2.1. Study Area and Collection of Samples This study uses primary data collected through a cross-sectional survey of households engaged in farming in the Rajshahi District. For the analysis, the authors selected this region because of its extensive reliance on crop agriculture. The district is the ‘granary house’ of the country. It is characterized by deficient rainfall and a high temperature, rendering it severely susceptible to drought, and rice farming is the main livelihood-supporting operation. The survey was performed from June to July 2020 in the district. We used a multistage random sampling method to pick the respondents. Random sampling was used at the first level to select two Upazillas (Godagari and Tanore). Then, two villages were chosen for each of the Upazillas, resulting in four villages. Therefore, the survey included data from 400 farming households randomly selected from four villages (100 from each village). It provides a sample size of a predetermined number of households of 10% from each village as the number of households engaged in farming varies significantly within each village. As 5% of total households was considered to be appropriate for cross-sectional household surveys, this is sufficient. Additionally, rural farming communities in the study region constitute a mostly homogeneous community, which also validates the use of a limited sample. The rice farming households were the unit of study and were selected using the list of farming households obtained from the Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officers by simple random sampling (SAAOs). The study collected data through a systematic interview schedule to address the research question, including questions relating to the various dimensions of adaptive potential for climate change adaptation strategies and the socio-economic characteristics of farming households.
2.2. Data Analysis Descriptive figures, percentiles, and 5-point ordinal scales were used for statistical analysis to assess farmers’ opinions on the adaptive potential for climate change adaptation strategies. The study used the production function by Cobb–Douglas to measure the impact of the adaptive potential on the production of rice in the region under investigation.
2.3. Measurement of Adaptive Capacities of Farmers to Strategies of Adaptation The adaptive potential is a farmer’s willingness to implement climate change adaptation methods to reduce climate change’s negative effects on agricultural development. Some empirical studies have used five characteristics, such as expertise, usage, availability, accessibility, and consultation, to assess the adaptive capacities of farmers. A useful adaptation requires an understanding of the need to adapt and the options available, as well as access to and the use of the most relevant ones [46]. The extent of the use of new agronomic practices for climate resilience depends on the awareness of those strategies and government institutions’ role related to agriculture [30]. In developing countries, most farmers are not well-educated. It is challenging for them to use climate change mitigation strategies individually. Institutions play an essential role in encouraging farmers to use new climate change mitigation techniques to reduce their production losses. The technologies include crop (genetic engineering) breeding, early warning systems, water management practices, irrigation, and protective structures. Therefore, the adaptive ability needs to improve sustainability by creating new options using new technologies . Furthermore, the adaptive potential varies with agricultural institutions and is a function of the availability and accessibility of innovations. Institutional facilities play a vital role in bringing society together, providing meaning and intention, and adapting.
In this study, the adaptation strategies are the practice of organic/chemical fertilizer, farming near water facilities, improved irrigation, varieties of rice in the early maturing stage, mixed cropping, drought-tolerant rice varieties, changing plantation dates, the incorporation of trees on rice farms, crop rotation construction of dams, and setting up shallow tube wells in ponds. This research follows the methodology developed to assess farmers’ adaptive capacities for adaptation strategies. The expectations of farmers about strategies for adaptation to climate change were used to measure the adaptive ability. The study asked the farmers to show how each factor influences the adaptive ability in this method, where the lowest value of the degree is 0.25. For each of the attributes, the highest degree of score attainment is 1.