

Vulnerability to food poverty is the probability of an individual falling below the food poverty line in the near future, which provides a forward-looking welfare analysis. Applying a nationally representative survey dataset, this study investigates the role of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) in reducing food poverty and vulnerability among the rural elderly with chronic diseases. By designing province-specific food poverty lines to account for variations in the elderly’s needs, as well as the prices across provinces using a least-cost linear programming approach, the food poverty incidences among the elderly with chronic diseases are calculated. Applying a three-stage feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) procedure, the vulnerability to food poverty is estimated. Our results show that food poverty incidence and vulnerability of the elderly with chronic diseases in rural China is 41.9% and 35% respectively, which is 8% and 6% higher, respectively, than the elderly that are in good health. To address the potential endogeneity of pension payment, a fuzzy regression discontinuity (RD) regression is employed to investigate the effects of pension income on food poverty and vulnerability for different population groups. We found that pension income decreases the probability of being food poor and the vulnerability to food poverty among the elderly with chronic diseases by 12.9% and 16.8% respectively, while it has no significant effect on the elderly in good health.

Exploring the effect and mechanism of farmland transfer on agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) in China is of great significance for exerting the effectiveness of China’s farmland transfer policy and promoting green agricultural development. Based on panel data from 30 provinces from 2005 to 2020, this paper applies a two-way fixed effects model to analyze the impact of farmland transfer on AGTFP, and the mechanism of farmland transfer on AGTFP is also investigated. We find that farmland transfer has a significant and sound promoting effect on AGTFP, with respect to multiple robustness checks; there is heterogeneity regarding the impact of farmland transfer on AGTFP in terms of food functions, and farmland transfer can promote regional AGTFP through nonagricultural labor transfer and agricultural technology utilization. When considering the fact that farmland transfer has increased China’s AGTFP, the Chinese government should continue to adhere to the farmland transfer policy, accelerate nonagricultural labor transfer, improve the level of agricultural technology utilization, and ultimately promote green agricultural development.

The integrated development of agriculture and tourism is an effective driving force to boost farmers’ income. We utilize a quasi-natural experiment design to test how such integrated development promotes the comprehensive rural revitalization. By adopting a panel dataset of 72 counties within Guangxi province from 2005 to 2020 and a PSM-DID method, we attempt to explore the effect of the integrated development of agriculture and tourism on farmers’ income growth. The empirical results support our hypothesis that the integrated development of agriculture and tourism can effectively promote farmers’ income growth and its regional heterogeneity with respect to tourism resource endowment and economic development level. We further discuss the transmission mechanism of the integrated development of agriculture and tourism and reveal that the agricultural technology level and agricultural production efficiency have mediating effects on improving farmers’ income growth. However, a masking effect exists between the integrated development of agriculture and tourism and the level of non-agricultural employment. The possible reason is that industrial and commercial capital investment has crowded out the welfare originally belonging to the wage income and only allowed farmers to obtain the one-time land rent income.

Agri-ecological policy and human capital are important factors affecting agricultural green technology progress (AGTP), but the related research is relatively insufficient. This paper contributes to existing research through new insights on the effect of agri-ecological policy on AGTP, using human capital as a moderating variable. We use the Super-efficiency SBM-DEA model to measure AGTP in 30 provinces of China during 2000–2019, and use a two-way fixed effects model to analyze the nonlinear effect of agri-ecological policy on AGTP and the moderating role of human capital. The results show that there is a “U”-shaped relationship between agri-ecological policy and AGTP, where human capital plays a positive moderating role. Intermediate human capital and advanced human capital can significantly moderate the impact of agri-ecological policy on AGTP, while the moderating role of primary human capital is not significant. The “U”-shaped relationship between agri-ecological policy and AGTP involves some heterogeneity based on differences in grain function and the two sides of the Hu Huanyong line.

As an important means of farmland policy, whether land transfer can promote agricultural green transformation is worthy of further study; however, related research is relatively rare. Based on the inter-provincial panel data from 2005 to 2020, this paper examines the influence of land transfer on agricultural green transformation and its underlying mechanism by using a two-way fixed effect model and an intermediary effect model. This study reveals significant findings as follows: (1) Land transfer substantially promotes agricultural green transformation. (2) Energy consumption is a major contributor to the growth of agricultural carbon emissions; however, land transfer can mitigate this by reducing energy consumption. (3) Land transfer can promote agricultural green transformation by fostering agricultural technology progress. (4) Further analysis reveals that land transfer in economically developed areas and the southeastern side of the “Hu-Huanyong Line” significantly enhances agricultural green transformation. Based on these findings, this paper suggests promoting land transfer while considering regional differences. Additionally, attention should be directed towards reducing energy consumption and encouraging agricultural technology’s progress.