Farmers’ Awareness of the Negative Effects of Climate Change on Strategic Grain Crops and Adaptation Mechanisms in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate in the Arab Republic of Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Research Institute - Agricultural Research Center - Egypt

2 Agricultural Extension and Rural Development Research Institute - Agricultural Research Center - Egypt.

Abstract

This research mainly aims to study the negative effects of climate change and adaptation mechanisms on strategic grain crops, by identifying the level of awareness of the studied about the negative effects of climate change and adaptation mechanisms to them, and determining the relative importance of the information sources from which they derive their information in this field, and determining The relative importance of agricultural extension services that the farmers in question need to learn about these effects and how to overcome them, and the problems they face in this field. This research was conducted in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, from which two districts were chosen: the Desouk and Sidi Salem districts, A systematic random sample of 5% was taken from the total number of farmers of the strategic grain crops studied, amounting to 149 respondents. The data was collected using a questionnaire through a personal interview during the month of July 2024. Several statistical methods were used to analyze the data and present the results. The most important results were:

6% of the surveyed had a low or medium level of awareness of the negative effects of climate change on strategic grain crops.
5% of the surveyed had a low or medium level of awareness of mechanisms for adapting to climate changes in strategic grain crops.
The information sources from which the farmers in question derive their information in this field are arranged in descending order according to their relative importance as follows: dealers in agricultural production supplies, family and relatives, neighbors and friends, agricultural extensionsit, and extension bulletins.
The most important agricultural extension services needed by the surveyed in this field were arranged in descending order according to their relative importance as follows: awareness of ways to confront the negative effects resulting from climate change, awareness of varieties that are resistant to heat, drought, and salinity, awareness of climate information and how to deal with it properly, and awareness of planting dates, including: Adapts to changing weather conditions.
The most important problems facing the surveyed in this field were: the high prices of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the high wages of agricultural labor, the unavailability of seeds for varieties resistant to climate change in sufficient quantities, the high prices of agricultural crop seeds, and the weak role of agricultural extension in the field of climate change.

Keywords

Main Subjects