Introduction
The importance of sustainable agriculture is increasing with the growth of the agricultural industry, because it involves economic viability, social equity, an environmental health [1]. With the high increase in population and greater demand for food, land and natural resources, it is very much important for agriculture related industries to adapt and innovate without disturbing the quality of life for future generations [2]. The effects of climate change can be reduced through adoption of conservative practices. Diversified production systems offer opportunities to reduce irrigation demand in comparison to conventional farming systems [3, 4].
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the world population of 6.8 billion people today is projected to increase to 9.1 billion people by 2050, which will require a greater demand for food, land, and other natural resources. As the world’s largest industry, agriculture is dependent on natural resources, therefore it must also continue to adapt and innovate without jeopardizing stewardship of the land and quality of life for future generations [5]. On one hand, land use including deforestation accounts for 30% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions; while on the other hand, the adverse impacts of climate change are leading to land degradation, and food insecurity [6]. Similarly, more productive and supple agriculture requires administration of natural and environmental resources [7]. Transforming to such systems may generate significant benefits [8].
After wheat, cotton is the most significant and largest cash crop in Pakistan in terms of area. It adds 6.5% to agricultural value addition and 1% to the country’s GDP overall. It is the primary source of raw materials for the textile industry and an important source of foreign exchange [9]. Despite being the fourth-largest producer of cotton in the world, Pakistan’s cotton crop is sensitive to climate change and has seen several shocks over the years as a result of poor market performance, conventional agricultural management practices, and changing weather patterns. Pakistan’s cotton crop is severely impacted by climate change as a result of heavy fertilizer and pesticide use, along with high irrigation water demand [10]. The majority of researchers discovered that climate change had a negative impact on Pakistan’s cotton crop and climate change had a detrimental impact on Pakistan’s cotton production [11]. Most of the researchers found that production of cotton in Pakistan is negatively affected by climate change and inefficient cotton production management practices. The increased vulnerability of cotton crop to insect and pest attacks, declining crop yields, excessive use of groundwater, deterioration of natural resources and human health due to chemical based conventional agriculture have raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of the system [12].
The FAO is advising a sustainable agricultural production system, or Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices (CSAPs), as an alternative to conventional agriculture in response to social, environmental, and economic issues brought on by climate change and conventional agriculture. CSAPs lower greenhouse gas emissions, boost agricultural productivity and resilience, and optimize the use of natural resources. CSAPs are methods or technologies that enhance farm income and productivity while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving resilience to climate change, and optimizing the use of water and nutrients [13]. The implementation of either singular or combined CSAPs and technologies can significantly mitigate the negative impact of climate variability on agriculture. Consequently, CSAPs adoption in cotton production can reduce the negative effects of climate change on the crop’s production, while also increasing yield, farm income, and resource use efficiency [14]. CSAPs and technologies are thought to be able to support three pillars of CSAPs, i.e., lower greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced productivity, and climate change resilience. Multiple shocks, including market failures, climate change, and inadequate agricultural management practices, severely reduced cotton crop productivity [15]. The adoption rate of CSAPs is influenced by social and economic traits of the agricultural region, economic benefits to the farmers, farmers land holdings, role of agricultural research and educational institutes, extension services and government policies. The present study focuses on two core objectives: 1) adoption of CSAPs by the cotton growers of district Vehari and Khanewal, Punjab, Pakistan, and 2) associated constraints which restrain the adoption rate of CSAPs in the same districts.
Material and Methods
The descriptive correlational survey research methodology was applied to measure all research objectives related to factors involved in climatic variations and how they affect agricultural practices and attitudes of cotton growers towards technology adoption. The study was conducted in two purposively selected districts, i.e., Khanewal in Fig. 1 and Vehari in Fig. 2 of Punjab, Pakistan.
All cotton growers in these districts were considered as the population of the study and therefore considered as sampling frame. The population of the respondents from the selected smallest unit of the sampling frame was unknown, hence formula suggested by Kelsey and Kumar [16] for unknown population was applied to decide overall sample size which is as under:
Where
Z = Reliability coefficient (Constant) = 1.96
V = 51% variation assumed in the responses of the selected cotton growers in the sample
d = assumed marginal error (5%)
Hence
The Multistage random sampling approach was used to select 400 respondents from the population of cotton growers in two study districts. The approach involved randomly selecting two tehsils, five union councils, two villages, and 20 cotton growers from each selected village.
