Green Development of Agricultural Whole Industry Chain: Pathway and Countermeasures

Green development of the agricultural whole industry chain (AWIC) is vital for enhancing agricultural products’competitiveness and increasing added value of the industry; it is also inevitable for improving resource utilization efficiency and ensuring sustainable economic growth. In this study, we define the concept of AWIC green development and analyze its characteristics based on existing theories of AWIC and agriculture green development. We analyze the AWIC development status, major challenges, and feasible pathways in China. Our study shows that critical dilemmas regarding the AWIC green transformation include insufficient systematic design, short industrial chain, difficulty in participation of small- and medium-sized entities, low resource utilization efficiency, lack of value-added effect, and lack of ecological synergy. The AWIC green transformation and policy support are essential in elevating values for the whole industry chain. The major pathways for AWIC green development include internal circulation integration, horizontal expansion, vertical element integration, and cross-industrial integration. We suggest that China should strengthen top-level design, boost innovation, expand ecological advantages, improve supervision services of the whole industry, and explore benefit coupling mechanisms. These measures can complete the industrial layout, optimize the product value transformation system, and promote the AWIC green development.