Agricultural Journals and Rural Cultural Revitalization: Current Challenges and Strategies for Knowledge-Based Empowerment

Rural cultural revitalization is both a foundational component of China's broader rural revitalization agenda and a means of sustaining the country's agrarian civilization. Agricultural journals, as established channels for publishing research and disseminating scientific knowledge, have a responsibility to connect academic production with the cultural needs of rural communities. Their potential contribution depends on more than publishing a small number of culture-related articles: it requires a stable editorial orientation, content that reflects regional experience, and communication channels capable of reaching audiences beyond specialist research communities. This study examines how such journals can define their role, identify the constraints that limit their contribution, and develop strategies that make academic and practical knowledge more accessible and useful in rural cultural development. The study conceptualizes this contribution as a progressive process of empowerment. Knowledge-based empowerment transforms localized and dispersed agricultural experience into structured and preservable knowledge. Legitimization-based empowerment interprets relevant policies and provides value-oriented guidance for rural cultural development. Subjectification-based empowerment focuses on strengthening farmers' cultural awareness and creative capacity. These three stages are analytically distinct but mutually reinforcing: knowledge provides a basis for recognition and transmission, policy interpretation helps connect knowledge with development priorities, and the participation of rural actors enables cultural practices to be sustained rather than externally imposed. For the empirical analysis, 15 agricultural journals were selected according to the National Bureau of Statistics' classification of China into eastern, central, western, and northeastern regions. Publication statistics and content analysis were conducted for articles published from 2018 to 2025. The findings identify three common constraints. Content-production capacity remains insufficient, as reflected in a limited volume of relevant articles and uneven regional distribution. Cultural-service awareness is weak, with few journals maintaining regular culture-focused sections and a low share of relevant publications. Dissemination effectiveness is also limited because communication channels are restricted and complex academic knowledge is not consistently translated into forms that general readers and rural communities can readily use. The study proposes corresponding strategies in content production, cultural service, and communication. Journals should strengthen the supply of rural cultural content by refining manuscript-solicitation guidelines and developing regional journal alliances. They should make cultural service a stable editorial responsibility by establishing dedicated columns where appropriate and cultivating editors with interdisciplinary knowledge. They should also build a diversified communication ecosystem through full-time and part-time science-popularization teams, all-media platforms, and formats suited to different audiences. These measures are intended to address the three identified constraints as a connected set: stronger content supply supports regular cultural service, while broader communication increases the social reach and practical value of that content. They can help move research findings beyond journal publication and into rural communities while preserving editorial quality and contextual relevance. By coordinating content supply, service awareness, and dissemination, agricultural journals can provide more sustained support for rural cultural revitalization and improve the practical reach of agricultural knowledge.