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Farmers’ perception and adaptations to climate change: findings from three agro-ecological zones of Punjab, Pakistan

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was to capture farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to climate change in agriculture sector. Along with this, it also identified farmers’ adaptations to perceived climate change. Binary logit models were applied on data of 386 farmers, collected from three different agro-ecological zones of Punjab, Pakistan, to present a comprehensive analysis of different adaptation strategies missing in the existing literature. The coefficients of a binary logit model only explain the direction of change; therefore, to see the magnitude of change, marginal effects were also estimated. Findings revealed that farmers perceived climate change and opted different adaptation strategies. Results of binary logit models described age, education, farming experience, landholding, access to climate information, access to credit facilities, and access to extension services as important determinants of adaptation. This research also found lack of access to climate information, lack of irrigation resources, and knowledge about appropriate adaptations as key constraints in adaptation process. This situation can be improved by enhancing institutional support and capacity. It is suggested that improved agricultural education with better access to climate information and extension services affects the farmers’ well-being directly and hence is good for the economy of Pakistan.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available because primary data was collected for this study by interviewing farmers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Faisal Ali

  2. Planning and Development Department, Government of Punjab, Punjab Economic Research Institute, Lahore, Pakistan

    Sobia Rose

Authors
  1. Muhammad Faisal Ali
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  2. Sobia Rose
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Contributions

MFA collected, analyzed, and interpreted the data, whereas SR assisted in literature review and write up.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Faisal Ali.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Table 4 Model fit summary for binary logit models
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Table 5 Summary of variables
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Ali, M.F., Rose, S. Farmers’ perception and adaptations to climate change: findings from three agro-ecological zones of Punjab, Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 14844–14853 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11472-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11472-x

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