Coupling and Coordination Analysis of Digital Economy and Green Agricultural Development: Evidence from Major Grain Producing Areas in China

Analyzing the coupled coordination of the digital economy (DE) and agricultural green development (AGD) and exploring the main influencing factors affecting their coupled coordination are key to achieving high-quality and sustainable development in agriculture. These measures are also crucial for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this study, we constructed a comprehensive evaluation system including two subsystems, DE and AGD, and firstly measured the development of DE and AGD and their trends in 13 provinces in China’s main grain-producing areas during the decade from 2012 to 2021 using EW-TOPSIS. Secondly, the coupling coordination development (CCD) model was used to analyze the static results and dynamic evolution process of CCD of the DE and AGD subsystems in the study area. Finally, the gray correlation degree (GCD) model was used to identify the main influencing factors in the interaction between the two systems in 2012 and 2021. The results show the following: (1) The development levels of DE and AGD generally rose during the study period, but the development level gap between regions was obvious, and the development of DE relatively lagged behind. (2) The level of CCD increased year by year, and the overall process changed from “uncoordinated” to “coordinated”. (3) At the beginning of the study period, the development achievements of DE had a great impact on the process of AGD. The application of advanced agricultural technology in the AGD system and the process of agricultural industry upgrading had a profound impact on the development of DE. However, a decade later, the main factors had changed. This paper analyzes the results of the above empirical study in time and space, aiming to provide policymakers with new working ideas to achieve the SDGs.