Chinese Agriculture for “Green and Grain” Productivity Growth: Evidence from Jiangsu Province

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This study provides an overview of the study's focus on "Green & Grain" productivity growth in Chinese agriculture.

Include the methodology briefly to give readers a clearer idea of how these results were obtained.

More comprehensive explanation of why this particular province was chosen over others. Was it representative of broader trends in Chinese agriculture?

The use of the DEA-based GTFP indicator is an interesting approach. However, readers who are not familiar with this methodology may find it challenging to understand its application in the study. Providing a brief explanation of DEA and how it was employed in this context would enhance the paper's accessibility.

The distinction between Northern Jiangsu and Southern Jiangsu in terms of green growth performance is intriguing. Further insights into the reasons behind these regional disparities would be valuable. Is it due to differences in policies, resources, or other factors?

It is suggested that the paper provide more information on the specific green agricultural initiatives that have not delivered the expected green growth in grain-marketing areas. This could help policymakers and researchers understand where improvements are needed.

The paper should elaborate on how call to explore the weak state of the catch-up effect on green growth through the Chinese government-led agricultural science and innovation system can be achieved and the potential challenges involved.

Finally, the specific suggestions on how improvements can be made and what the implications of these changes might be should be added

The manuscript would greatly benefit from comprehensive revisions by a native English speaker. There are several issues with sentence structure and construction that need improvement. I recommend rephrasing the content to enhance readability and clarity.

Clarity in the methodology and more detailed explanations of the regional disparities and proposed improvements would enhance the paper's impact and relevance.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The manuscript would greatly benefit from comprehensive revisions by a native English speaker. There are several issues with sentence structure and construction that need improvement. I recommend rephrasing the content to enhance readability and clarity.

Author Response

Dear Editor and Referees,

Thank you very much for your feedback and reviewer comments on our manuscript entitled "Chinese agriculture towards "green and grain" productivity growth: evidence from Jiangsu Province" (sustainability-2665300). The reviewers' comments were helpful for us to revise and improve the paper. We have carefully studied the comments and made revisions. The revised parts are marked in red in the manuscript. We used the English editing service suggested by the editor and reviewer (english-edited-74752) and checked the English-edited paper again. The uploaded revised manuscript retains the English-edited revisions. Responses to reviewers' comments are provided below.

Comment#1：More comprehensive explanation of why this particular province was chosen over others. Was it representative of broader trends in Chinese agriculture?

Reply:

Thank you for your comment. Jiangsu does represent the general trend of Chinese agriculture. Firstly, the agricultural situation in Jiangsu can represent the basic situation of Chinese agriculture, such as the pressure of resources in the form of more people and less land; the need to achieve balanced self-sufficiency in staple grains while the economy is developing rapidly; the obvious differentiation between the main grain-producing areas and the main grain-marketing areas; and the challenge of agriculture facing the dual tasks of increasing grain and greening, etc.; and secondly, Jiangsu's agricultural policies and technologies are in line with the national general environment. Therefore, understanding Jiangsu's agricultural evolution, i.e., how to maintain its status as a major grain-producing province in a stable manner while simultaneously moving towards green agriculture with the help of the power of agricultural science and technology, can provide a reference for understanding the law of agricultural evolution in China. All of the above is also what is attempted to be expressed in the "Study Region" section: "Jiangsu is a good empirical region with which to demonstrate how a green transition might be achieved via technological innovation under the mandate of increasing grain productivity ".

Comment#2：The use of the DEA-based GTFP indicator is an interesting approach. However, readers who are not familiar with this methodology may find it challenging to understand its application in the study. Providing a brief explanation of DEA and how it was employed in this context would enhance the paper's accessibility.

