The development of multifunctional agriculture in farming regions of China: Convergence or divergence?

The multifunctionality paradigm, in particular, represented a facilitator of sustainable agricultural development. There arises a question of whether or not the different areas would evolve in a common direction. This study attempts to examine the dynamics and performances of multifunctional agriculture (MFA) in farming regions of China by using the multi-criteria comprehensive appraisal method and convergence analysis. The integrated function and multifunctionality of agriculture in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain are assessed, based on which the evolving trend is investigated. The findings reveal that from 1990 to 2015, the multifunctionality of agriculture in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain was strengthened, displaying clear agglomeration in larger metropolitan regions, which has been a characteristic of MFA in regions with a thriving economy. The supply function for agricultural products arose during 1990–2000, then maintained steady, while suffering a recession in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration and Jiaodong Peninsula. The function of social security generally continued to increase, presenting a spatially surging trend from north to south and from east to west. The function of facilitating agricultural economic development was also enhanced, especially in the clusters including the Beijing-Tianjin urban agglomeration, the Jiaodong Peninsula, and the northern Jiangsu Province. The function of ecological conservation displayed obvious spatial heterogeneity, and the functional index manifests no apparent variation. The σ coefficients of each functional index indicate that path dependence, which excludes the function of social security when there are regional disparities, is a crucial characteristic of the evolution process of the MFA subdimensions. Areas with low multifunctionality do not grow faster than areas with high multifunctionality, and they are differentiated in terms of their performance. The “catch-up effect” is clearly apparent when external forces intervene, as evidenced by the absolute and conditional β convergence. These findings have important ramifications for the creation of policies that, in line with the market rationality of territorial division, encouraging MFA in peri-urban and economically developed areas while fostering large-scale and industrialized farming in distant areas.