Digital Transformation and Green Agricultural Skills: A Cross‐Case Policy Analysis of Cost‐Effective Competence Development

ABSTRACT Agriculture is undergoing a simultaneous green and digital transition that is reshaping the competences required of its workforce. Yet research and policy debates have paid limited attention to how agricultural education systems can realign their structures, curricula, and governance arrangements to support these emerging hybrid skill demands. This article contributes to this gap through a comparative policy analysis of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland—three systems that have advanced distinct yet complementary approaches to developing digital–green competences under resource and institutional constraints. The analysis identifies three enabling mechanisms that span these systems: the integration of agricultural education within broader innovation networks, the aggregation of pedagogical and technological resources into functional competence centres, and the use of system‐level roadmaps and modular qualifications to coordinate ongoing reform. These mechanisms are then interpreted through the case of Hainan University, a leading institution positioned within China's tropical agricultural innovation ecosystem. Drawing on its research platforms, cross‐disciplinary engineering strengths, and field‐based Science and Technology Backyards, the paper demonstrates how international insights can be translated—not replicated—to build a context‐sensitive digital–green agricultural skills ecosystem. Conceptually, the study reframes agricultural digital–green skills as a systemic challenge requiring institutional alignment rather than technological adoption alone. Practically, it offers a design‐oriented framework for supporting agricultural skills reforms in regions undergoing ecological and technological transformation. The article concludes by outlining implications for Chinese policy and for future comparative research on agricultural skills governance.