The multidimensional impact of digital agriculture development on agricultural industry upgrading and agricultural economic growth

Digital agriculture transforms agricultural production through the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technologies, improving precision production, resource allocation, and supply-chain transparency. This paper constructs a collaborative model of digital agriculture development and agricultural industrial upgrading. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from 2015 to 2024, the entropy method is adopted to measure the development level of digital agriculture. Multiple regression and mediation-effect models are used to analyze the transmission mechanisms of technological innovation, resource allocation efficiency, and agricultural product added value. The research process includes establishing and standardizing a digital agriculture evaluation index system, calculating a comprehensive index and conducting regional comparisons, introducing an agricultural industrial upgrading index to test its effect on agricultural economic growth, and verifying results through robustness checks. Results show that for every 1% increase in the digital agriculture comprehensive index, the agricultural industrial upgrading index increases by 0.062, and agricultural added value increases by 0.54%. The promotion effect in central and western regions is stronger than that in eastern regions.