Results and Discussion
Impact of Climate Variations on Cotton Growing Practices As Perceived By Cotton Growers
The study objective-1 was to measure the impact of climate variations on cotton growing practices as perceived by cotton growers in the study area. Thoughts of the respondents in the study area were measured and the results tabulated in the following Table 1.
Table 1 reveals that climate variations have a moderate impact on cotton growing practices in the study area as perceived by farmers. In particular, the impact of pest and disease management practices were ranked as high (mean score of 3.51 and ranked at 1) while weed management practices and changes in tillage practices showed a moderate impact (mean score of 3.11 and ranked at 4). In this context, it is further observed that post-harvest losses management with mean score of 3.03, management of premature ripening with mean score of 2.60, soil management practices with mean score of 2.62, and practices to manage losses due to high and low rainfall with mean score of 2.76 ranked at 7, 14, 13 and 12, respectively, reveal little to moderate impact of climate variation on respective practices of the growers.
Presently, agriculture is under threat across the world because of the constant climate change [17]. In this regard, CSAPs have become pivotal to address issues related to severe decline in agricultural productivity, and further to mitigate the effects of climate change [18]. In recent years, focus is being given to agriculture during world climate change discussions, since being the most significant cause of greenhouse gasses worldwide [19, 20]. Climate change is currently posing severe effects on agriculture, and will continue to pose in the near future also. CSAPs are playing a key role in combating these challenges, and are providing solutions enhancing agriculture productivity, ameliorating livelihood, and creating more robust agricultural systems [21-23]. The effects of climate change are rapidly increasing on crops productivity and farmer’s livelihood in Pakistan with the passage of each day. Cotton is the main cash crop of Pakistan; but unfortunately to fulfill the domestic needs, it is now being imported from Egypt and some other countries [15, 24]. CSAPs are a ray of hope for the local cotton farmers of Punjab province to increase their cotton yield and in turn enhance their livelihood [15]. The main purpose of this study was to measure the impact of growers of the study area. The results indicate that climate variations have moderate impact on the cotton practices of the growers and if necessary measures would not be taken it may pose a serious threat to the future cotton crops in the region. These results confirm the previous findings [25-27]. In a recent study, it has been concluded that effects of climate variations are deepening every year in the cotton belt of Punjab, Pakistan. Climate variations reduce cotton yield by disturbing morpho-physiological and biochemical processes. Our study revealed that impact of climate variations was high on pest, disease and weed management practices in cotton growing districts [28]. This could be because climate variations are continuously causing mutations in pathogens, pests and weeds, and making them more resistant to pesticides and weedicides. This is resulting in less control of these pests, which in turn are drastically reducing cotton yield and increasing input costs of the cotton farmers [29].
Table 1.
Impact of climate variations on cotton growing practices.
Importance of CSAPs as Perceived by Cotton Growers
The results of the study presented in Table 2 show the importance of CSAPs as perceived by the cotton farmers. The thoughts of the respondents according to the objective under study were measured and the results tabulated in the following Table 2.
Table 2 indicates that cotton growers perceive all CSAPs as moderately important. Laser land leveling (LLL) was ranked as the most important practice (mean score of 3.53 and ranked at 1), followed by the use of weather forecasts (mean score of 3.41 and ranked at 2), and prompt weeding (mean score of 3.36 and ranked at 3). The least important practices, according to respondents were the use of drones and computer based tractors (ranked at 16 and 17, respectively, with mean scores of 2.46 and 2.43) and zero or minimum tillage (ranked at 18 with a mean score of 2.42).
