To investigate the effects of different tillage patterns on physical and chemical properties of paddy soils and crop economic efficiency, soil and crop yields were investigated and analyzed under four typical tillage patterns (single-cropping rice, rice-oilseed rape rotation, wheat-rice rotation, and tobacco-rice rotation) in Chizhou of southern Anhui Province. The results showed that compared with single-cropping rice, soil water contents under rotation systems were reduced significantly. Soil bulk densities under the wheat-rice rotation and tobacco-rice rotation were increased significantly, while soil porosity was decreased significantly. Soil organic matter and available nitrogen contents under the wheat-rice rotation were reduced by 35.8% and 47.8%, respectively. Soil available potassium and phosphorus contents under tobacco-rice rotation were increased by 68.2% and 109.5%, respectively. The crop outputs under rice-oilseed rape rotation and tobacco-rice rotation were increased by 35.3% and 155.5%, respectively. To improve soil bulk density and soil porosity under crop rotation, organic fertilizer and straw residue incorporation should be increased. pH decline should focus on wheat-rice rotation, and the application of phosphate and potash fertilizers should be reduced in late rice planting under tobacco-rice rotation. These results indicate that rice-oilseed rape rotation and tobacco-rice rotation are the optimal tillage patterns to preserve soil quality, promote sustainable agricultural ecosystem and agricultural production in southern Anhui Province.