Abstract: The provincial panel data from 2012 to 2021 was used to construct an evaluation index system for agricultural green development from four dimensions： resource conservation, environmental friendliness, output efficiency, and living security. The entropy method was used to measure the level of agricultural green development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the regional differences were further analyzed, and the obstacle factor model was used to diagnose and explore its limiting factors. The results showed that from 2012 to 2021, the overall level of agricultural green development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt showed an upward trend; the lower reaches of the Yangtze River had better development in terms of resource conservation, output efficiency, and living security, while the upper reaches had better development in terms of environmental friendliness; the difference in the level of agricultural green development among provinces （cities） in the Yangtze River Economic Belt was gradually decreasing. The obstacle factors for the green development of agriculture in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2012 to 2021 had been constantly changing, and the obstacle levels in each dimension from high to low were as follows： living security>output efficiency>resource conservation>environmental friendliness. According to the results of the indicator layer, there were seven main obstacles that restricted the improvement of agricultural green development level in each province （city） in the basin,they were the proportion of water-saving irrigation area, agricultural machinery efficiency level, fertilizer use intensity, labor productivity, land output rate, per capita disposable income of rural residents, and rural medical security. Based on this, policy recommendations of improving top-level design, enhancing the efficiency level of agricultural machinery, and enhancing resource utilization efficiency were proposed, in order to provide suggestions for the green development of agriculture in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Key words: green development of agriculture, entropy method, obstacle model, Yangtze River Economic Belt