Regional Assessment at the Province Level of Agricultural Science and Technology Development in China

Abstract

Science and technology innovation are crucial components underpinning agriculture. We constructed an evaluation framework including 4 pillars and 21 indicators, taking 31 provinces in China as examples to examine the level of agriculture science and technology development from a regional perspective. We found that there is an obvious gap between east and west nationwide, and that only about half of the provinces have reached the high and medium levels. It was worth noting that the innovation conditions in Shanghai and Beijing presented huge advantages, of vital importance to a first-class talent team, a complete innovation system, a stable and prosperous market, and active exchanges and cooperation. In addition, to maximize the transformation of agricultural science and technology achievements into real productivity, local government should also strengthen the construction of agricultural research and innovation platforms, technology transfer, and transformation of results. The findings advance understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the evaluation subjects’ agricultural science and technology development from a regional perspective and are expected to provide some basis for the government and stakeholders to make relevant decisions.