Study on the Change Character of Double Rice Cold Damage in Hunan and Hubei Province during the Past 50 Years

Based on the meteorological data of representative meteorological stations in Hunan and Hubei from 1961 to 2008 years,the change character of double rice cold damage under the background of climate change were analyzed adopting 30 years glide accumulation method.The analysis showed that the 30 years sliding cumulative days of mild low-temperature during spring sowing in Hunan and Hubei were decreased in the recent 50 years,as well as the 30 years sliding cumulative days of moderate low-temperature in central south Hubei,northern and western Hunan.However,there was an increase in southern Hunan,so was the 30 years sliding cumulative days of severe low-temperature.The 30 years sliding cumulative days of mild low-temperature in May reduced in Hunan and Hubei.Instead,that of moderate low-temperature in May in central south Hubei was on the rise,and it was opposite in northern and southern Hunan,but there was no obvious change in western Hunan.The 30 years sliding cumulative days of severe low-temperature showed a decreasing tendency in May in central south Hubei,northern and western Hunan,and southern Hunan showed a contrary tendency.The 30 years sliding cumulative days of mild cold dew wind in Hunan and Hubei were decreased,that of moderate cold dew wind in central south Hubei,northern and western Hunan had the same tendency,but there was a contrary tendency in southern Hunan.The 30 years sliding cumulative days of severe cold dew wind was decreased in central south Hubei and increased in western Hunan,without cold dew wind in northern and southern Hunan.

Non-leguminous winter cover crop and nitrogen rate in relation to double rice grain yield and nitrogen uptake in Dongting Lake Plain, Hunan Province, China

Annual ryegrass（Lolium multiflorum Lam.）, a non-leguminous winter cover crop, has been adopted to absorb soil native N to minimize N loss from an intensive double rice cropping system in southern China, but a little is known about its effects on rice grain yield and rice N use efficiency. In this study, effects of ryegrass on double rice yield, N uptake and use efficiency were measured under different fertilizer N rates. A 3-year（2009–2011） field experiment arranged in a split-plot design was undertaken. Main plots were ryegrass（RG） as a winter cover crop and winter fallow（WF） without weed. Subplots were three N treatments for each rice season： 0（N_0）, 100（N_（100）） and 200 kg N ha–1（N_（200））. In the 3-year experiment, RG reduced grain yield and plant N uptake for early rice（0.4–1.7 t ha–1 for grain yield and 4.6–20.3 kg ha–1 for N uptake） and double rice（0.6–2.0 t ha–1 for grain yield and 6.3–27.0 kg ha–1 for N uptake） when compared with WF among different N rates. Yield and N uptake decrease due to RG was smaller in N_（100） and N_（200） plots than in N_0 plots. The reduction in early rice grain yield in RG plots was associated with decrease number of panicles. Agronomic N use efficiency and fertilizer N recovery efficiency were higher in RG plots than winter fallow for early rice and double rice among different N rates and experimental years. RG tended to have little effect on grain yield, N uptake, agronomic N use efficiency, and fertilizer N recovery efficiency in the late rice season. These results suggest that ryegrass may reduce grain yield while it improves rice N use efficiency in a double rice cropping system.

Effect of Continuous Application of Controlled Release Nitrogen Fertilizer in Various Types of Soil in Dong-Ting Lake Region under Double Rice Cropping System

[Objective] This study aimed to explore the effects of continuous application of controlled release nitrogen fertilizer under double rice cropping system. [Method] By modeling three types of paddy soils in Dong-Ting Lake area, four treatments as no fertilizer （CK）, urea, controlled release nitrogen fertilizer （CRNF） and 70% controlled release nitrogen fertilizer （70% CRNF） were designed in the micro-plot trials from 2005 to 2008. [Result] The rice yield in treatment CRNF at N 150 kg/hm2 was increased by 10.3%, 8.0% and 2.4% compared with treatment of urea, in alluvial sandy loamy paddy soil （ALS）, purple calcareous clayey paddy soil （PCS）, and reddish yellow loamy paddy soil （RYS）, respectively; and the yield in treatment of 70% CRNF was increased by 6.1%, 2.6% and -0.8%, respectively. The ranking order of nitrogen uptake amount by plant in early rice and late rice was CRNF 70% CRNF urea CK in all three types of soil. Nitrogen utilization efficiency of CRNF in above three types of soil was 60.7%, 59.6% and 56.3%, increased by 23.8%, 19.4% and 16.3% compared with that in treatment of urea, respectively. Nitrogen utilization efficiency of CRNF in early rice was increased year by year, and was higher than that of 70% CRNF during the whole experiment stage, while that in late rice was increased first and then decreased from the 3rd year. [Conclusion] Continuous application CRNF could alleviate the decreasing of soil nitrogen fertility and organic carbon especially in ALS, increase rice yield and nitrogen utilization efficiency in double-rice cropping system.

