Spatio-temporal Evolution And Influencing Factors Of Carbon Emission Efficiency Of Soybean Production In China

Agriculture is the basic industry of China’s national economy.The negative externalities of the traditional extensive production mode of “high input,high consumption and high pollution” have become increasingly obvious,making agriculture the second largest source of carbon emissions in China.Developing low-carbon agriculture is an effective way for China to break resource and environmental constraints,enhance its ability to adapt to climate change and build an agricultural power.Soybeans is China’s major food crop and oil crop.The low self-sufficiency rate of soybean has become a weak link to ensure national food security.In recent years,China has taken a number of measures to promote domestic soybean production.However,the expansion of soybean production has been accompanied by increased pressure on carbon emissions.Accelerating the promotion of low-carbon soybean production is of great significance for ensuring food security and promoting the low-carbon development of agriculture.Given this situation,this study measured the carbon emission efficiency of soybean production in China,and analyzed its spatio-temporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors,in order to provide theoretical basis and data support for the formulation of low-carbon soybean production policies.This study explored the carbon emission efficiency of soybean production and its influencing factors both in China as a whole and in the main soybean producing areas.Firstly,the evaluation index system of carbon emission efficiency of soybean production was constructed and the super-SBM model based on undesired output and the Malmquist index model were used to estimate the carbon emission efficiency of soybean production in China and main soybean producing areas,then the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics were explored by GIS spatial analysis method.Secondly,a Tobit panel regression model and a Geodetector were used to explore the factors influencing the carbon emission efficiency of soybean production.Finally,based on the results of empirical analysis,the author put forward some suggestions to promote low carbon soybean production.The main findings of the study are as follows:(1)Within the study period,the carbon emission efficiency of soybean production in China showed a fluctuating upward trend of “first decreasing and then increasing”,which was at a relatively low level and had a large room for improvement.The variation ratio of carbon emission efficiency in main soybean producing areas showed significant differences.The carbon emission efficiency of soybean production in Inner Mongolia,Anhui and Hebei were rising,while the other regions experienced a significant decrease.In most main soybean producing areas,technological advances in production have contributed to the improvement of carbon emission efficiency.The spatial difference of carbon emission efficiency in main soybean producing areas was obvious and continued to expand.Inner Mongolia and Shandong had the highest carbon emission efficiency in main soybean producing areas,while Shaanxi and Shanxi had low carbon emission efficiency and their soybean production methods are in urgent need of improvement.(2)The analysis of influencing factors of carbon emission efficiency of soybean production showed that the structure of grain cultivation,the level of agricultural mechanization and the intensity of environmental regulations were significantly positively correlated with the carbon emission efficiency of soybean production;the level of basic education of rural labor had a remarkable negative effect on the carbon emission efficiency of soybean production.Moreover,the interaction detection results of influencing factors indicated that the spatial difference of carbon emission efficiency of soybean production was the result of multiple factors.The influencing factors of soybean production carbon emission efficiency were spatiotemporal heterogeneity.The promoting effects of rural economy development and agricultural mechanization on carbon emission efficiency of soybean production increased with time.It is important to develop agricultural machinery and strengthen environmental regulation to promote low-carbon soybean production in low efficiency area.(3)Based on the research results and the actual situation of soybean production in China,this study proposed some countermeasures and suggestions to promote low-carbon soybean production in China from five aspects: developing low-carbon soybean production technologies,formulating scientific environmental regulation policies,unleashing the vitality of soybean production factors,elevating the quality of rural labor force and paying attention to regional differences and cooperation,so as to provide a reference for solving the contradiction between increasing soybean production and carbon emission reduction.