Study on the Coupling Effect of Agricultural Production, Road Construction, and Ecology: The Case for Cambodia

Abstract

Agricultural development is a necessary component of national development efforts to fight food crises and promote poverty reduction in many developing countries. However, many developing countries have fallen into a stalemate between modernization and development—modernized areas are less capable of driving regional development despite their abundant land and rich population. Striking a balance between agricultural technology and environmental protection is a key feature of sustainable land development. Based on the social–ecological resilience theory, this study takes Cambodia as an example and aims to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system to measure the agricultural production, regional road construction, and agricultural eco-environment in Cambodia. The coupled coordination model and gray relation analysis model are utilized to explore the interaction between agriculture, roads, and the agricultural eco-environment. The results show that (1) Cambodia has road environmental risks, and there is a need for rural labor migration in areas with higher levels of economic development. (2) The main agricultural production areas are faced with the dilemma of lagging infrastructure development, such as roads, and a huge potential for agricultural development. (3) In the plains areas, the growing population has caused tension between food security, fertilizer abuse, and deforestation, which intensified the disturbance of the agricultural ecological environment. In summary, based on their own developmental needs, developing countries at different stages of development can explore the interaction between agricultural production, infrastructure development, and the agricultural eco-environment in the process of agricultural development. This study attempts to provide a set of practical development policy implications for developing countries that are seeking to enhance the coupling relationship between agricultural production, infrastructure, and the agricultural eco-environment.