Market channel choice and its impact on farm household income: A case study of 243 apple farmers in Shaanxi province, China

Abstract

Although Shaanxi province is the largest in China, both in terms of apple production and cultivated areas, with local farmers' income mainly sourced from apples, the per-capita net income of farmers in Shaanxi province remains behind the national average. Since the market channel choice of farmers could be perceived as one of the available income strategies, this paper provides empirical evidence to measure the impacts of market channel choice on farmers' income using a Heckman sample selection model and an OLS model based on a farm household survey of 243 apple farmers in Baishui and Luochuan counties of Shaanxi province, China. Moreover, this paper discusses the different impacts of market channel choice on household income among farmers who are cooperative members and those who are not.