Climate change perceptions and the adoption of low-carbon agricultural technologies: Evidence from rice production systems in the Yangtze River Basin

Abstract

Using a sample of 1115 rice farmers, we explored climate change perceptions, adoption of agricultural low-carbon technologies (LCTs), and the determinants influencing rice farmers' climate change adaptation in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB), central China. We built a theoretical framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and performed both binary and count estimations to explore the determinants affecting farmers' adoption of LCTs. Our results indicated that most rice farmers strongly agreed they observed shifting local weather conditions (52.74% of respondents) and irregular rainfall patterns (52.56%) within the last year. Further, over two-thirds of the respondents perceived that agricultural production contributes to climate variability (26.73% strongly agreed, and 40.54% agreed with that statement). In terms of the adoption intensity of LCTs, we found that about 96% of rice farmers implemented at least one low-carbon technology. Importantly, farmers' perceptions of climate change were positively associated with climate change adaptation. Other significant predictors of climate change adaptation included gender, years of experience, access to agricultural training through extension services, exchange of technical information among farmers, and access to mobile networks and postal services. We underlined policy recommendations that may accelerate climate change adaptation in rice production and complement current agricultural low-carbon programs in China.