Analysis of Optimized NPK Formulation and Topdressing on Increasing Yield in Double Cropping Rice of Hunan

The effect of different formula of NPK and twice topdressings on rice growth in typical double cropping rice area, which located at Kaihui, Ganshan, Matang and Xinqiang towns, were studied on field experiment in order to select the formula of compound fertilizer and top dressing mode for double cropping of rice production in Hunan. The results showed that the optimized formulated fertilizer treatment, which increased the proportion of phosphorus and potassium and reduced its nitrogen fertilizer by 7.5 kg/hm2 can ensure early rice stable. Fpr example, the yield of late rice increased by 187.5-378.0 kg/hm2 compared with the conventional complex fertilizer （N-PO5-K2O formula of 20-10-10 for early rice and 26-10-13 for late rice）. The N-P2O5-K2O formula 18-14-16 of optimized formulated fertilizer which was suitable for early rice production, and the other N-P2O5-K2O formula 18- 9-16 was suitable for late rice production. The rice yields for top-dressing at tiller- ing stage and booting stage can increased by 187.5-382.5 and 258.0-415.5 kg/hm2 for eady and late rice and the nitrogen use efficiency advanced 10.9-24.2 percent- age points （31.5%-51.1%） for eady rice and 8.3-13.4 percentage points （36.2%- 64.9%） for late dce compared with the top-dressing at tillering stage.

Effect of Different Seedling Age on the Growth and Yield of Double Cropping of Late Rice

The study aims to solve the problems of late transplanting rice with differ- ent seedling ages at the lower reaches of Yangtze River. We selected six varieties of different thermal and photo-response characteristics as the test material to study the effect of different seedling ages on growth and yield of rice. The results showed that growing period of thermal-response rice was delayed by long seedling age, but less affected by the impact of photo-response rice; the yield of later thermal-re- sponse varieties with 25 days and 30 days seedling ages was significantly reduced. In contrast, the yield of early thermal-response varieties and later photo-response varieties were significantly reduced with 30 days seedling age. The optimal trans- planting seedling age was 15 days of thermal-response rice, while photo-response rice was 20 days. The thermal-response rice should be selected as early maturing varieties, while the photo-response rice could be selected as late maturing varieties for high yield.

Cold Damage Risk Assessment of Double Cropping Rice in Hunan, China

Combined with remote sensing data and meteorological data, cold damage risk was assessed for planting area of double cropping rice （DCR） in Hunan Province, China. A new methodology of cold damage risk assessment was built that apply to grid and have clear hazard-affected body. Each station cold damage annual frequency and average annual intensity of cold damage was calculated by using 1951-2010 station daily mean temperature and simple cold damage identification index. On this basis, average annual cold damage risk index was obtained by their product. The spatial analysis models of cold damage risk index about double-season early rice （DSER） and double-season later rice （DSLR） were established respectively by the relation of average annual cold damage risk index and its geographic factors. Critical threshold of level of average annual cold damage risk index for DSER and DSLR were respectively divided by the correlative equation of cold damage annual frequency and average annual intensity of cold damage. 2001-2010 planting area of DCR, acquired by time series analysis of MOD09AI 8-d composite land surface reflectance product, was as target of assessment. The results show average annual intensity of cold damage is exponential function of cold damage annual frequency, average annual cold damage risk index is directly proportional to cold damage cumulant and cold damage annual frequency, and is inversely proportional to happen times of cold damage and the square of statistical time sequence length. Cold damage risk of DSER is higher than DSLR in Hunan Province. In the 10-yr stacking map, DCR planting in low risk area accounted for 11.92% of total extraction area, in moderate risk area accounted for 69.62%, in high risk area accounted for 18.46%. According to the cold damage risk assessment result, DCR production can be guided to reduce cold damage losses.

