Abstract
Rice is a cornerstone of China’s food-production system, with its extensive cultivation distributed across agroecologically diverse regions characterized by substantial variation in climate, cropping systems, and rice growth environments. Southern Shandong is a traditional rice-producing region in northern China, where distinctive hydrothermal conditions, predominantly japonica cultivars, and single-cropping systems have shaped region-specific rice production practices. This paper systematically characterizes the principal rice planting patterns in southern Shandong, with particular emphasis on their establishment technologies, operational processes, production advantages, and major agronomic constraints. The regional cultivation systems include wet-bed and dry-bed seedling raising followed by transplanting, mechanical transplanting, seedling throwing, and direct seeding, representing a progressive shift from labor-intensive conventional practices toward simplified, mechanized, and large-scale rice production. By clarifying the technical characteristics, resource requirements, and production implications of these establishment systems, this study provides a structured basis for understanding the regional differentiation and technological evolution of rice cultivation in southern Shandong. The synthesis also provides a useful reference for optimizing rice establishment strategies, improving resource-use efficiency, and supporting the modernization and sustainable development of rice production in northern China.
