The global demand for food necessitates an increase in dryland agricultural production. Sustainable dryland crop production largely relies on integrated soil and crop management practices. The impact of long-term soil and crop management practices on winter wheat-summer maize (WM) rotation systems was explored, and the key resources that contribute to grain yield (GY) and quality for sustainable production were identified. A five-season field experiment of WM rotation seasons was conducted in the drylands of the Loess Plateau of China. Varied soil mulch patterns [non-mulched flat cultivation (NF), straw-mulched flat cultivation (SF), and transparent filmmulched ridge and bare furrow cultivation (TR)] and different amount of nitrogen applicant [winter wheat: 0, 100, and 200; summer maize: 0, 90, and 180 kg ha-1 (N0, N1 and N2, respectively)]. The 'grain heat energy yield' concept was proposed to evaluate the contributions of different resources to GY and protein production of WM rotation seasons. Compared to N0 treatment, N1 and N2 treatment increased GY by 28.6% and 54.7% and grain protein content by 6.0% and 14.3% in summer maize, while they increased GY by 45.4% and 81.8% and grain protein content by 13.7% and 26.1% in winter wheat, respectively, ultimately increasing the net income of rotation system by 58.9-127.1%. Compared to NF treatment, SF and TR treatment increased GY by 16.2% and 21.9% and grain protein content by 1.6% and 3.1% in summer maize, while they increased GY by 10.1% and 11.3% and grain protein content by 13.7% and 26.1% in winter wheat, respectively, ultimately increasing the net income of rotation system by 1.0-12.0%. Summer maize exhibited a greater harvest index of biomass (48.9%) than winter wheat (38.6%), but winter wheat had a greater nitrogen harvest index (71.8%) than summer maize (56.2%). These strategies also improved resource use efficiency of the rotation system. Based on grain heat energy yield, summer maize exhibited higher efficiency than winter wheat, and radiation use efficiency contributed most to the productivity of rotation system. In conclusion, the accumulation of soil hydrothermal resources, improvement of canopy growth and light interception facilitated the accumulation of aboveground biomass and plant nitrogen in wheat and maize plants, which enhanced the productivity, stability, resource use efficiency, and finally profitability of rotation system. This study identifies the link between resource utilization and crop productivity, advancing sustainable agriculture in drylands and contributing to regional food security.