Rice-wheat rotation is one of the major rice farming systems in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. With the increase of water resource shortages and frequent droughts， the advantages of drought farmed rice have become increasingly prominent. 3 rice varieties including indica hybrid rice Hanyou 73（HY73）， indica conventional rice Huanghuazhan（HHZ）， and indica-japonica hybrid rice Yongyou 4949（YY4949） and 1 wheat variety Zhengmai 9023（ZM9023） were used to optimize the mode of rice-wheat rotation and improve the resource utilization efficiency. The conventional flooding irrigation （as control） and drought farming treatments were set up during the rice season to systematically study the effects of drought farming on the plant growth， yield， and resource use efficiency in both rice and wheat seasons. The results showed that the plant height， number of tillers， and leaf area of different rice varieties under drought farming during the rice season was significantly reduced， with a decrease of 6.8%-13.2%， 8.2%-35.7%， and 26.6%-44.7%， except for the number of tillers in YY73 at the stage of heading and flowering. Among them， HY73 had a higher leaf area and the smallest decrease， HHZ had the lowest leaf area and the largest decrease， and YY4949 had the smallest variation in number of tillers after drought farming. The actual yield of HY73， HHZ， and YY4949 decreased from 7.46 t/hm² to 5.32 t/hm²， from 6.23 t/hm² to 4.46 t/hm²， and from 7.60 t/hm² to 5.27 t/hm²， respectively. The plant height， number of tillers， leaf area， second-top leaf length， leaf width， spikelet number， and spike length of subsequent wheat after drought-farmed rice was significantly higher than that of the control during some key stages of growth and development. The accumulation of dry matter and yield of subsequent wheat after drought-farmed rice was significantly increased， with a yield of 4.49 t/hm²， 7.7% higher than that of the control. The water use efficiency （WUE） and economic benefits of the rice season， wheat season， and annual period were significantly improved after drought farming during the rice season. The WUE of rice and wheat increased by 151.9% to 156.1%， and the annual economic benefits of rice and wheat increased by 8.7% to 34.8%. However， the nitrogen partial factor productivity， light energy utilization efficiency， and accumulated temperature utilization efficiency of rice-wheat rotation decreased by 14.4%-15.8%， 13.8%-16.7%， and 14.1%-15.8%， respectively. It is indicated that drought farming of rice （especially HY73） can achieve high economic benefits under the annual rice-wheat rotation system in Hubei Province. It will provide a theoretical basis for drought-cultivated rice in rice-wheat rotation systems.