Agricultural Technology Extension and Farmers’ Income: Evidence from China

This study evaluates the income effects of China’s Major Agricultural Technology Collaborative Extension Program (MATCEP) using CFPS panel data and a Difference-in-Differences model. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how large-scale collaborative agricultural extension affects farmers’ income and its underlying mechanisms. The results show that the program significantly raises farm household income through two mechanisms: production expansion, achieved via lower transaction costs and land consolidation, and quality upgrading, driven by improved technical efficiency and standardization. The effects are stronger among entrepreneurial and financially constrained households. These findings demonstrate that coordinated extension systems linking research, education, and production effectively translate technological progress into rural income growth.