Reply:

Thank you for your comment. The TFP index aims to measure the ability of a production system to achieve as many combined outputs as possible with as few multiple inputs as possible, and this ability is achieved by soft factors (e.g. innovation) rather than relying on additional tangible inputs (water, soil, fertilizers, etc.). An important branch of TFP analysis, the nonparametric estimation method represented by data envelopment analysis (DEA), is well applicable to the efficiency evaluation of production systems with defined input-output relationships, which uses linear programming and Dual Approach to determine the production frontier. For the principles and application scenarios of the method, see the Refs. 8 (Caves et al,1982) and 9(Färe et al, 1994).

This paper evaluates regional cropping systems with well-defined input-output relationships using the GTFP tool, which easily measures the efficiency or capacity of the system's operation and identifies two sources of growth associated with production technological innovations. There are many empirical studies reported using the methodology, mainly because of the simplicity of its application. Using the set of input-output indicators (see Section 2.3), pre-processing the data (if necessary) and then applying the MaxDEA 7.0 software (see Section 2.4), the values of the TFPC and its components can be measured directly.

Comment#3：The distinction between Northern Jiangsu and Southern Jiangsu in terms of green growth performance is intriguing. Further insights into the reasons behind these regional disparities would be valuable. Is it due to differences in policies, resources, or other factors?

It is suggested that the paper provide more information on the specific green agricultural initiatives that have not delivered the expected green growth in grain-marketing areas. This could help policymakers and researchers understand where improvements are needed.

Reply:

Thank you for your comment. The north-south differences exhibited in the green growth of Jiangsu agriculture deserve to be explored in depth, which may be related to the obvious north-south geographical differentiation in Jiangsu in terms of human-land relations, responsibility for grain production, and agricultural policy support, etc. These possible links need to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis in the light of empirical evidence, and it is difficult to satisfy this research task with our working methodology, and therefore, we have explained the limitations of the study in the last section of the paper.

The measurement results show that agricultural green growth in the southern Jiangsu has been generally negative in the last five years, a result that is indeed puzzling. We try to explore the reasons behind this in Section 4.2, speculating that it may be related to the seasonal fallow policy implemented in southern Jiangsu during this period, in which we would like to express the view that the cropland fallow rotation policy is applicable to ecologically fragile areas, but is not suitable for traditional high-quality intensive agriculture areas similar to the southern Jiangsu, as we emphasized at the "Conclusion" section,“In response to the failure of certain agricultural green campaigns in Southern Jiangsu to bring about green growth, it is suggested that policies such as arable land fallow restoration, which may reduce production capacity, should be used with caution in high-quality agricultural zones”

However, considering that the above view is only a subjective idea, not supported by empirical analyses, and that there may be other reasons, an in-depth discussion has not been initiated. For specific information on the implementation of this policy, if interested, please refer to Refs. 37 as follow：General Office of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province. Implementation Plan for Promoting Cultivated Land Rotation and Fallowing for Green Agricultural Development in Southern Jiangsu Province as a Whole. http://www.jiangsu.gov.cn/art/2018/11/19/art_46144_7884154.html (In Chinese).

Comment#4：The paper should elaborate on how call to explore the weak state of the catch-up effect on green growth through the Chinese government-led agricultural science and innovation system can be achieved and the potential challenges involved.

Finally, the specific suggestions on how improvements can be made and what the implications of these changes might be should be added.

Reply:

Thank you for your comment. The transition of agriculture to greening is a knowledge-intensive process that requires scientific knowledge and technological innovations and their diffusion into agricultural practices, i.e. the combination of research and development (R&D) and extension. In the past, the main challenge facing the government-led agricultural STI system was the disconnection between the R&D system and the related extension system, which manifested itself as a mismatch between technology supply and farmers' demand. The possible manifestations are shown in the results of this paper: strong frontier movement effects and weak catch-up effects, a measure that is largely consistent with the findings of other relevant empirical reports. How to reform this innovation system is a big issue involving the reform of the agricultural science and technology system. As a matter of fact, since entering the new century, the annual No. 1 document of the Central Government has been stressing the reform of the agricultural science and technology system, and the current pattern of state-led reform of the innovation system is gradually becoming clearer, and the reform agenda also advocates the innovation of the service mode of agricultural extension institutions, and the enhancement of the extensive participation of civil society organizations, private capitals, and so on, in the agricultural extension chain.

