The impact of agricultural socialized services provided by new rural collective economic organizations on smallholder farmers’ income growth

Introduction The development and expansion of the new rural collective economy serve as a key driver for ensuring food security and promoting common prosperity among farmers. Existing research has largely focused on external actors such as the government and the market, examining the mechanisms and practical outcomes through which they drive income growth for smallholder farmers via agricultural socialized services. However, there remains a lack of systematic theoretical analysis regarding new rural collective economic organizations—village-based, endogenous entities that possess both economic and social attributes—and few studies have conducted rigorous empirical tests based on first-hand survey data. Method This paper utilizes primary micro-survey data from the 2024–2025 “Performance Evaluation of the New Rural Collective Economy” in Sichuan Province, China. It covered 4 counties, 20 towns (townships), and 134 villages (communities) in Sichuan Province, collecting a total of 134 valid questionnaires from collective economic organizations and 1,459 valid questionnaires from collective members. Focusing on smallholder farmers cultivating less than 30 mu of arable land, this study empirically examines the impact and mechanisms through which agricultural socialized service provision by new rural collective economic organizations contributes to smallholder farmers’ income growth. Results The results indicate that this service provision significantly promotes smallholder farmers’ income growth. Mechanism analysis reveals that service provision enhances smallholder income through three pathways: changing business decisions, increasing the degree of organization, and improving farmland quality. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that services provided during the production process significantly affect smallholder income growth; service provision yields marginal improvements for farmers with low human capital and for those residing in villages with low collective economic income. Service provision has a significant positive effect on low- and high-income farmers, indicating a “universal benefits and differentiated efficiency gains” fairness characteristic. Rural governance exerts a significant positive moderating effect on service provision, primarily mediated by decision-making and financial management mechanisms. Discussion At the theoretical level, by utilizing primary micro-survey data and empirical testing methods, enriches and deepens the research findings on agricultural socialized services from the perspective of village endogenous subjects. At the practical level, this study provide empirical evidence and practical references for the development of rural collective economic organizations and the pathways of sustainable development for smallholder farmers.