Climate Risk Management in Thai Rice Farming: Farmers’ Perceptions, Meteorological Trends, and Determinants of Adaptation Strategies

Climate change (CC) is expected to alter environmental conditions for crop growth and require adjustments in crop management practices, amplifying both the frequency and extent of farmers’ adaptation practices. However, it is a challenge to accurately perceive the required adaptations against extreme climate events and eventually adopt the most appropriate measures. This research assessed the consistency of rice farmers’ CC perceptions with long-term meteorological trends and examined their intensity of adoption of climate risk management (CRM) strategies. This study was conducted in the climatically-vulnerable northeast region of Thailand. Primary data were collected from 402 rice farmers. Secondary climate data on temperature and rainfall were collected for 32 years (1991–2022). Farmers perceived a rising temperature trend and a changing rainfall pattern characterized by fewer rainy days with higher rainfall intensity, which is consistent with the long-term meteorological trend. A majority of farmers (48.9%) had medium adoption of CRM strategies (total score: 16–30). The top four adopted CRM strategies were adopting other income-generating activities, direct seeding, changing planting dates and time, and solar irrigation. Farmers’ adoption decision was influenced by education, farming experience, training experience, rice cultivated area, and credit access. Furthermore, education, household size, farming experience, access to information sources, training experience, annual net family income, credit access, soil fertility, and distance from the market played significant roles in farmers’ intensity of adoption. This study recommends policy interventions to increase the rate of adoption by disseminating information of CC adaptation strategies and providing on-farm demonstration training to the farmers by considering local people’s knowledge and resource base.