Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Agricultural Production Efficiency in Sichuan Province from the Perspective of “Water–Land–Energy–Carbon” Coupling

Abstract

Maintaining low carbon levels is an important strategy to minimize the levels of carbon emissions globally, and utilization of energy in agricultural production activities is one of the major sources of carbon emissions. Promoting carbon reduction in agricultural production is a key method to achieve “carbon neutrality and carbon peaking”. This article established an input–output index system for evaluating agricultural production efficiency from the “water, land, energy and carbon” dimensions, and then used the super-efficient SBM model to calculate the value of agricultural production efficiency. The article combined the Malmquist index and spatial autocorrelation method to explore the spatiotemporal characteristics of agricultural production efficiency in Sichuan Province. Finally, this article analyzed the factors that affect agricultural production efficiency in Sichuan Province. The research results indicated that: (1) Agricultural carbon emissions in Sichuan Province decreased from 2011 to 2020, and agricultural carbon emissions in the eastern region were higher than the western region. (2) The agricultural production efficiency in Sichuan Province was generally above 0.88, with fluctuations observed from 2011 to 2020. Increase in agricultural production efficiency in the region was highly correlated with advances in technological progress. The spatial distribution of agricultural production efficiency exhibited an opposite trend to agricultural carbon emissions, and Moran’s I index was approximately 0, indicating a relatively random spatial distribution. (3) Analysis of influencing factors showed that the urbanization rate was inversely proportional to agricultural production efficiency, and the level of agricultural economic development was directly proportional to agricultural production efficiency. The agricultural production efficiency analysis model established in this article provides key information for developing policies to improve agricultural production efficiency and provides a basis for the practical promotion of low-carbon agricultural production in Sichuan Province. The paper provides a reference to develop strategies to achieve the regional “double carbon” goal.