The results of the present study revealed that cotton growers recognize all CSAPs as moderately important. However, statistically LLL significantly ranked more important practice, along with the use of weather forecasts and prompt weeding. These findings confirm the previous studies [30-32]. The cotton yield can be significantly increased by adopting LLL, because it saves irrigation water and other input materials. In many parts of the world, LLL is being promoted as CSAPs for its eco-friendly benefits which include minimizing the risks of salinity and soil erosion, and ameliorating ground water level. Adoption of LLL in the cotton belt of Punjab can further be accelerated as CSAPs by the support of the provincial government, taking suggestions from input dealers and engaging progressive farmers of this region [33]. We also identified use of weather forecasts as the second significant CSAP for cotton growers in our study area. It has been reported from previous studies that meteorological services are of higher importance for the applications of inputs, and sowing and harvesting of cotton crops. Meteorological services have been improved using internet technology in different parts of the world which have increased precision of weather forecasts which have positively influenced cotton crop and farmers have attained higher yields [34]. In African countries, meteorological service systems have been established for cotton growers involving service institutions, transport, household and consumers, which enabled farmers to have good yields of their cotton crop. Weather stations that work automatically could further improve the ability of weather predictions and could foretell well in advance to make correct decisions for cotton crop for employing inputs to ensure high yields [35, 36].
Table 2.
Importance of CSAP as perceived by respondents.
To Assess the Information and Training Sources Used by Growers for Adoption of CSAPs as Perceived by Cotton Growers
The study aimed to evaluate the information and training sources used by cotton growers in the study area for the adoption of CSAPs, as well as to identify the constraints faced by them in the adoption of such practices. The thoughts of the respondents in the study area were measured and the results tabulated in the following Table 3.
The Table 3 displays the results of the evaluation of various information and training sources used by the cotton growers. Fellow farmers, private companies, and farmers’ corner meetings are being the most moderately used sources of the cotton growers in the study area. Fellow farmers with mean score of 3.47 at rank 1, private companies with mean score of 3.11 at rank 2 and farmers’ corner meeting with mean score of 2.83 at rank 3 are the main information and training sources moderately used by the cotton growers.
In our findings, fellow farmers, private companies, and corner meetings were the moderately used sources of knowledge, information and training for the cotton growers in terms of CSAPs adoption in the study region. The climate smart agricultural knowledge transfer can improve the awareness of the respondents to deal with climate variation. The similar factor of knowledge production was discussed by Sultana [37] in her doctoral dissertation pointed out that there are multiple factors changing the knowledge co-production in Sindh province of Pakistan such as natural disasters, socio-economic shifts, political/power dynamics and water management. Our revelations are also aligned with Kuvelkar et al. [38] who found that farmers, meetings and private companies, field agents are the main source of information for the farmers of underdeveloped countries. There may be several reasons behind the significant role of private companies providing knowledge and training to the cotton farmers. The reasons may be that the private companies’ representatives have more frequent visits to farmers, they organize on farm meetings with farmers almost on a weekly basis, and they offer incentives to farmers. Further, every company has its own separate research and development (R&D) program which conducts research on social, personal, psychological, ecological and economic factors of farmers. Therefore, farmers have more confidence in private companies for taking new knowledge about agricultural innovations [39, 40].
To Identify the Constraints Faced by Growers for Adoption of CSAPs As Perceived by Cotton Growers
Table 4 shows the constraints faced by cotton growers in adopting CSAPs. Economic barriers, lack of trained extension staff, lack of training and CSA technologies being the main constraints faced by them. Overall, respondents faced moderate levels of constraints in adopting CSAPs, and there is a need for intervention from concerned departments to address these constraints before they become a crisis for the respondents. The constraints faced by growers for adoption of CSAPs according to the thoughts of the respondents in the study area was measured and the results tabulated in the following Table 4.
Table 3.
Information and training sources used by growers for adoption of CSAPs.
Table 4 depicts a number of constraints faced by farmers in adoption of CSA practices. Generally, respondents face moderate levels of all constraints in adoption of CSAPs. However, economic barriers with mean score of 3.74 at rank 1, lack of trained extension staff with mean score of 3.65 at rank 2, lack of training with mean score of 3.64 at rank 3 and lack of CSA technologies with mean score of 3.62 at rank 4, and these constraints are approaches from moderate to high level cotton growers in adoption of CSAPs in the study area. There is a growing need that concerned departments have to intervene in the matter before it becomes a real crisis for the respondents.