Plant Ideotype at Heading for Super High-Yielding Rice in Double-Cropping System in South China

The newly released super high-yielding hybrid rice combinations, Yueza 122, Fengyou 428, Peiza 67, and the super high-yielding conventional cultivars, Guangchao 3 and Shengtai 1, were grown in both early and late seasons. The morphological characters of each population were investigated at the heading stage, and the data were analyzed by using ANOVY and other statistic methods. The plant ideal morphological characters at the heading stage were established as follows： 1 ） for the early-season cropping, 90-105 cm plant height; 11-12 tillers per plant; 35-40 em length and 2.1-2.2 cm width of flag leaf; 46-50 cm length and 1.8-2.1 cm width of the second leaf from the top （L2）; 59-64 cm length and 1.4-1.9 cm width of the third leaf from the top （L3）; 7°-14°, 18° and 200-33° for the ideal leaf angles of the flag leaf, L2 and L3, respectively; 2） for the late-season cropping, 90-100 cm plant height; 9-15 tillers per plant; 30-41 cm length and 1.8-2.0 cm width of flag leaf; 53-61 cm length and 1.3-1.8 cm width of L2; 52-58 cm length and 1.2-1.5 cm width of L3; 9°-19°, 15°-37° and 16°-49° for the ideal leaf angles of the flag leaf, L2 and L3, respectively. The main physiological characteristics of these varieties were also analyzed.

Effects of Winter Planting Milk Vetch on Yield and PartialProductivity of Nitrogen Fertilizer of Machine-transplantedDouble-cropping Rice under Straw Returning to the Field

From 2017 to 2018,the effects of winter planting of milk vetch on yield and partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer of machine-transplanted double-cropping rice under straw returning were studied in Ningxiang city,Hunan Province.The results showed that the dry matter accumulation,effective panicle,yield and partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer in the stem,leaf,panicle and aboveground parts of early and late rice treated with winter planting milk vetch and straw returning were signi ficantly higher than those treated with straw returning only.Among them,the effective panicles of early and late rice increased by 2.58%,3.18%(2017)and 5.22%,6.32%(2018),respectively.Yield increased by 11.85%,10.07%(2017)and 12.42%,10.92%(2018),annual partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer increased by 10.90%(2017)and 11.66%(2018),respectively.In conclusion,winter planting milk vetch under straw returning is beneficial to increase dry matter accumulation,rice yield and partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer in mechanized double cropping rice.

CLIMATIC RISK ZONING OF DOUBLE CROPPING SUPER RICE CULTIVATION IN HUNAN PROVINCE

Based on meteorological data including daily sunshine duration, temperature and precipitation from 97 meteorological stations in Hunan province during the period of 1981—2010, in combination with the field experiment in different places at different sowing dates, the precise climatic risk zoning of double cropping super rice cultivation has been studied by using the spatial interpolation method and other Geographical Information System(GIS)technologies. Three key climatic factors were selected including chilling in May, high temperature heat damage during July to early August and low temperature damage in autumn in this study. Furthermore, based on the analysis of climatic conditions suitable for double cropping super rice cultivation and climatic disasters, 8-22 ℃ active accumulated temperature, sunshine duration from late March to October, climatic risk index of the low temperature in autumn, and climatic risk index of chilling in May were selected as key climatic factors to study the precise agro-meteorological regionalization of double cropping super rice in Hunan province. The results showed that: the high-yielding zones of double cropping super rice in Hunan were mainly located in Zhuzhou, Hengyang, Yongzhou and Chenzhou City, the moderate-yielding zones were primarily located in the east and north reaches of Dongting Lake,together with most of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan City, and other regions in Hunan were not suitable for double cropping super rice. These findings can provide valuable information for the large-scale cultivation of double cropping super rice in Hunan province.

