Abstract: To explore the routine of high-quality agricultural development, it is essential to enhance the effectiveness of agricultural water use and to accelerate the transition towards water-conserving agriculture. This study employed super-efficiency data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist index to assess and evaluate the agricultural water use efficiency (AWUE) in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) and the Yellow River Basin (YRB). Panel data from 19 provinces and regions covering 2011 to 2021 were collected. The Tobit regression model and Spatio -Temporal Geographic Weighted Regression model were employed to examine the disparities in the determinants of AWUE in the two regions. This study revealed that ：(1) the AWUE in the two regions had been  consistently improved. The AWUE of YRB was poor. Moreover, the AWUE of the downstream areas of the two regions was comparatively high. The majority of provinces and regions inside the YREB experienced an excess of agricultural wastewater, whereas the YRB had an excessive inflow of agricultural water. There was a significant overlap in the crop planting area indicators between the two main zones. (2) The AWUE in the two regions experienced a fluctuating upward trend. The average annual growth rate of the AWUE in the YREB was greater than that in the YRB. When considering the index decomposition structure, the YREB had a significantly greater technological development index compared to the YRB. However, the YRB demonstrated a higher technical efficiency index than the YREB. (3) Factors of per capita GDP, effective irrigation index, and the proportion of grain sown area had a notable influence on the AWUE in the YREB. On the other hand, the proportion of agricultural water use had the greatest impact on the AWUE in the YRB. The influencing degree demonstrated a region-dependent difference, i.e. the factors in the YREB had a much greater impact than in the YRB. Therefore, this study proposed corresponding policies to improve the AWUE in the YREB and the YRB.