we recognize the complexity of the reform of the agricultural science and technology system, and for the length of this paper it is really difficult to provide an illustrative chain of evidence for making specific improvements and exploring what the changes might mean. We have therefore only attempted to provide policy thinking in the 'Discussion' section 4.1, suggesting that in-depth research may require field case validation. In the "Conclusion" section, we state, “it is recommended that policies focus on catch-up effect, which require innovating the government-led agricultural extension system and building a market-oriented transformation of the agricultural STI system to enhance the diffusion of cutting-edge green technologies to the laggards. ”

Comment#5：Comments on the Quality of English Language

The manuscript would greatly benefit from comprehensive revisions by a native English speaker. There are several issues with sentence structure and construction that need improvement. I recommend rephrasing the content to enhance readability and clarity.

The manuscript would greatly benefit from comprehensive revisions by a native English speaker. There are several issues with sentence structure and construction that need improvement. I recommend rephrasing the content to enhance readability and clarity.

Reply:

According to your recommendation, we have used English editing service recommended by the journal to refine the full text.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Manuscript 'Chinese Agriculture towards "Green & Grain" Productivity Growth: Evidence from Jiangsu Province'. This study aimed to explore two major challenges facing Chinese agriculture: whether the two strategic tasks of green agriculture and grain security can be achieved in tandem, and how STI can drive agriculture greener under the mandatory task of increasing grain productivity. The manuscript is falls into the scope of Sustainability. The manuscript should be of interest to the readers, and could be reconsidered for publication after careful consideration and revision. Please consider the following points.

 

-The level of English throughout the Manuscript needs to meet the journal's standard. Therefore, you may wish to ask a native speaker to check your Manuscript for grammar, style, and syntax.

 

-L10-L12 Need to describe what is being studied based on these indicators?

 

-Why only the data for the period of 2000-2020 are analyzed, can the latest data of recent years (2021-2023) be added?

 

-In addition to policy factors, the construction of high-standard farmland in Jiangsu region is also a very important influence factor, how do the authors consider it?

 

-The introduction of each parameter in the formula should be added below each formula, not in the previous introduction, so that it is clearer.

 

-The conclusion section is too long, it is suggested to streamline it by presenting the important results, and the limitations of the study in question can be put in the discussion section.

 

-References. It would be best to consult the specific guidelines provided by the journal for instructions on formatting and referencing.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Moderate editing of English language required

Author Response

Dear Editor and Referees,

Thank you very much for your feedback and reviewer comments on our manuscript entitled "Chinese agriculture towards "green and grain" productivity growth: evidence from Jiangsu Province" (sustainability-2665300). The reviewers' comments were helpful for us to revise and improve the paper. We have carefully studied the comments and made revisions. The revised parts are marked in red in the manuscript. We used the English editing service suggested by the editor and reviewer (english-edited-74752) and checked the English-edited paper again. The uploaded revised manuscript retains the English-edited revisions. Responses to reviewers' comments are provided below.

Comment #1：-The level of English throughout the Manuscript needs to meet the journal's standard. Therefore, you may wish to ask a native speaker to check your Manuscript for grammar, style, and syntax.

Reply:

Thank you for your comment. We have used English editing service recommended by the journal to refine the full text.

Comment #2：-L10-L12 Need to describe what is being studied based on these indicators?

Reply:

According to your suggestion, we have amended the sentence below: “To assess the performance dynamics of the dual agricultural mission, this study presents…”

Comment #3：-Why only the data for the period of 2000-2020 are analyzed, can the latest data of recent years (2021-2023) be added?

