To address the issue of long-term drought evolution characteristics in Northeast China and its potential threats to fooTo address the issue of longterm drought evolution characteristics in Northeast China and its potential threats to food security, this study utilized the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index, combined with the SavitzkyGolay smoothing filter method, to assess the meteorological drought characteristics from 1901 to 2021. It compared the meteorological drought characteristics in recent period (19922021) with those in the historical longterm period (19011991), and explored the relationship between meteorological drought and major grain crop yields in Northeast China by integrating the yields of the three major grain crops including maize, rice, and wheat, from 1995 to 2021. The results showed that Northeast China exhibits alternating dry and wet conditions. In recent years, the areas showing a trend of aridification have significantly increased. The increase in evapotranspiration due to climate warming is likely the main factor affecting aridification trend in Northeast China. The response of farmland vegetation to meteorological drought in Northeast China presents a trend of gradually increasing from the southwest to the northeast. The dry and wet conditions in Northeast China negatively impact the perunitarea yield of rice, but have a positive effect on the perunitarea yields of maize and wheat.