Abstract Increasing energy output and improving energy production efficiency is essential to ensure the long-term sustainability of rice production systems in China. Present study assessed the energy input/output and its production efficiency for manual transplanted rice with manual broadcasting fertilizer (TR-MBF), mechanical pot-seedling transplanted rice synchronized with deep fertilization (MPST-DF), and mechanical hill direct-seeding rice synchronized with deep fertilization (MHDS-DF) in a three-year field experiment. Two rice cultivars i.e., Yuxiangyouzhan (YXYZ, inbred rice) and Wufengyou615 (WFY615, hybrid rice) were used to determine the energy input/output and production efficiency of each system. Results depicted that the MHDS-DF and MPST-DF treatment substantially improved the grain yield by 20.9% and 32.3% for WFY615 and YXYZ owing to enhanced total above-ground biomass (TAB) and leaf area index (LAI), respectively. Means across years and cultivars for energy input in the TR-MBF, MPST-DF, and MHDS-DF were remained 31918.0, 35267.1 and 36036.7 MJ ha−1, respectively. The energy consumed by diesel and fertilizer for energy inputs in the production system exceeds 70% of the total energy input. Moreover, the three rice production systems were highly dependent on non-renewable energy. The highest output energy and net energy were obtained for MHDS-DF and MPST-DF treatments with 221517.2 and 185670.0 MJ ha-1, respectively. Among the three rice production systems, the highest energy use efficiency, energy productivity efficiency, energy profitability efficiency was found in MPST-DF, which was slightly higher than MHDS-DF. However, the human energy profitability efficiency of MHDS-DF treatment was significantly higher than other treatments. Therefore, MHDS-DF and MPST-DF could be best alternative technologies than conventional rice production systems with improved energy input and energy production efficiency in South China. Furthermore, both MHDS-DF and MPST-DF would also be suitable in the regions with lack of labor force for rice production.