Farmer's Agricultural Risk Perception in Facing the Climate Change: The Case of Marvdasht Township, Fars Province

Farmers’ agricultural risk perception can influence their decision as the climate change is increased, as well as their need to adapt with these changes. This research was conducted to investigate the farmers’ perception toward climate change and their perception toward risk of agriculture work under conditions, as well as factors affecting their perception. Research sample including 307 farmers of Marvdasht township, Fars province, which were selected using Multi Stage Stratified Systematic Random Sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was used for collecting data, and a panel of experts confirmed the face validity of the instrument. The Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for scale were obtained between 0.71 to 0.86. Research findings revealed that according to farmers’ perceptions the amount of climate changes and risk of agriculture work in this situation for most items was high. Based on regression analysis, four variables including wheat yield, perception toward climate change, perception toward existing problems with climate change and perception toward existing positive social norm for confronting with climate change, could explain 30.4 % of variation in farmers’ risk perception of agriculture work under climate change conditions.