Research on the Obstacles and Integration Mechanism of Rural Industry Integration Development in Henan Province

Abstract

Under the new era background, the transformation and upgrading of rural industrial structures have become an inevitable trend to meet the needs of modern economic development and promote rural revitalization. Rural industrial convergence, defined as the integration of agricultural production with secondary and tertiary industries to form new formats, is a critical pathway for achieving this goal. Since 2014, China’s central policies have consistently emphasized the importance of rural industrial convergence, highlighting its role in enhancing agricultural value chains and fostering sustainable rural development. As a traditional agricultural province, Henan possesses favorable conditions for agricultural production, yet challenges such as low convergence efficiency, inadequate mechanisms, and regional disparities persist. This study evaluates the performance and identifies the obstacles to rural industrial convergence in Henan Province from 2013 to 2022. By constructing an evaluation system based on three industrial dimensions (primary, secondary, and tertiary), the research employs the entropy weight method, coupling coordination degree model, and obstacle degree model to analyze data from statistical yearbooks. Findings reveal that Henan’s rural industrial convergence has shown steady progress, with the coupling coordination degree improving from “severe imbalance” (0.168 in 2013) to “high-quality coordination” (0.955 in 2022). However, the tertiary industry remains the primary bottleneck (obstacle degree: 3.609), followed by the secondary (3.309) and primary industries (3.082). Key obstacles include imbalanced service sector development, insufficient industrial innovation, and weak farmer participation. Guided by the Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the study further examines the integration mechanism, identifying human actors (e.g., farmers, governments, enterprises) and non-human actors (e.g., technology, policies, markets) in the convergence process. The ANT framework reveals how these actors interact through problematization, interest allocation, enrollment, mobilization, and dissent resolution, shaping the dynamic network of rural industrial convergence. To address these challenges, differentiated pathways are proposed: (1) strengthening policy guidance and village-specific planning; (2) enhancing farmer participation and capacity-building; (3) attracting innovative entities to diversify industrial integration; and (4) improving benefit-sharing mechanisms to stabilize actor networks. The study concludes that overcoming institutional, technological, and market barriers is essential for deepening rural industrial convergence in Henan, offering theoretical and practical insights for achieving rural revitalization and sustainable development.