Abstract: Abstract：Based on the survey data and intermediary effect model of 535 farmers′ cooperatives in Jiangsu and Shandong Province in 2017, this paper constructs a logical framework of four elements of social capital theory: “strengthening, social credit, information and influence”, and makes an empirical analysis of whether and how social capital affects the organic connection between small farmers and modern agriculture through resource acquisition ability. The results show that:(1) based on the attributes of strengthening, social credit and information, social capital can realize the organic connection between small farmers and modern agriculture, in which the ability of resource acquisition plays a full intermediary effect, and the role of informal social capital in improving the ability of resource acquisition of small farmers is stronger than that of formal social capital. (2) considering the heterogeneity of members, in the process of organic connection, the effect of formal social capital on core members is greater than that of ordinary members, and the effect of informal social capital on ordinary members is greater than that of core members. (3) based on the attribute of influence, informal social capital can partly overcome the problem of disorganization of ordinary members caused by “elite capture”. The above conclusions provide new ideas and empirical evidence for how to improve the organizational level of small farmers through social capital, and on this basis, design and improve relevant policies, so that farmers′ professional cooperatives can become an ideal carrier for the organic connection between small farmers and modern agriculture.

Key words: Key words：social capital, cooperatives, small farmers, modern agriculture, resource acquisition capacity