Evaluation of sustainable development level for front-end cold-chain logistics of fruits and vegetables: a case study on Xinjiang, China

The first-mile problem in the producing area of fruits and vegetables (F&V) is a key difficulty in the sustainable development of agricultural industry chain. Based on the numerical examples from Xinjiang, China, this paper sets up an evaluation index system (EIS) for the sustainable development level (SDL) of front-end cold-chain logistics of F&V (FECCLF&V). Moreover, the temporal variation of FECCLF&V SDL in each prefecture was tracked, and the spatial distributions of FECCLF&V SDL in different prefectures were compared, with the aid of dynamic factor analysis, which makes up the shortcomings of static analysis. In this way, the authors determined the key factors affecting the FECCLF&V SDL in various prefectures. The results show that: the FECCLF&V SDL in Xinjiang belongs to the growth period, as it gradually decreased with the growing distance from Urumqi, and fluctuated slightly with time; the prefectural differences in FECCLF&V SDL come from various regional-based factors; Xinjiang needs to take targeted measures to promote FECCLF&V SDL, which helps to enhance the sustainability of agricultural industry chain. © 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.