Abstract
This study constructs a balanced provincial panel dataset covering 31 provinces in China over the period 2000–2023. The dataset is compiled from multiple official sources, including the China Rural Statistical Yearbook, China Statistical Yearbook, China Price Statistical Yearbook, and the China Agricultural Machinery Industry Yearbook. It integrates information on rural income, agricultural production, mechanization, input usage, and regional socioeconomic conditions, ensuring both temporal consistency and cross-regional comparability.The dependent variable is rural residents’ per capita disposable income, which is used to measure rural economic welfare. The key explanatory variable is agricultural mechanization, proxied by the ratio of total agricultural machinery power to total crop sown area. Control variables include agricultural production level, rural population, primary industry share, rural electricity consumption, fertilizer use, planting area, crop structure, and regional economic development indicators.This multi-dimensional panel dataset captures the evolution of agricultural modernization and rural economic development across China and provides a robust empirical foundation for analyzing both the direct effects and spatial spillover effects of agricultural mechanization on rural income.