Interpretation of Climate Change and Agricultural Adaptations by Local Household Farmers: a Case Study at Bin County, Northeast China

Journal of Integrative Agriculture

Peter H Verburg¹  Wen-bin WU²  Tian XIA³  Peng YANG⁴  Qiang-yi YU⁵  Zhen-huan LIU⁵  Liang-zhi YOU⁵  Zhong-jun LU⁵  Hua-jun TANG⁶ 

[1] Correspondence WU Wen-bin, Tel: [phone];YU Qiang-yi, Tel: [phone];Geography and Planning School of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, P.R.China;Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, The Netherlands;Key Laboratory of Agri-Informatics, Ministry of Agriculture/Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P.R.China;Remote Sensing Technique Center, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150086, P.R.China;

关键词: perception;    adaptation;    survey;    climate change;    agriculture;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Although climate change impacts and agricultural adaptations have been studied extensively, how smallholder farmers perceive climate change and adapt their agricultural activities is poorly understood. Survey-based data (presents farmers' personal perceptions and adaptations to climate change) associated with external biophysical-socioeconomic data (presents real-world climate change) were used to develop a farmer-centered framework to explore climate change impacts and agricultural adaptations at a local level. A case study at Bin County (1980s–2010s), Northeast China, suggested that increased annual average temperature (0.6°C per decade) and decreased annual precipitation (46 mm per decade, both from meteorological datasets) were correctly perceived by 76 and 66.9%, respectively, of farmers from the survey, and that a longer growing season was confirmed by 70% of them. These reasonably correct perceptions enabled local farmers to make appropriate adaptations to cope with climate change: Longer season alternative varieties were found for maize and rice, which led to a significant yield increase for both crops. The longer season also affected crop choice: More farmers selected maize instead of soybean, as implicated from survey results by a large increase in the maize growing area. Comparing warming-related factors, we found that precipitation and agricultural disasters were the least likely causes for farmers' agricultural decisions. As a result, crop and variety selection, rather than disaster prevention and infrastructure improvement, was the most common ways for farmers to adapt to the notable warming trend in the study region.

【 授权许可】

Unknown