Studies on the Morphological Characters of South China Double Cropping Super Rice at the Active Tillering Stage

The morphological characters of the newly released super hybrid rice in South China, Yueza 122, Fengyou 428, Peiza 67, and super conventional varieties, Guangchao 3, Shengtai 1 at the active tillering stage in both early and late crops were investigated. Using the analysis of variance and other statistic methods, the ideal morphological characteristics of South China double cropping super-rice at the active tillering stage were determined. They are 55-60 cm in the early crop and 60-76 cm in the late crop for the ideal plant height, about 15 tillers in the early crop and 14-19 tillers in the late crop for the ideal tiller number per plant, 40-44 cm in the early crop and 42-60 cm in the late crop for the ideal length of the first leaf under the top leaf, 1.2-1.4 cm in the early crop and 1.2-1.3cm in the late crop for the ideal width of the first leaf under the top leaf, 39- 44 cm in the early crop and 37-43 cm in the late crop for the ideal length of the second leaf under the top leaf, 1.1-1.4 cm in the early crop and about 1.1 cm in the late crop for the ideal width of the second leaf under the top leaf, 22-58o in the early crop and 4- 12o in the late crop for the ideal top leaf angle at the active tillering stage. Based on these results, a new concept of “dynamic plant type structure” for South China double cropping super rice breeding was suggested.

Effect of Different Winter Cover Crops on Carbon Dioxide Emission in Paddy Field of Double Cropping Rice Area in Southern China

In this study, a two-year experiment was conducted by suing a static chamber method to observe the effects of straw recycling of winter cover crops measure on CO2 emission fluxes in southern China. Three patterns of winter use were performed in the paddy field, including RRR （rice-rice-ryegrass （Lolium multiflorum L.） cropping system）, CRR （rice-rice-Chinese milk vetch （Astragalus sinicus L.） cropping system） and FRR （rice-rice cropping system with winter fallow）. During the winter, the average daily CO2 fluxes were greater （P 〈 0.05） in the RRR and CRR than the FRR. During the winter crop growing seasons, both the average daily CO2 fluxes and the total CO2 emissions were different as the following orders： RRR 〉 CRR 〉 FRR. The average CO2 fluxes during early rice and late rice season were similar. The highest CO2 flux was found at rice tillering stage with an order as the follows： RRR 〉 CRR 〉 FRR and CRR 〉 RRR 〉 FRR both in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The annual CO2 emissions of RRR and CRR were significantly higher respectively by 857.0 g.CO2-C.m2 and 607.4 g.CO2-C.m-2 than the FRR. The results show that straw recycling of winter cover crops measure may strongly influence the CO2 emission in paddy field in southern China.

Long-term rice-rice-green manure rotation changing the microbial communities in typical red paddy soil in South China

On the basis of a long-term（30 years） field experiment that involved four rotation systems, rice-rice-winter fallow（RRF）, rice-rice-ryegrass（RRG）, rice-rice-rape（RRP）, and rice-rice-milk vetch（RRV）, this study described the effects of green manure on the microbial communities in the red paddy soils using 454 pyrosequencing for the 16 S r RNA gene. The Chao1 richness and non-parametric Shannon＇s index increased in all soil samples that received green manure treatments. The communities＇ structures with the green manure applications were significantly dissimilar from that under the winter fallow. Using Metastats tests, many genera in the RRG, RRP and RRV soils were significantly different from those in the RRF soil, including a number of genera that functioned in the nitrogen and sulfur cycles. Analyses of the genera with these functions revealed the shifts in microbial ecosystem functions after long-term green manuring. Changes in the microbial communities increased the ammonium supply and decreased the soil acidification in green-manure-amended soils. Together, these data suggested powerful effects of green manure on both the microbial communities and the biogeochemical cycle driven by the shifts in bacterial functional groups.

Effects of Silicon Levels on Rice Grain Yield and Its Nitrogen Absorption

Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of Si fertilizer on yield and N-uptake and use efficiency of double-season rice under the conditions of equal nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium nutrients. The results showed that along with the increase of Si fertilizer application, the yield of early and late rice increased firstly and then decreased within the range of SiO2 application rate of 0-0.8 g/kg soil. There was a significant parabolic correlation between the amounts of Si fertilizer application and rice grain yield （r= 0.931 2 and r= 0.973 3 in early-and late-rice season, respectively）. Results showed that efficient Si fertilizer application enchanced N contents in different plant components of early rice at maturity stages with increased nitrogen uptake of double cropping rice and nitrogen harvest index of late rice.

