Agricultural Eco-Efficiency: Progress, Challenges, and Prospects

Agricultural eco-efficiency is a vital indicator for assessing the sustainability of agriculture. Conducting evaluations of agricultural eco-efficiency can provide critical information for policymaking, resource allocation, and the advancement of agricultural sustainable development. While there exists a substantial body of research on the evaluation of agricultural eco-efficiency, its influencing factors, and improvement paths, there remains a paucity of systematic reviews, evaluations, and prospective analyses in this area. This study employed the literature search method to analyze relevant scholarly articles. Chinese literature was sourced from the CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) database, while international literature was obtained from the Web of Science database. The literature search was conducted from 1998 to 2023. The study reviewed the progress of research on agricultural eco-efficiency and outlined the challenges and prospects that lie ahead. The findings of this study indicate that the primary challenges in the field of agricultural eco-efficiency research include refining the evaluation system, integrating macro and micro influencing factors, and ensuring the suitability of models employed. In the future, the research could expand in areas such as deepening the application of artificial intelligence technology in evaluation methods, clarifying the driving factors of agricultural eco-efficiency, and promoting the green transformation of agriculture. This study provides a comprehensive systematic review and could provide critical information for related research expansion.