Assessment of the green development level and the identification of obstacles to grass-based livestock husbandry in the farming–pastoral ecotone of northern China

The green development of livestock husbandry represents the balance between livestock production and environmental protection. In this study, a comprehensive framework and evaluation indices were developed for assessing the green development level of grass-based livestock husbandry (GDL-GLiH), including the green growth degree (GGD), green carrying capacity (GCC) and green guarantee capability (GGC). On the basis of the combined weight Technique Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model and an analysis of obstacles, the GDL-GLiH in the farming–pastoral ecotone of northern China (FPEN) was evaluated, and the main obstacles were identified. The results indicated a general upward trend in the GDL-GLiH across the FPEN, increasing from 0.343 in 2010 to 0.416 in 2020, reflecting a growth rate of 21.138 %. Among the three dimensions, the GGC showed the most substantial increase of 95.937 %, whereas the GCC exhibited minimal growth of 1.006 %. Spatial variations were observed, with livestock-dominated systems exhibiting higher average levels (0.398) but lower growth rates (19.740 %) than crop-dominated systems (0.356; 22.252 %). Additionally, the production of milk (average obstacle degree: 12.970 %), the proportion of forage cultivation in crop cultivation (11.312 %), the total mechanical power per unit agricultural sown area (10.081 %) and the availability of purebred bovine and ovine breeding stock (9.034 %) were identified as the key obstacles. This study provides a holistic assessment framework for green livestock development and serves as a reference for formulating green development strategies in the FPEN, as well as in similar agricultural systems. • A multi-dimensional evaluation system of GDL-GLiH is built. • Entropy-TOPSIS method and obstacle analysis are adopted. • GDL-GLiH in FPEN is on the rising with an overall low level. • The gap of GDL-GLiH is narrowing in different farming systems. • Grassland area per capita and milk production are the top two obstacles.