New Agricultural Business Entities, Agricultural Mechanization, and the Increase in Farmer Income

Land transfers have contributed to the fragmentation of the rural labor force, positioning agricultural mechanization as the predominant technological choice employed by new agricultural entities to enhance the incomes of smallholder farmers. Positioned as the vanguard in farmer income growth, these new agricultural entities are regarded as a bridge that connects and empowers farmers within the framework of the rural revitalization strategy. Drawing on field survey data from west melon growers in Xinjiang, this study empirically examines the mechanism by which new agricultural entities influence farmer incomes and investigates the mediating role of agricultural mechanization.Results indicate that: 1) Farmer participation in new agricultural entities is associated with significantly higher income levels, a result that remains robust after controlling for endogeneity and conducting robustness tests; 2) This income-enhancing effect exhibits significant heterogeneity, with notably greater gains observed among low-income farmers. Specifically, the positive income effect is more pronounced for farmers with lower educational attainment relative to their highly educated counterparts. Furthermore, the income-generating effect of technology adoption is moderated by gender, with stronger benefits observed for male farmers. 3) Agricultural mechanization is identified as a crucial channel via which new agricultural entities promote farmer income growth. Additionally, farmer income is significantly influenced by age, household labor force size, non-agricultural income share, and cultivation scale.In light of these findings, it is imperative to further improve the policy support system and enhance the capacity of new agricultural business entities to facilitate linkages with and deliver benefits to farmers. Strengthening mechanization infrastructure and promoting the deep integration of agricultural machinery and farming techniques are also of critical importance. Differentiated support should be provided to farmers with varying endowments, and the income redistribution mechanism—grounded in mechanization dividends—should be refined. The establishment of platforms for coordinated industrial development and the innovation of rural property rights systems are recommended to ensure that the benefits of mechanization are shared inclusively.