To address the predicaments faced by practical parts in plant production courses at open universities, based on the teaching characteristics and students' needs of open education, this study explored the innovative application paths of virtual simulation technology in the practice of these courses. This research first analyzed the existing problems in traditional planting-related course. Subsequently, testified the necessity of constructing a virtual simulation teaching system in supplementing the shortage of practical resources, adapting to students' personalized learning needs, and promoting the reform of teaching evaluation. On this basis, this study proposed strategies for constructing the virtual simulation teaching system from the dimensions of curriculum resource, ideological and political education, and evaluation system, and verifies the application effect through comparative experiments. The results showed that virtual simulation could significantly improve students' mastery of knowledge, practical operation and problem-solving ability, and had been recognized by most students. This research confirmed that virtual simulation technology could effectively solve the drawback in practical teaching of open education, helping open universities enhance the quality of applied talent cultivation, and supplying rural revitalization with professionals equipped with practical capabilities.