<p>Global warming and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events pose escalating threats to rice growth. Optimizing rice sowing dates constitutes a pragmatic strategy to safeguard food security. This study investigated temperature-sensitive developmental stages in rice through adjusted sowing dates, establishing climate-resilient planting schedules for yield optimization. Three and four sowing dates were respectively established for early and late rice, with major cultivars (e.g., ‘Xiangzaoxian 24’, ‘Xiangwanxian No. 12’) in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River selected for two-year field trials. The effect of sowing date on the yield of early rice was not significant, but the yield of late rice was significant. The yield of late rice decreased gradually with the delay of sowing date. The average temperature during the whole growth stage of early rice significantly increased with delayed sowing dates, while that of late rice showed a significant decreasing trend as sowing was postponed. Random forest analysis identified accumulated growth stage temperature as the exclusive positive factor for early rice yield, while vegetative/reproductive-stage average temperatures and vegetative accumulated temperature drove late rice yield. The change of sowing date mainly affects the growth period of early rice and the yield of late rice in double-cropping rice. The strategic combination of early-sown early rice and late-sown late rice with climate-adapted cultivars significantly mitigates temperature-induced phenological instability and yield reductions (9.59–38.98%), thereby optimizing yield potential under climatic fluctuation conditions.</p>