Measures And Incentive Mechanisms For Mitigation And Adaptation To Climate Change In Rice Paddy:a Case Study In Phichit Province Of Thailand

Rice paddy is both greenhouse gases?GHGs?emission source and a possible area to enhance adaptation to climate change through changes in rice cultivation practice.This study covers both mitigation and adaptation to climate change of farmers in Phichit province of Thailand.A joint concept of the life cycle assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions?LCA-GHG?of product?cradle to gate?with the economic analysis covering benefit-cost ratio?B/C?,net profit and marginal abatement cost?MAC?were applied to seek new practical approaches as alternative cropping systems for GHGs mitigation.Mitigation techniques were selected based on a literature review and the recommendations of experts,provided in a report by the Office of Agricultural Economics,Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives,Thailand,namely,mid-season drainage?MD?;replacement of urea with ammonium sulfate??NH₄?₂SO₄??AMOS?;and site-specific nutrient management?SSNM?.GHG emissions were calculated for each farm using four scenarios,including the business as usual?BAU?case,and the use of MD,AMOS,and SSNM techniques.The multinomial logistic regression?MNL?model was used to determine the factors that influence the various choices of mitigation techniques.Theory of planned behavior and communicating adaptation to climate change concept were incorporated to assess farmers'intention to adaptation.The binary logistic regression and MNL models were employed to examine the factors that influence on farmers'decision to adapt and non-adapt to climate change,and to implement the adaptation strategies.Four rounds of face to face surveys were carried out to collect the data of the case study area in August 2013,November 2014,February2015,and January 2016.The total survey samples of 661 households included 37villages and 321 households for the Yom basin,and 41 villages and 340 households for the Nan basin.Results strongly support the implementation of a triple cropping system in irrigated areas,suggesting crop rotations with mung bean after the first and second rice harvest.For rainfed areas,a double cropping system with selecting mung bean was the most profitable.SSNM was obviously preferable and presented the highest scores for farmer acceptability as the mitigation techniques for rice cultivation,followed by AMOS and MD.Irrigation systems,land size,farmers'liability,and perception of yield and GHG emissions were found as the main factors affecting farmers'decision to accept the mitigation techniques.Understanding of climate impacts and its adaptation,agricultural experience,farm income,training,social capital,and effective climate adaptation communication were statistically significant in increasing the probability of farmers'adaptation.For farmers who do not perceive climate change but adapted nonetheless,social capital followed by neighbors and peer groups'influence plays major role in driving their belief in,and behavior to adaptation.Farmers'intention to adapt in the future was mostly affected by perceived behavioral control factors,followed by attitude and subjective norms.Therefore,alternative cropping systems not only reduce GHG emissions but also increase benefits to farmers.A reduction in the application of chemical fertilizers and a reduction in crop residue burning and energy consumption are important for a reduction in GHG emissions from agricultural activities.Subsidies or cost-sharing measures can convince farmers to adopt new techniques to enhance their practices,and more support of water system development can increase their availability.