These findings are in alignment with the previous research [41-43]. The study results showed that respondents considered little to moderate role of extension services organizations in fostering CSAPs in the region. According to the perceptions of the respondents, the approaches like farmer-to-farmer extension and farmer field schools have moderate role on behalf of the established institutions for fostering CSAPs among cotton growers of the region. Sultana [37] also emphasized on the role of Agricultural Extension services in disseminating knowledge to promote practical know-how of climate smart agriculture in Sindh province of Pakistan. The land managers in Punjab mainly relied upon extension services for agricultural innovation. Yigezu et al. [44] found that extension services significantly reduced time in adopting the technology of zero tillage in Syria. Extension services have augmented the adoption of CSAPs in India and many countries of the word [45]. Hence, the information received from informal and formal sources is vital for improving the knowledge of cotton farmers in the selected study area.
To Identify the Institutional Role in Fostering CSAPs Among Cotton Growers as Perceived by Respondents
The next research objective aimed at to determine how institutions contribute to fostering CSAPs among cotton growers according to the perceptions of respondents.
Institutional role in fostering CSAPs among cotton growers according to the thoughts and feelings of the respondents in the study area was measured and the results tabulated in the following Table 5. Table 5 summarizes the results of this assessment, where respondents were asked to rate the level of institutions for various initiatives related to CSAPs. The mean scores and ranks for each initiatives are also provided.
Following table measured the Institutional role in fostering CSAPs among cotton growers as perceived by respondents. Next, institutional role in fostering adoption of CSAPs among respondents was explored and measured in the perspectives of the opinion of the respondents.
The data presented in the above table shows the institutional role in fostering CSAPs among cotton growers. Generally, the respondents feel that institutions have little to moderate role with an overall mean score of 2.93 in fostering CSAPs among cotton growers in the study area.
However, respondents perceived moderate institutional role specifically for the “use of farmer-to-farmer extension method to promote awareness and adoption of precision agricultural technologies in CSAPs with mean score of 3.23 at rank 1, “Use of farmer field school (FFS) to promote faster learning by farmers on the measures to tackle climate changes” with mean score of 3.19 at rank 2, “Use of information communication technologies (ICTs)” with mean score of 3.06 at rank 3 and “capacity building of extension staff in advanced agricultural technologies to deal with climate variations” with mean score of 3.01 at rank 4. The results of the measured objectives suggest that institutions need to focus on these specific initiatives to foster the adoption of CSAPs among cotton growers in the study area.
Table 4.
Constraints faced by growers for adoption of CSAP.
Table 5.
Institutional role in fostering CSAPs among cotton growers as perceived by respondents.
These results are in line with the previous findings [15], they reported moderate role of institutional factors in the adoption of CSAPs in the cotton belt of Punjab, Pakistan. Previously, it has been reported that farmer-to-farmer extension method has significant impact adopting precision agriculture practices in different parts of the world [46, 47]. Institutional factors allows farmers to decide whether or not to adopt at least one CSAPs measure [15, 46]. Likewise, FFS also play a significant role in convincing farmers towards CSAPs [48]. Several studies in the past have confirmed that FFS have played a vital role in shifting farmers towards environment resilient agriculture [49]. Since FFS approach complements the conventional technology transfer approach in providing information on best practices for agriculture, thus our findings bear equally significant implications in view of research, indicating that the key to optimizing the uptake of new agricultural interventions is agricultural information rather than the other factors [49].
Regression Model Used to See How Institutional Role, Information and Training, Constraints in Adoption and Importance of CSAPs Bring Change in the Overall Impact of Climate Variation on Cotton Growing Practices of the Growers
The study utilized a regression model to examine the impact of institutional role, information and training, constraints in adoption, and the importance of CSAPs on cotton growing practices in response to climate variation.
Table 6 presents the model summary, indicating that the independent variables explained 36.7% of the variation in the dependent variable. However, 64% of the variation remains unexplained suggesting that there is considerable variation in the responses of the survey participants.
Table 7 presents the ANOVA, showing that there is a significant difference between the groups with a p-value 0.000 indicating that Ho should be rejected. The table further displays that mean square values, F-value, and degrees of freedom, demonstrating that the difference between groups is not due to chance.
Table 6.
