The continuous increase of farmers’ income is crucial to the promotion of Chinese path to modernization and the realization of the goal of common prosperity, so it is a matter of great concern to the government and all sectors of society. Therefore, based on the quasi-natural experiment of the pilot of national modern agricultural demonstration zone (NMADZ), this paper uses methods such as continuous DID model and PSM to deeply analyze the income increase effect of modern agricultural technology promotion and application (MATPA) on farmers and its influencing mechanism.The study finds that: First, MATPA can promote an average income increase of 2.7%, approximately 289 yuan, for “part-time farmer” households. Second, the promotion and application of modern information technology such as the Internet cannot alone increase the family income of “part-time farmers”, and even if it is combined with the promotion and application of modern agricultural science and technology achievements, it is difficult to promote the family income increase of “part-time farmers”. The promotion and application of modern agricultural mechanization technology can increase the agricultural operating family income of “part-time farmers”. Third, heterogeneity analysis finds that MATPA has a better income increase effect on “non-agricultural employed farmer” households than on “part-time farmer” households. The promotion and application of modern agricultural science and technology achievements can increase the family wage income of “non-agricultural employed farmers”. Moreover, there is a significant difference in the income increase effect of MATPA among farmers with different family factor endowments.The contributions of this paper are as follows: First, it uses the pilot of NMADZ as a quasi-natural experiment to scientifically evaluate the impact of MATPA on farmers’ income increase, effectively solving the endogeneity problems caused by sample selection bias and causal relationships in existing research. Second, it deeply explores and empirically tests the impact and transmission mechanism of MATPA on farmers’ income increase, enriching the connotation of the traditional economic proposition of “whether agricultural technology promotion and application promote farmers’ income increase. Third, it scientifically evaluates the income increase effect of MATPA at the household level, providing policy inspiration for NMADZ being piloted.