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Against the backdrop of a rapidly aging population and a shrinking agricultural labor force globally, this study investigates the driving mechanisms underlying sustained agricultural labor participation among rural elderly individuals in China. Utilizing three-wave longitudinal data (2016, 2018, and 2020) from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey within the theoretical frameworks of active aging and productive aging, this research employs Logit regression models to systematically examine how individual characteristics, family structure, health status, subjective eldercare perceptions, and social security coverage are associated with agricultural work engagement. Robustness checks and heterogeneity analyses confirm stable, significant associations: male gender, agricultural Hukou, higher cognitive ability, larger offspring numbers, better self-rated health, pain experience, preference for self-home eldercare, and receipt of an old-age allowance or basic pension are all positively associated with the likelihood of agricultural participation. Younger elderly individuals show significantly higher engagement in agricultural labor than their older counterparts. Critically, health status emerges as essential human capital, enabling prolonged labor despite socioeconomic pressures, while "elderly agriculture" functions as an indispensable self-support strategy, mitigating eldercare crises through extended independent farming capacity supported by land rights and mechanization. Policy implications urge prioritized enhancements to rural healthcare systems, the optimization of pension benefit structures to strike a balance between sustainability and labor supply, the securement of land management rights to maintain autonomous livelihood arrangements, and targeted social security reforms that acknowledge rural-urban income disparities. This study provides empirical evidence for addressing sustainable agricultural development amid demographic transition.