Grain security is the cornerstone of establishing a powerful agricultural nation. Exploring the regional disparities and convergence characteristics in the high-quality development of the grain industry is a necessary endeavor in building a modernized and robust agricultural nation. Based on the study of 66 counties in Wuling mountain area and applying the DEA-Malmquist index method, this paper seeks to measure the total factor productivity of the grain industry from 2013 to 2021 and to explore the regional differences, influencing factors, and convergence characteristics of the high-quality development of the grain industry in Wuling mountain area by the coefficient of variation, the Dagum Gini coefficient and its decomposition, and the β-convergence models. Results show that the total factor productivity of the grain industry in Wuling mountain area is showing a fluctuating upward trend, the technical efficiency is the main source of growth in total factor productivity of grain production, and the spatial distribution exhibits a pattern of "warm in the north and south, but cold in the central region". The Gini coefficient of the high-quality development level of the grain industry in Wuling mountain area is generally declining, with regional disparities being the primary cause of the overall difference. Industrial structural upgrading and agricultural services have significantly positive impacts on the growth rate of the high-quality development level of the grain industry, while inclusive digital finance has a noticeably negative effect. In addition, inclusive digital finance, upgrading of industrial structure, and agricultural services exhibit significant regional heterogeneity in their impacts on the growth rate of the high-quality development level of the grain industry. There is ? convergence, absolute β-convergence, and conditional β-convergence in the high-quality development of the grain industry in Wuling mountain area. Therefore, based on the above findings, this paper suggests: strengthening technological innovation to achieve a "dual-track drive" of technical efficiency and technical progress, fully leveraging the geographical advantages to develop characteristic eco-agriculture in Wuling mountain area, optimizing the industrial structure of the grain industry to achieve integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and reducing regional development disparities to address the uneven development of the grain industry in Wuling mountain area.