Caste-based social segregation manifests its influence in various spheres of life and perpetuates economic inequality and oppression. The present study, analysing nationally representative data from rural India, shows that differential access to quality information on crop production technologies critically limits the income potential of farmers of socially backward castes. The inter-caste differences in crop income are found arising due to differences in both resource endowment status and access to the public extension networks. Value of public extension services was particularly low in regions where socially backward castes form a majority in the population. Acknowledgement : The authors thank Sukhadeo Thorat, Esther Gehrke, and Sethulekshmy Rajagopal for their constructive comments on previous versions of this manuscript.