The impacts of socialized service of agricultural machinery on labor transfer from small-scale farms

Socialized service of agricultural machinery effectively breaks down the dilemma of “who and how to grow food”, which is an important starting point for the development of modern agriculture. Based on a rural household survey in 11 provinces of China, and applying the propensity score matching method (PSM), this study analyzed the impacts and heterogeneity of socialized service of agricultural machinery on farm labor transfer. Results show that the overall utilization rate of socialized service of agricultural machinery is not high, 48.1% of farmers use socialized service of agricultural machinery in at least one link in the grain production process, and the proportion of farmer labor transfers using socialized service of agricultural machinery is mainly concentrated in 30%~50%, socialized service of agricultural machinery can effectively promote the transfer of rural labor force, but the effect of socialized service of agricultural machinery has link heterogeneity. The net effects of socialized service of agricultural machinery on farm labor transfer during land preparation period and crop harvest period are 2.9% and 3.1%, respectively. There is no significant effect during planting period. Compared with farmers of other sizes and regions, socialized service of agricultural machinery has a more significant effect on the labor transfer of small-scale farms and northern provinces. Therefore, this paper suggests to: 1) supporting the key links and weak links of grain production to participate in the socialized service of agricultural machinery; 2) seizing the opportunity of high-standard farmland construction, and actively guide small-scale farmers in northern China to adopt socialized service of agricultural machinery; and 3) improving small-scale farmers’ awareness of socialized service of agricultural machinery, to allow socialized service of agricultural machinery to play the leading role in the transfer of small-scale farm labors, and to guide small-scale farms to be integrated into the development track of modern agriculture.