JBS Vol 15. Num 2. 2013 - Crop Choice as Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture of Bangladesh: Policy Implications

Among the different production systems, agriculture will face significant adverse impacts of climate change. There are a number of strategies which are considered as means to climate change adaptation in agriculture. Among all the strategies, recent research focuses on crop choice as a strategy of climate change adaptation. Bangladesh and its agriculture sector is already vulnerable to many climate change related extreme events. Using crop choice as the dependent variable and seasonal temperature, rainfall and household characteristics as explanatory variables in a limited dependent variable multinomial logit model, this research finds that the farmers of Bangladesh change their crop choices to adapt to climate change over time. Examining the major six crops of the country, the paper finds that a shift in major crop choices especially in rice varieties will occur in Bangladesh if the climate change scenario is predicted properly. This paper also discusses the agriculture and environmental policies of the country. This paper highlights how crop choice as a climate change adaptation strategy can be incorporated in the relevant policies of the government of Bangladesh.