Study on grain production efficiency and its influencing factors in the Yangtze River Economic Belt based on grey water footprint

Abstract

Abstract Water is the key to grain production, and water pollution is an increasingly serious constraint on grain production. Based on the grey water footprint theory, this paper constructed an super-efficient SBM model containing unexpected output to measure the grain production efficiency of 110 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006 to 2020. The Dagum Gini coefficient and kernel density estimation methods were used to investigate its dynamic evolution trend, and the driving factors were analyzed by the spatial econometric model. The findings are as follows: (1) The overall level of grain production efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is not high, showing a trend of first fluctuating growth and then decreasing during the sample period. (2) There are differences in the distribution dynamics of grain production efficiency in the three regions of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, with the largest difference in grain production efficiency in the upper reaches, followed by the lower reaches and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. (3) There is a spatial spillover effect of grain production efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, but the overall coordinated development is not strong, and the driving effect of high-efficiency cities on the grain production efficiency of low-efficiency cities is not enough. (4) Economic and financial development plays a significant role in promoting grain production efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, while fiscal support for agriculture has a negative impact. Finally, the paper puts forward some suggestions to improve grain production efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.