Improvement of Agricultural Supply Quality in China: Evidence from Jiangsu Province

Promoting the reform of the agricultural supply side and its quality improvement are crucial for realizing agricultural modernization. This paper tests the varied trajectory of agricultural total factor productivity (ATFP) in Jiangsu Province over the past 21 years. The paper used the three-stage DEA empirical analysis method—Stochastic Frontier Approach (SFA), to address the uncertainty in the development of the agricultural industry. The paper introduces environmental variables such as urbanization level, import and export trade, financial support for agriculture, and transportation convenience. The research results show that: (1) the ATFP growth in Jiangsu Province presents a fluctuating trend; (2) The further sub-index research of ATFP in Jiangsu Province shows that the average rate of growth for agricultural technology efficiency (AEC) in Jiangsu is negative, indicating that the input cost of agricultural factors in Jiangsu increases and marginal efficiency decreases; (3) The empirical analysis of ATFP growth by region shows that there are still large differences in agricultural economic development level, the level of modern agricultural technology and ATFP in the southern, the central and the northern parts of Jiangsu. (4) Stage III: DEA empirical results showed that improving urbanization level, net export trade, and transportation convenience is conducive to improving agricultural production efficiency; financial support for agriculture is weakly conducive to improving agricultural production efficiency. On this basis, the paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions to promote agricultural structural reform.