Impact and mechanism of digital technology on the synergistic governance of pollution control and carbon reduction in agriculture

Promoting carbon reduction and pollution control in agriculture in a coordinated manner is an inevitable way to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. The deep integration of modern digital technology and the agricultural economy brings new opportunities for the ecological revitalization of rural areas. Targeting the key links of agricultural emission reduction and carbon sequestration, this study established a theoretical analysis framework for the internal efficiency improvement and emission reduction in agricultural production, as well as the external land transfer and energy structure transformation in agricultural operation. The panel data of 30 provinces from 2005 to 2022 were used to calculate the synergistic benefits of pollution control and carbon reduction in agriculture from the perspective of marginal emission reduction costs. The bidirectional fixed effects model was adopted to verify the influencing effects and paths of digital technology on the synergistic governance of pollution control and carbon reduction in agriculture. The results showed that the efficient, precise, and intelligent characteristics of digital technology promoted the coordinated governance of pollution control and carbon reduction in agriculture. This conclusion still holds true after a series of robustness tests and the elimination of endogeneity problems. The results of the internal mechanism test showed that digital technology could reduce the usage of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and agricultural films and save irrigation water, achieving the reduction of factor input and improving agricultural production efficiency. The results of the external mechanism test showed that digital technology helped to achieve coordinated governance of pollution control and carbon reduction in agriculture through paths that promoted land transfer and accelerated the transformation of rural energy structure. The results of the heterogeneity analysis indicated that digital technology had a stronger effect of enhancing synergistic benefits in the areas with a high degree of industrial integration and major grain-consuming regions. To build a green and intelligent agricultural ecological civilization, this paper proposes, based on the research results, policy suggestions including deepening the innovation and application of digital infrastructure, strengthening the enabling role of digital technology in land system reform, and promoting the utilization of livestock and poultry manure resources.