Root characteristics and yield of rice as affected by the cultivation pattern of strong seedlings with increased planting density and reduced nitrogen application

To address the relationships between the amount of nitrogen fertilizer application and the yield of double cropping rice systems,we investigated the effects of a cultivation pattern of strong seedlings with increased planting density and reduced nitrogen application(SDN)on the morphological and physiological characteristics of double cropping rice.Our results indicated that the effects of SDN on the morphological characteristics of the single plant roots of double cropping rice were not significant,but the morphological characteristics of the population roots were largely different.Specifically,SDN significantly increased the morphological indexes of the root population such as root fresh weight,root volume,root number,root length and root dry weight.The effects of SDN on the total root absorption areas and root active absorption areas of the single plants were non-significant,but it dramatically enhanced the total root absorption areas and root active absorption areas of the plant population during the tillering,heading and mature stages.In addition,SDN significantly increased the root bleeding intensity and elevated the soluble sugar and free amino acid contents of root bleeding sap.Compared to the traditional cultivation pattern(CK),SDN significantly increased root bleeding intensity at the heading stage by 4.37 and 8.90% for early and late rice,respectively.Meanwhile,SDN profoundly enhanced the soluble sugar contents of root bleeding sap by 12.85 and 10.41% for early and late rice,respectively.In addition,SDN also significantly enhanced free amino acid content of root bleeding sap by 43.25% for early rice and by 37.50% for late rice systems compared to CK.Furthermore,SDN increased the actual yield of double cropping rice mainly due to the higher effective panicle number and the larger seedsetting rate.The actual yields of early rice under SDN were higher than CK by 9.37 and 5.98% in 2016 and 2017,and the actual yields of late rice under SDN were higher than CK by 0.20 and 1.41% in 2016 and 2017,respectively.Correlation analysis indicated that the significant positive correlations were observed between the majority of the root indexes and the actual yield across the four different growth stages.

Screening and Verification of Rice Varieties with Low Cadmium Accumulation

In order to improve the utilization efficiency of heavy metal pollution of farmland,the revitalization of Hunan rice brand,this research worked on 20142016 oriented social extensive collection of 285 varieties of rice,including 98 early rice varieties and 187 late rice varieties.Screening and veri fication of rice varieties with low Cadmium accumulation were studied in Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan of Hunan Province,and in other typical cadmium polluted area in Hunan Province.12 early rice varieties and 13 late rice varieties were selected as low Cadmium accumulation varieties.Field test showed that,through the screening of varieties(V),irrigation(I)and acidity adjustment(P),the content of cadmium in early rice is 0.064~0.233 mg/kg,and 0.143~0.246 mg/kg in late rice,basically to ensure the content of cadmium in rice to reach the national standard,and to ensure good food security.

Effect of Long-Term Fertilization on Organic Carbon and Nitrogen in a Subtropical Paddy Soil

A long-term experiment beginning in 1981 in Jinxian County of Jiangxi Province, subtropical China, was conducted in a paddy field under a double rice cropping system with four different fertilization regimes, including 1) no fertilizer as control (CK), 2) balanced chemical N, P, and K fertilizers (NPK), 3) organic manure using milk vetch and pig manure in the early and late rice growing season, respectively (OM), and 4) balanced chemical fertilizers combined with organic manure (NPKM). Samples (0-17 cm) of the paddy field soil, which was derived from Quaternary red clay, were collected after the late rice harvest in November 2003 for determination of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) and fractions of organic C and N. Results showed that TOC and TN in the NPKM and OM treatments were significantly higher than those in other two treatments (CK and NPK). Application of organic manure with or without chemical fertilizers significantly increased the contents of all fractions of organic C and N, whereas chemical fertilizer application only increased the contents of occluded particulate organic C (oPOC) and amino acid N. In addition, application of organic manure significantly enhanced the proportions of free particulate organic carbon (fPOC) and oPOC in total C, and those of amino sugar N and amino acid N (P < 0.01) in total N. In contrast, chemical fertilizer application only increased the proportions of oPOC and amino acid N (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in either contents or proportions of soil organic C and organic N fractions between the NPKM and OM treatments. These indicated that organic manure application with or without chemical fertilizers played the most significant role in enhancing soil organic C and N quantity and quality in the paddy field studied.

