Abstract: Developing the agricultural new quality productivity in major grain producing areas is a key approach to ensuring national food security. Based on Marx’ s theory of the three elements of productivity, an evaluation index system for the agricultural new quality productivity was constructed. The level of the agricultural new quality productivity in major grain producing areas from 2012 to 2022 was empirically calculated, and its spatio-temporal evolution and obstacle factors were revealed from the perspective of river basins. The research found that, the agricultural new quality productivity generally showed a fluctuating development trend, and there was a spatial differentiation pattern of “Yellow River Basin > Yangtze River Basin > Songhua River Basin” . The total difference in the development of the agricultural new quality productivity showed a fluctuating upward trend, with the super-change density and the inter-basin difference alternately becoming the main source of the total difference. The development of the agricultural new quality productivity had a polarization feature, and its development showed a positive spatial correlation and local spatial agglomeration. The new quality labor objects at the element level, advanced industries at the system level, and the proportion of “Taobao villages” at the indicator level were the primary obstacle factors for the Yangtze River Basin, the Yellow River Basin, and the Songhua River Basin. Based on this, countermeasures and suggestions for promoting the development of the agricultural new quality productivity in major grain producing areas were proposed from the perspective of river basins.