The impact and mechanism of digital economy participation on the willingness of high-quality farmers to sustain farming

High-quality farmers, officially certified skilled agricultural practitioners, are essential to stabilizing agricultural production and promoting rural economic transformation in the context of China’s agricultural modernization and rural revitalization. However, amid widening urban–rural disparities and accelerating labour mobility, how to enhance their willingness to sustain farming has become a central challenge for sustainable agricultural development. The rapid expansion of the digital economy has introduced new production modes to agriculture, yet its impact on high-quality farmers’ willingness to continue farming has not been sufficiently explored. From the perspective of the agricultural industry chain, this survey uses survey data from 899 high-quality farmers in Jiangxi Province, China, collected in 2022 and employs a Probit model to assess the effect of digital economy participation on their willingness to sustain farming, followed by an analysis of the underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate that: (1) digital economy participation significantly increases farmers’ willingness to sustain farming, with positive effects across the production, supply and marketing, and finance segments, with strongest effect observed in the production segment; (2) subjective social status and online social capital serve as important pathways through which digital economy participation enhances farmers’ willingness to continue farming; and (3) the positive effect is more pronounced among farmers with industrial and commercial operation experience, organizational participation, or prior skills training. Policy recommendations include advancing digitalization across the entire agricultural industry chain, strengthening technological empowerment on the production side, improving training and organizational support systems for high-quality farmers, and fostering a digital environment characterized by social recognition and mutual support to encourage their long-term engagement in agriculture and contribute to building a modern and resilient agricultural sector.