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Improving water resources utilization efficiency is conducive to achieving the sustainable development of water resources. It is essential to explore the regional differences and dynamic evolution of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China to promote high-quality development of agriculture. In this study, based on the unexpected output, we build a super slack-based measure model to measure agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China’s provinces from 2007 to 2018. In addition, we use the Dagum Gini coefficient to analyze the source of regional differences. Finally, we construct the distributed dynamics model to explore the distribution of the dynamic evolution trend of China’s agricultural water resources utilization efficiency. The results reveal that regional difference is the main source of the overall difference in agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. Spatial imbalance exists in the development of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. The agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in various provinces and regions of China is relatively stable, having the characteristics of club convergence. The probability of maintaining the initial state is high, and the internal mobility is low. However, with time, the degree of club convergence decreases.</div

Agricultural water resources utilization efficiency of 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and cities in China from 2007 to 2018.

The above four charts are listed seperately according to the average water use efficiency of (a) below 0.5, (b) 0.5–0.7, (c) 0.7–0.9, and (d) 0.9 and above. (PNG)</p

Agricultural water consumption in China by province for 2018.

Note:Map created using ArcGIS[10.7]. SHP data downloaded from standard map service system(http://www.resdc.cn/).</p

Diagram of decomposition results of Dagum Gini coefficient.

Diagram of decomposition results of Dagum Gini coefficient.</p

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Improving water resources utilization efficiency is conducive to achieving the sustainable development of water resources. It is essential to explore the regional differences and dynamic evolution of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China to promote high-quality development of agriculture. In this study, based on the unexpected output, we build a super slack-based measure model to measure agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China’s provinces from 2007 to 2018. In addition, we use the Dagum Gini coefficient to analyze the source of regional differences. Finally, we construct the distributed dynamics model to explore the distribution of the dynamic evolution trend of China’s agricultural water resources utilization efficiency. The results reveal that regional difference is the main source of the overall difference in agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. Spatial imbalance exists in the development of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. The agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in various provinces and regions of China is relatively stable, having the characteristics of club convergence. The probability of maintaining the initial state is high, and the internal mobility is low. However, with time, the degree of club convergence decreases.</div

S3 Raw images -

Improving water resources utilization efficiency is conducive to achieving the sustainable development of water resources. It is essential to explore the regional differences and dynamic evolution of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China to promote high-quality development of agriculture. In this study, based on the unexpected output, we build a super slack-based measure model to measure agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China’s provinces from 2007 to 2018. In addition, we use the Dagum Gini coefficient to analyze the source of regional differences. Finally, we construct the distributed dynamics model to explore the distribution of the dynamic evolution trend of China’s agricultural water resources utilization efficiency. The results reveal that regional difference is the main source of the overall difference in agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. Spatial imbalance exists in the development of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. The agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in various provinces and regions of China is relatively stable, having the characteristics of club convergence. The probability of maintaining the initial state is high, and the internal mobility is low. However, with time, the degree of club convergence decreases.</div

S4 Raw images -

Improving water resources utilization efficiency is conducive to achieving the sustainable development of water resources. It is essential to explore the regional differences and dynamic evolution of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China to promote high-quality development of agriculture. In this study, based on the unexpected output, we build a super slack-based measure model to measure agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China’s provinces from 2007 to 2018. In addition, we use the Dagum Gini coefficient to analyze the source of regional differences. Finally, we construct the distributed dynamics model to explore the distribution of the dynamic evolution trend of China’s agricultural water resources utilization efficiency. The results reveal that regional difference is the main source of the overall difference in agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. Spatial imbalance exists in the development of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China. The agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in various provinces and regions of China is relatively stable, having the characteristics of club convergence. The probability of maintaining the initial state is high, and the internal mobility is low. However, with time, the degree of club convergence decreases.</div

Evolution of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in different regions.

Evolution of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in different regions.</p

Agricultural water resources utilization efficiency of 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and cities in China from 2007 to 2018.

The above four charts are listed seperately according to the average water use efficiency of (a) below 0.5, (b) 0.5–0.7, (c) 0.7–0.9, and (d) 0.9 and above.)</p

Transfer probability matrix of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China from 2007 to 2018.

Transfer probability matrix of agricultural water resources utilization efficiency in China from 2007 to 2018.</p