Spatiotemporal pattern and spatial mismatch of the green total factor productivity of vegetables in China

The vegetable industry is of great significance for high-quality and sustainable agriculture and rural revitalization. This study aims to explore the spatiotemporal pattern and spatial dislocation of the green total factor productivity of vegetables in 30 provinces and cities in China from 2011 to 2020. The main influencing factors were also determined using the super efficiency SBM-ML model, spatial dislocation index, and principal component analysis. The research results found that: 1) From 2011 to 2020, the overall green total factor productivity of vegetables in China showed a downward trend from 1.023 1 to 0.741 4. There was a decrease in the coordination between vegetable production and sustainable development of the ecological environment, and the decline of technical efficiency and technological retrogression have dragged down the improvement of green total factor productivity of vegetables. 2) The green total factor productivity of vegetables was found in the spatial distribution of "high in the east and low in the west, high in the south and low in the north". The highest green total factor productivity of vegetables was observed in the south of the Tropic of Cancer, whereas, the lowest was in the northwest of China. The difference was mainly attributed to the factors such as water and soil resources, as well as the market demand scale. 3) The spatial mismatch between the green total factor productivity and technological efficiency of vegetables in China from 2011 to 2020 showed a trend of "positive mismatch to negative mismatch" from the north to the south, with a low mismatch of the overall trend. Large-scale vegetable cultivation was found in the northeast and central areas with flat terrain and agricultural conditions. The spatial mismatch between the green total factor productivity of vegetables and technological progress in China from 2011 to 2020 showed a significant "positive in the east and negative in the west" spatial distribution, and the degree of spatial mismatch was significant, with the number of negative misalignment provinces increasing from 13 to 17. The investment was neglected in green production, due to the excessive pursuit of economic benefits in the vegetable industry. 4) The level of economic development, resource and environmental endowments, and transportation accessibility are the main factors affecting the changes in green total factor productivity of vegetables in Chinese provinces. Among them, economic factors such as urbanization rate and per capita disposable income have the most significant impact on green total factor productivity of vegetables. The research results can accurately grasp the current situation of green production of vegetables at the present stage, and provide reference for the green transformation and development of agriculture to a certain extent.