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China’s agricultural non-point source pollution and green growth: interaction and spatial spillover

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Abstract

Based on the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2019, a spatial simultaneous equation model is used to study the two-way interaction and spatial spillover between non-point source pollution and agricultural green development. The results show that (1) non-point source pollution is the most significant hindering factor for agricultural green development, agricultural green development can reduce non-point source pollution, and non-point source pollution and agricultural green development have significant spatial spillover effects respectively. (2) Yield development target is an important internal factor influencing the relationship between agricultural green development transition and non-point source pollution. Environmental regulation and agricultural R&D stock promote agricultural green development but also aggravate non-point source pollution. Production scale cannot promote agricultural green development but can help reduce non-point source pollution. (3) Urbanization and agricultural trade dependence both promote the green development of agriculture, while farmers' income and agricultural machinery strength increase and reduce non-point source pollution respectively. To promote the agricultural non-point source pollution treatment and green development, we should strengthen the protection of agricultural resources and the monitoring of agricultural environment and change the production relations of small farmers.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CXTD2021013-3), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41801205).

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Contributions

Biaowen Xu: initial idea, sampling, conceptualization, writing.

Yiran Niu: conceptualization, methodology, writing.

Yining Zhang: review and editing.

Lu Zhang: interpretation, writing, review and editing.

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Correspondence to Lu Zhang.

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Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Xu B. and Niu Y. contribute equally to this work.

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Xu, B., Niu, Y., Zhang, Y. et al. China’s agricultural non-point source pollution and green growth: interaction and spatial spillover. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 60278–60288 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20128-x

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