Three types of rice varieties including Liangyou 293, Shanyou 63 and Yangdao 6 were used to explore the effects of rice varieties and sowing date on solar radiation interception and the vertical distribution of dry matters in rice population. The results showed that differences in dry matters at different vertical heights of rice population were caused by both sowing date and varieties. Dry matters at different heights below the 20 cm, above the 80 cm, 20~40 cm, 40~60 cm and 60~80 cm performed a progressive decrease, so did the dry matters o...