Based on a field survey data of 1150 farmers in Hebei，Anhui，and Hubei provinces in China，this paper employed propensity score matching method to examine the effects and potential mechanisms of farmers’ part-time employment on the adoption of straw returning technology within the framework of “counter-factual”analysis and emphasis is put on the mediating effects and mechanism of working distance.Results show that：1）Compared with full-time farmers， part-time farmers were more likely to adopt straw returning technology；2）Farmers’ part-time employment has indirect effect on adoption of straw returning technology through risk sharing，which accounted for 24.43% of the total effect；3）When full-time farmers chose to work in the town， the adoption rate of straw returning technology increased by 15.0%.When they chose to work outside the town but inside the county，it has no significant effect on their choice. In contrast，the adoption rate of straw returning technology increased by 9.2% and by 10.0% respectively，when full-time farmers chose to work within versus outside the province.Therefore，in order to promote the adoption of straw returning technology，government should guide and encourage farmers to work nearby，ensure employment quality of rural labor force，cultivate and support agricultural machinery and socialization service organizations，and strengthen the guidance and training of straw returning technology.