Improving agricultural total factor productivity is an important starting point for building a strong agricultural country and promoting agricultural modernization.Based on the data of 278 prefecture-level administrative regions in China from 2008 to 2019，this paper calculates the growth of agricultural total factor productivity by using stochastic frontier analysis，and empirically analyzes the influence of banking competition on the growth of agricultural total factor productivity.The results show that banking competition has significantly promoted the growth of agricultural total factor productivity，which is mainly reflected in the progress of agricultural technology.Mechanism analysis indicates that banking competition can boost agricultural total factor productivity by stimulating agricultural scientific and technological innovation and promoting the development of agricultural service industry.By comparing the effects of different types of commercial banks，it is found that rural commercial banks，village banks and city commercial banks have comparative advantages in promoting the growth of agricultural total factor productivity compared with large state-owned commercial banks.Moderate competition can incentivize banks to leverage their comparative advantages.Heterogeneity analysis reveals that banking competition has more effectively improved the agricultural total factor productivity in eastern and central regions，major grain producing areas and regions with high level of agricultural insurance development.Based on these findings，this paper suggests deepening the market-oriented reform of the banking financial institution system，encouraging different types of commercial banks to engage in differentiated competition,and appropriately improving the level of regional banking competition according to local conditions.