Model Summary.
| Model | R | R Square | Adjusted R Square | Std. Error of the Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.606 | 0.367 | 0.361 | 6.43068 |
Table 7.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA).
| Model | Sum of Squares | Df | Mean Square | F | Sig. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regression | 9478.999 | 4 | 2369.750 | 57.304 | 0.000 | |
| Residual | 16334.698 | 395 | 41.354 | |||
| Total | 25813.698 | 399 | ||||
Table 8.
Coefficients.
Table 8 provides information on the un-standardized and standardized Beta coefficients of the independent variables. The table shows that the importance of CSAPs has the most significant effect with a beta coefficient of 0.507 in impacting the climatic variations on cotton practices. Conversely, institutional role did not have very high effect with an insignificant p-value and small beta coefficient. The independent factor of constraints in adoption had good effect with a significant p-value and beta coefficient. However, information and training had negative effect as the beta coefficient value was negative (-0.001). Hence the findings depict that as per opinion of the respondents “importance of CSAPs” and “reducing constraints in adoption of environment friendly CSAPs” are major contributors in bringing change in CSAPs of cotton farmers in the study area.
Computation of Effect Size
To assess the practical effect of the perception variable of Vehari and Khanewal districts, Cohen’s effect size was computed. According to Cohen, a d value of 0.2 is considered small effect size, 0.5 represents medium effect size, and 0.8 a large effect size. This involves that if the means of two groups differ by 0.2 or less, then the difference is trivial, even statistically significant [50].
Cohen’s d = (MKhanewal-MVehari)/SDpooledWhere SDpooled= √(SD12 +SD22)/2
Hence the Effect Size Cohen’s d = (24.05-22.84)/4.94 = 0.24
MeanKhanewal = 67.215 MeanVehari = 66.950
Hence the Effect Size Cohen’s d = (67.215-66.950)/11.447 = 0.023
Cohen’s d value is calculated by subtracting the means of the two groups and then dividing by the pooled standard deviation. In the present study, the Cohen’s d attitude towards CSAPs was found to be 0.24, which is a small effect size [50]. It shows that farmers of Khanewal district have a better attitude towards CSAPs by 24% of a standard deviation than respondents from Vehari district. Similarly, the effect size for adoption of CSAP to deal with climate variation was also measured which was found to be 0.023. It means that respondents from Khanewal district have a very small effect size of 2.3% SD over farmers of Vehari district regarding adoption of CSAPs to deal with climatic variations. Hence, Cohen’s effect size further confirms that there is no significant difference in the adoption level of CSAPs to deal with climatic variations of the respondents from the two districts.
It is witnessed from the regression model that importance of CSAPs and reducing constraints in adoption of environment-friendly CSAPs are the major contributors in bringing the change in the cotton growing practices of the respondents to tackle climate variations in the cotton region of the country. This is in line with the findings of [10, 15, 51, 52].
Conclusions and Recommendations
In conclusion, the study found that respondents in the study area understand the importance of CSAPs and are moderately impacted by climate variations in their cotton growing practices. However, there is a need to improve the institutional role in providing advanced research based information and training to farmers to bring about a change in their practices. Moreover, the study identified economic barriers, lack of trained extension field staff, training opportunities, and lack of climate smart agricultural technologies as the main constraints in the adoption of CSAPs. Therefore, it is important to address these constraints to facilitate the smooth adoption of CSAPs among cotton growers in the study area. It is also concluded from the regression analysis that the importance of CSAPs and reducing constraints in adoption are the solution to persuade the adoption of CSAPs among cotton growers in the study region.
Based on conclusions drawn from the study, following recommendations are proposed; policy makers should have a high level of understanding of the issue of climate variations and its potential impact on cotton growers in the region; government must frame desired climate related policies and take timely actions to hold the issue before it becomes crises for cotton growers in the region; awareness campaigns should be conducted to inform cotton growers about the importance of CSAPs; timely information and training should be provided to help them adopt these practices; continuous coordination and collaboration with cotton growers should be maintained to ensure that they have the necessary support to overcome the hurdles and constraints they face in adopting CSAPs; and the extension department should take an active role in educating and training cotton growers to help them become more proactive, vigilant and knowledgeable about CSA practices.