The Possible Effect of Climate Warming on Northern Limits of Cropping System and Crop Yield in China

Significantly increasing temperature since the 1980s in China has become a consensus under the background of global climate change and how climate change affects agriculture or even cropping systems has attracted more and more attention from Chinese government and scientists. In this study, the possible effects of climate warming on the national northern limits of cropping systems, the northern limits of winter wheat and double rice, and the stable-yield northern limits of rainfed winter wheat-summer maize rotation in China from 1981 to 2007 were analyzed. Also, the possible change of crop yield caused by planting limits displacement during the periods 1950s-1981 and 1981-2007 was compared and discussed. The recognized calculation methods of agricultural climatic indices were employed. According to the indices of climatic regionalization for cropping systems, the national northern limits of cropping systems, winter wheat and double rice, and the stable-yield northern limits of rainfed winter wheat-summer maize rotation during two periods, including the 1950s-1980 and 1981-2007, were drawn with ArcGIS software. Compared with the situation during the 1950s- 1980, the northern limits of double cropping system during 1981-2007 showed significant spatial displacement in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning provinces and Beijing municipality, China. The northern limits of triple cropping system showed the maximum spatial displacement in Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces, China. Without considering variety change and social economic factors, the per unit area grain yield of main planting patterns would increase about 54-106% if single cropping system was replaced by double cropping system, which turned out to be 27- 58% if double cropping system was replaced by triple cropping system. In Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai provinces, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia autonomous regions, China, the northern limits of winter wheat during 1981-2007 moved northward and expanded westward in different degrees, compared with those during the 1950s-1980. Taking Hebei Province as an example, the northern limits of winter wheat moved northward, and the per unit area grain yield would averagely increase about 25% in the change region if the spring wheat was replaced by winter wheat. In Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan provinces, China, the planting northern limits of double rice moved northward, and the per unit area grain yield would increase in different degrees only from the perspective of heat resource. The stable- yield northern limits of rainfed winter wheat-summer maize rotation moved southeastward in most regions, which was caused by the decrease of local precipitation in recent years. During the past 50 yr, climate warming made the national northern limits of cropping systems move northward in different degrees, the northern limits of winter wheat and double rice both moved northward, and the cropping system change would cause the increase of per unit area grain yield in the change region. However, the stable-yield northern limits of rainfed winter wheat-summer maize rotation moved southeastward due to the decrease of precipitation.

Systematic Studies of Nitrogen Loss from Paddy Soils Through Leaching in the Dongting Lake Area of China

A two-year lysimeter study was conducted to study the effects of different fertilizers and soils on nitrogen leaching loss in a double rice cropping system by considering three major types of paddy soils from the Dongting Lake area. The results showed that N concentration in the leachate did not differ significantly among the treatments of urea, controlled release N fertilizer and pig manure and that all these fertilizers produced higher total nitrogen （TN） concentrations in the leachate compared to the case where no fertilizer was applied. The TN leaching loss following urea treatment accounted for 2.28%, 0.66%, and 1.50% of the amount of N applied in the alluvial sandy loamy paddy soil （ASL）, purple calcareous clayey paddy soil （PCC）, and reddish-yellow loamy paddy soil （RYL）, respectively. Higher TN loss was found to be correlated with the increased leachate volume in ASL compared with RYL, and the lowest TN loss was observed in the PCC, in which the lowest leachate volume and TN concentration were observed. Organic N and NH＋-N were the major forms of N depleted through leachate, accounting for 56.8% and 39.7% of TN losses, respectively. Accordingly, soil-specific fertilization regimens are recommended; in particular, the maximum amount of fertilizer should be optimized for sandy soils with a high infiltration rate. To avoid a high N leaching loss from rice fields, organic N fertilizers such as urea or coated urea should primarily be used for surface topdressing or shallow-layer application and not for deep-layer application.

Agro-climatic adaptation of cropping systems under climate change in Shanghai

Climate change affects the heat and water resources required by agriculture, thus shifting cropping rotation and intensity. Shanghai is located in the Taihu Lake basin, a transition zone for various cropping systems. In the basin, moderate climate changes can cause major shifts in cropping intensity and rotation. In the present study, we integrated observational climate data, one regional climate model, land use maps, and agricultural statistics to analyze the relationship between heat resources and multi-cropping potential in Shanghai. The results of agro-climatic assessment showed that climate change over the past 50 years has significantly enhanced regional agro- climatic resources, rendering a shift from double cropping to triple cropping possible. However, a downward trend is evident in the actual multi-cropping index, caused principally by the increasing costs of farming and limitations in the supply of labor. We argue that improving the utilization rate of the enhanced agro-climatic resources is possible by introducing new combinations of cultivars, adopting more laborsaving technologies, and providing incentives to farmers.