In order to explore the internal mechanism of farmers’ response to the subsidy policy of cultivated land productivity protection, based on the theory of TPB and behavioral decision-making, this paper makes a theoretical analysis of the response mechanism of peasant households, then construct the theoretical model of farmers’ subsidy response mechanism and putting forward six relevant theoretical hypotheses. Structural equation model（SEM） of farmer household response was established by using AMOS software. The hypothesis was validated and analyzed based on the survey data of 8 townships in Qitai County. The results show that the behavioral attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control of farmer households have a significant impact on their behavioral willingness to protect cultivated land. The subsidy policy of farmer households has a significant impact on their behavioral willingness and response. The response of farmer households follows the path from cognition to willingness and then to behavior. Therefore, some suggestions are put forward, such as carrying out propaganda and education of cultivated land protection, strengthening knowledge and technology training of cultivated land protection, and expanding the ways and types of subsidies.