The Impact of Digitisation Degree on Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation: Based on Panel Data of 31 Provinces in China

Digitalisation can foster agricultural science and technology innovation in the age of the digital economy. A fixed effects model was employed to empirically assess the effects of digitisation on science, technology, and innovation in the agricultural industry using Chinese provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020. The results show that increased digitisation has contributed significantly to the development of science, technology, and innovation in the agricultural sector. After sorting out the impact paths of digitisation on agricultural science and technology innovation. This study argues that digitisation affects agricultural science and technology innovation through three main paths: rural education, digital inclusive finance, and digital transformation of agro-related enterprises. Education promotes agricultural innovation by improving the quality of the rural workforce, while digital inclusive finance promotes agricultural innovation by easing financing constraints. Agro-related enterprises accelerate the diffusion of innovation iterations mainly because they can achieve horizontal resource integration and value complementarity in digital innovation networks.