[Objective] The aim of this study was to understand the difference of N fertilizer requirement between hybrid rapeseed and conventional rapeseed. [Method] Two hybrid cultivars, ZY5628 and ZY7819, and the conventional cultivar ZS10, were compared through two field experiments. In Experiment 1, seed yield and optimum N application rate were assessed in the field with five N application treatments. In Expedment 2, N was applied uniformly at 180 kg/hm2, and plant biomass and N accumulation were measured at several developmental stages, while N use efficien- cy was calculated for rape at maturity. [Results] The experiment 1 results showed that seed yields of ZY5628 and ZY7819 were both significantly higher than that of ZS10, and compared to ZS10, optimum yield （plateau yield） was higher by 18.7% and 20.2%, while the recommended N application rate was lower by 9.5% and 9.6% for ZY5628 and ZY7819, respectively. The experiment 2 results showed that during vegetative development, all three cultivars exhibited similar accumulations of plant biomass and N, but through flowering and maturity ZY5628 and ZY7819 pro- duced more biomass, acquired more N, and utilized acquired N more efficiently to- wards seed production than ZS10. [Conclusion] With equivalent inputs, the hybrid rapeseed cultivars ZY5628 and ZY7819 tested herein yield more seed with higher N use efficiency than the conventional rapeseed ZS10. This information will be valu- able for growers seeking to improve efficiency while reducing costs of rape production in China.
