To explore the regional differentiation patterns, core driving mechanisms and spatiotemporal evolutionary dynamics of new quality productive forces in agriculture in China, this study constructs a three-dimensional comprehensive evaluation system covering agricultural laborers, means of labor and object of labor from the perspective of agricultural functional zoning. The entropy method is used to measure the development level of new quality productive forces in agriculture nationwide and across three major agricultural functional zones (major producing areas, major marketing areas, and production and marketing balance areas) from 2013 to 2023. Combined with variance analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, random forest modeling and SHAP interpretable machine learning method, the characteristics of regional differentiation, key driving factors and their action mechanism of new quality productive forces in agriculture were investigated, and the dynamic evolution law with spatial autocorrelation analysis was explored. The results show that: 1) Overall new quality productive forces in agriculture in China maintain a sustained growth trend with a slowing growth rate, and the inter-regional gaps are gradually narrowing. 2) In terms of driving mechanism, agricultural scientific and technological (S&T) activity personnel, agricultural S&T activity expenditure, and internet penetration rate constitute the core positive driving factors, while per unit consumption of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and agricultural films forms a significant negative constraint, which reflects the collaborative demand of the “innovation-digital” two-wheel drive and green transformation of agriculture. 3) The spatial correlation presents significant heterogeneity among functional zones: production and marketing balance areas show significant positive spatial autocorrelation with an obvious spatial spillover effect, while major producing areas and major marketing areas have not formed significant spatial agglomeration, and their development relies more on endogenous momentum. Therefore, while cultivating new quality productive forces in agriculture and promoting high-quality agricultural development, the government should formulate classified policies based on the development and differentiation characteristics of the three major agricultural functional zones, implement differentiated cultivation strategies adapted to local conditions, strengthen agricultural scientific and technological innovation and digital element empowerment, consolidate the bottom line of agricultural green development, give full play to the positive spatial spillover effect among regions, and boost the coordinated quality improvement and overall leap of new quality productive forces in agriculture across the country.
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