Reply:

Thank you for your suggestion. The main reason for this is the lag in the public release of statistics, for example the latest data for 2023 may not be available until the Statistical Yearbook published in late 2024. Our work on the data started in 2021, when the latest available data were for 2020. Although we tried our best to add the latest data for 2021 (published in 2022) during the course of the study, it was found that some chemical inputs were missing from the statistical indicators for that year, so the green productivity measurements for 2021 were not updated, but we still used the latest data for 2021 in the pre-processing session of the grain yield data, i.e. the 2020 time-section yield measure (based on the three-year average).

Comment# 4：-In addition to policy factors, the construction of high-standard farmland in Jiangsu region is also a very important influence factor, how do the authors consider it?

Reply:

Thank you for your informative advice. The role of "high standard farmland construction" on green growth is indeed worth exploring. Considering that this study focuses on the technology-related decomposition factors of green growth, in the study limitations section, we have added this point for later exploration. The relevant revisions are as follows: …while the external policy context that leads to fluctuations ….and have not been validated using modelling; other contextual factors that may affect green productivity, such as the construction of high-standard farmland, have also not been explored in this study….

Comment #5：-The introduction of each parameter in the formula should be added below each formula, not in the previous introduction, so that it is clearer.

Reply:

Thank you for your suggestion. We have carefully calibrated each of the parameters involved in equations (1) to (8) and introduced them explicitly under each equation whenever possible.

Comment #6：-The conclusion section is too long, it is suggested to streamline it by presenting the important results, and the limitations of the study in question can be put in the discussion section.

Reply:

Thank you for pointing this out. Considering that the discussion section is all policy-related, we have changed the "Conclusions" section to "Conclusion and Research Limitation" and specifically stated the study limitations in section 5.2.

Comment# 7：-References. It would be best to consult the specific guidelines provided by the journal for instructions on formatting and referencing.

Reply:

Thank you for your comment. We endeavor to revise references and layout as required and are willing to use the relevant services of a professional editor recommended by the journal if the manuscript is accepted.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article addresses the important issue for China of increasing cereal productivity while implementing ecological production methods. However, this problem is not described well enough. The text of the article is quite complicated in some parts.

1) The goal was defined as:

This study aims to explore two major challenges facing Chinese agriculture: whether the two strategic tasks of green agriculture and grain security can be achieved in tandem; and how STI can drive agriculture greener under the mandatory task of increasing grain productivity.

For me, this goal is not fully adequate to the content of the article, too ambitious and complicated.

2) What does the following expression mean?

Total Factor Productivity (TFP) Index, has been widely used in regional empirical studies for its policy value.

3) Agricultural scientific and technological innovation (STI) requires a broader explanation.

4. What exactly is Green growth in agriculture (in cereal production)?

Author Response

Dear Editor and Referees,

Thank you very much for your feedback and reviewer comments on our manuscript entitled "Chinese agriculture towards "Green & Grain" productivity growth: evidence from Jiangsu Province" (sustainability-2665300). The reviewers' comments were helpful for us to revise and improve the paper. We have carefully studied the comments and made revisions. The revised parts are marked in red in the manuscript. We used the English editing service suggested by the editor (english-edited-74752) and checked the English-edited paper again. The uploaded revised manuscript retains the English-edited revisions. Responses to reviewer' comments are provided below.

Comment# 1：The article addresses the important issue for China of increasing cereal productivity while implementing ecological production methods. However, this problem is not described well enough. The text of the article is quite complicated in some parts.

1) The goal was defined as:

This study aims to explore two major challenges facing Chinese agriculture: whether the two strategic tasks of green agriculture and grain security can be achieved in tandem; and how STI can drive agriculture greener under the mandatory task of increasing grain productivity.

For me, this goal is not fully adequate to the content of the article, too ambitious and complicated.

Reply:

Thank you for your comment. Indeed, at the level of production technology or production methods, the realization of grain-green co-growth in agriculture is a complex task and an eternal pursuit in the field of agricultural science and technology. The focus of this paper is not to prove whether this ambitious ultimate goal can be achieved or has been achieved, but rather to try to judge whether agriculture development at the regional level is on the right track, to try to find problematic areas or time periods, and to provide a scientific basis for decision-making on regional agricultural development.

