Augmenting agricultural sustainability: Investigating the role of agricultural land, green innovation, and food production in reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract Sustainable agriculture practices are necessitated for environmental, population, and resource conservation. Embracing sustainability can enhance food security, preserve ecosystems, and help combat climate change, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as SDGs 2, 7, and 13. Given that, the study explores agricultural land, green innovation, food production, renewable energy, and food trade openness impact on global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while interacting green innovation with agricultural land, for the top 20 agricultural countries from 1980 to 2021. The study utilized innovative methods including method of moments quantile regression, Dumitrescu, and Hurlin 2012 causality also for robustness DKSE, NWSE, and ridge regression applied. The findings unveil that agricultural land, green innovation, and food production escalate the GHG emissions throughout quantiles. While renewable energy, food trade openness, and interaction between green innovation and agricultural land reduce GHG emissions. Additionally, DH causality shows a bidirectional causal association among the variables. Whereas the robustness is confirmed by DKSE, NWSE, and ridge regression. This research significantly contributes to SDGs 2, 7, and 13, offering a comprehensive framework for crafting effective policies that balance productivity and environmental sustainability. As the world's top agricultural producers confront evolving global challenges, this study lays out a roadmap toward a resilient and ecologically conscientious future.