Global Readiness for Low-Carbon and Smart Agriculture Talent Cultivation: A Country-Level Assessment with Micro-Level Evidence from China

Low-carbon and smart agriculture talent cultivation requires structural conditions that vary widely across countries. This study develops the Agricultural Talent Cultivation Readiness Index (ATCRI) as a proxy-based structural diagnostic tool for approximating the multi-dimensional enabling conditions and bottlenecks that shape whether SDG-linked agricultural education transformation can be operationalized at scale. ATCRI covers 160 countries across four interdependent dimensions: Education and Research, Digital/Energy/Enabling Infrastructure, Green Transition Pressure, and Innovation/Institutional Capacity. Results indicate a highly uneven global distribution: high transition pressure does not automatically translate into high readiness, with 17 countries exhibiting a pressure–capacity mismatch. China ranks 21st globally, showing a hybrid profile in which education and innovation capacity are strong while digital delivery infrastructure remains a relative bottleneck. Survey evidence from Chinese crop science students is consistent with this interpretation, revealing elevated practice-oriented reform demand where macro-level structural gaps are sharpest. ATCRI is intended as a diagnostic framework for identifying structural bottlenecks, not as a definitive measure of educational quality or reform outcomes.