ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security

Research on the Impact of Agricultural Socialized Service Provision by New Rural Collective Economic Organizations on the Income Growth of Smallholder Farmers

• Xiaoming Guo

• JL Jiahao Li

• Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, Chengdu, China

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Abstract

Smallholder farmers dominate China’s agriculture, yet limited scale and weak organization constrain their income growth and integration with modern agriculture. This study examines whether agricultural socialized services provided by new rural collective economic organizations raise smallholder income, through which mechanisms, and with what equity and efficiency effects. Using micro-survey data from Sichuan Province (2024) on farmers cultivating less than 30 mu, we apply regression, mechanism, heterogeneity, quantile, and moderation analyses. Service provision significantly raises income, working through changed business decisions, stronger organization, and improved farmland quality. Effects are concentrated in the production stage, and are positive for low- and high-income farmers, showing “differentiated efficiency gains.” Rural governance positively moderates the effect, mainly through decision-making and financial management. Village collectives can thus serve as effective service providers that balance equity and efficiency, offering evidence for improving collective service models and integrating smallholders with modern agriculture.

Summary

Keywords

agricultural socialized services, Income growth, new rural collective economic organizations, rural governance, Smallholder farmers

Received

07 July 2026

Accepted

26 October 2026

Copyright

© 2026 Guo and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Xiaoming Guo

Disclaimer

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