ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics

The impact of digital-real integration on grain industry chain resilience: Mechanisms and enhancement pathways

• Haochen Xie

• PW Pengcheng Wang

• LW Lili Wang

• Tarim University, Aral, China

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Abstract

The deep integration of digital transformation and the real economy has become a new trend promoting high-quality development in all industries. It is of great significance to explore how it can empower the resilience of the grain industry chain. This study employs a bidirectional fixed-effect model based on panel data from 30 provinces in China (excluding Xizang, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) from 2011 to 2023, and concludes that, on the whole, digital-real integration has a significant positive impact on the resilience of the grain industry chain. For every 1% increase in the degree of digital-real integration, the resilience of the food industry chain will increase by 0.181%. This study analyzes the impact of digital-real integration on the resilience of the grain industry chain from three dimensions of capital, organization and technology, and concludes that enhancing green financial index, industrial chain synergy the technical efficiency of grain production, and reducing agricultural disaster rate are important mechanisms. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect is strongest in major grain-consuming areas, followed by major grain-producing areas, but insignificant in production-consumption balance areas. Also, this effect is significantly positive in the eastern and western regions and that it is also more pronounced in provinces with free trade zones, but negative in the central region.This effect exhibits spatial spillovers. This study not only offers a system perspective for understanding the mechanisms through which digital-real integration shapes grain industry chain resilience, but also provides a scientific foundation for refining policies aimed at building a sustainable grain industry chain capable of withstanding climate change and other resource and environmental constraints. In the future, we should further remove obstacles. Starting from data, algorithm and computing power, we should increase investment in talent cultivation and technology research and development, and establish a reliable digital framework of a community of interests. At the same time, promote resource flow and regional balanced development, promote the integration of digital with real-economy sectors to generate a public dividend.

Summary

Keywords

Digital-real integration, green finance index, resilience of the grain industry chain, Spatial spillover effects, the degree of industrial chain synergy, the technical efficiency of grain production

Received

14 August 2026

Accepted

26 October 2026

Copyright

© 2026 Xie, Wang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Pengcheng Wang

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