Improvement of Climate Resource Utilization in the Southwestern Hilly Region through the Construction of a New Multi-Maturing Cropping System

The construction of an appropriate cropping pattern is crucial for the improvement of regional agricultural economic efficiency and sustainable development. Despite previous efforts, there remains a gap in optimizing cropping patterns that fully leverage climate resources to enhance production efficiency. This study addresses this gap by systematically comparing the differences in climate resource allocation, production efficiency and crop response among models by constructing four new triple-maturing cropping models at typical ecological sites in the hilly areas of southwest China. To solve the above problems, we constructed eight cropping patterns and classified them to three as follows: the Traditional Double Cropping System, the Traditional Triple Cropping System, the Novel Triple Cropping System. The results showed that the new multi-maturing planting pattern was significantly better than the traditional two-maturing netting pattern and the traditional three-maturing planting pattern in terms of light, temperature and water productivity. Compared with the traditional two-maturity net cropping model and the traditional three-maturity cropping model, the new cropping model increased light energy productivity by 97.88% and 50.00%, respectively; light energy use by an average of 0.48% and 0.31%; cumulative temperature productivity by an average of 84.70% and 49.14%; and rainfall productivity by an average of 101.04% and 49.61%. An assessment of the light, temperature and water meteorological resource use efficiency of the different treatments showed that the resource use efficiency of the new multi-maturing planting pattern was on average 111.58% and 74.78% higher than that of the traditional two-maturing net planting pattern and the traditional three-maturing planting pattern, with the T6 pattern having the highest resource use efficiency. The new multi-ripening cropping pattern has demonstrated production stability in response to changes in light, temperature and water resources, better adapting to weekly climate changes, stabilizing yields and improving efficiency. In summary, the results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for optimizing cropping patterns and promoting the use of climate resources in agriculture and sustainable development. Future research should focus on further refining these models, exploring their adaptability to various climatic conditions, and evaluating their long-term economic and environmental impacts.