Analysis Of Agricultural Technical Efficiency And Its Influencing Factors In Henan Province

As a traditional agricultural province,Henan Province contributes 1/10 th of the country’s grain and 1/4th of the wheat despite accounting for only 1/16 th of the country’s arable land.In recent years,its grain output has maintained stability at over130 billion kg,playing a pivotal role in the country’s grain supply security and earning the reputation of being the "breadbasket of the Central Plains".Despite this,Henan Province is still encountering hurdles in its transition from a large agricultural province to a strong one.Firstly,agriculture itself is beset by weakness,instability,and externalities.Secondly,with the increase in population and rapid urbanization,agricultural resources are exhibiting a declining trend in terms of both quantity and quality.Relying on limitless inputs of agricultural production factors cannot fundamentally solve the conflicts between agricultural growth and resources’ affordability and environmental protection,as well as the ones between agriculture’s inherent characteristics and social and economic development.Therefore,agricultural production methods need to be transformed,agricultural technological progress should be harnessed,and technological efficiency must be improved to promote high-quality and sustainable development for agriculture.This paper utilizes panel data on agricultural inputs and outputs of 18 provincial cities in Henan Province from 2013 to 2020 to analyze the current state of agricultural production in terms of agricultural inputs and outputs.Subsequently,the measured agricultural technical efficiency of each city in Henan Province was employed as the explanatory variable,while six factors,including the effective irrigation rate,level of agricultural mechanization,rural household income level,urbanization rate,education input level,were selected as explanatory variables.The fixed-effects model was adopted to analyze the factors influencing agricultural technical efficiency in Henan Province.The study reveals that the mean value of agricultural technical efficiency in Henan Province is 0.643,indicating that the level of development is relatively low.Although an overall fluctuating upward trend was observed during the observation period,the speed of development remained slow.In the inter-regional analysis of technical efficiency,regions with better economic development levels were found to have relatively low technical efficiency.The fixed-effects model showed that four factors significantly positively influenced agricultural technical efficiency in Henan Province,including the effective irrigation rate,level of agricultural mechanization,rural household income,and urbanization rate.Suggestions for countermeasures are as follows: First,improve the coverage of effective irrigation to enhance agricultural technical efficiency.Second,enhance agricultural science and technology innovation,encourage the promotion and application of agricultural science and technology,and effectively improve the level of agricultural mechanization.Third,facilitate various channels to increase farmers’ income and bolster their enthusiasm for agricultural production.Fourth,encourage the scientific integration of urban and rural areas and promote the rational allocation of urban and rural resources.