Comment# 2：2) What does the following expression mean?

Total Factor Productivity (TFP) Index, has been widely used in regional empirical studies for its policy value.

Reply:

Thank you for your question. The TFP index measures the capacity of an agricultural system to achieve the highest combined output with the lowest combined inputs, not from additional inputs of tangible factors (water, land, fertilizers, labor, etc.) but from intangible factors, such as innovations. This makes it possible to measure and compare this capacity of production decision-making units (including agricultural management zones at all levels), and thus to analyze where the shortcomings of development lie and provide decision support for regional agricultural development.

For example, by the model introduced in this paper (TFPC=TC*EC), it is possible to trace two sources of this capacity growth, TC (frontier movement effect), which is the technological change that occurs between the years of measurement, i.e., the innovation implemented by the best practitioners, and EC (catching up effect), which is whether or not the latecomers are trying to catch up to the newest frontiers led by the best practitioners. The measurements in this study show that the frontier movement effect is generally strong and the catching-up effect is generally weak, a measurement that is generally consistent with the findings of other relevant empirical reports. Therefore, we point out in the last part of this paper, ”it is recommended that policies focus on catch-up effect, which require innovating the government-led agricultural extension system and building a market-oriented transformation of the agricultural STI system to enhance the diffusion of cutting-edge green technologies to the laggards.”

Comment #3：3) Agricultural scientific and technological innovation (STI) requires a broader explanation.

Reply:

Thank you for your suggestion. The transition to greener agriculture is a knowledge-intensive process that requires scientific knowledge and technological innovations and their diffusion into agricultural practices, i.e. the combination of research and development (R&D) and extension. In the past, the main challenge facing the government-led agricultural STI system was the disconnection between the R&D system and the related extension system, which manifested itself as a mismatch between technology supply and farmers' demand. The possible manifestations are shown in the results of this paper: strong frontier movement effects and weak catch-up effects. How to reform this innovation system is a big issue involving the reform of the agricultural science and technology system. As a matter of fact, the reform of the agricultural science and technology system has been emphasized in the annual No. 1 document of the central government in the past two decades, and the current pattern of state-led innovation system reform is gradually becoming clearer, and the reform agenda also advocates the innovation of the service model of the agricultural extension agencies, and the strengthening of the extensive participation of civil society organizations, private capital and so on, in the agricultural extension chain.

Despite the breadth and complexity of the issue, we have tried to give additional elaboration in the policy context in the Introduction section, the policy reflections in 4.1 of the Discussion section, and in the Conclusion section.

Comment #4：4. What exactly is Green growth in agriculture (in cereal production)?

Reply:

Thank you for your question. According to our current knowledge, green growth in agriculture refers to changes in the capacity of agricultural systems to produce as much output as possible at the lowest possible resource and environmental cost. Here, the resource and environmental costs of operating agricultural systems include agricultural non-point source pollution, agricultural carbon emissions, and loss of ecological services due to agricultural activities, etc. Outputs are also multifaceted, including yields, the economic value of agricultural products, and even the human well-being that comes from healthy food and a healthy environment.

In the case of cereal production, yields (kg/ha), which have traditionally been aimed at higher yields, are an indicator of a single input of land area (ha) achieving a single output (kg), whereas green productivity is a combination of multiple inputs and multiple outputs, and a capability that can be realized through soft factors (e.g., innovation).

This paper assesses regional cropping systems, including cereal production, that have the attribute of being net carbon sinks (carbon sinks greater than carbon emissions) to some extent. Due to the availability of data, this paper examines the resource and environmental costs (mainly agricultural carbon emissions) and agricultural outputs (mainly the economic value of outputs, and carbon sinks) of cropping systems only from the perspective of low-carbon agriculture. In this context, green growth in regional cropping systems refers to the ability of a system to realize as much economic value and carbon sinks as possible while minimizing carbon emissions.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The revised version has been improved according to the comments. 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Minor editing of English language required