Climate-resilient agriculture in Wayanad, Kerala: Adoption patterns and influencing factor

Kerala has long been prone to a variety of natural disasters, including droughts, floods, earthquakes, landslides, and rising sea levels. Among its districts, Wayanad stands out as the most vulnerable to climate variability, with significant agrarian distress. The increasing frequency and severity of weather aberrations, coupled with crop yield losses, particularly in coffee and black pepper, highlight the urgent need to understand the adoption of climate-resilient strategies by farmers in this region. Examining the level of adoption and the factors that influence it is essential for developing effective policy recommendations aimed at enhancing resilience and ensuring sustainable agricultural practices. This study focuses on coffee-growing farmers in Wayanad and identifies twenty-seven climateresilient practices from the existing literature to assess their adoption rates. The results show that agronomic measures, such as crop diversification and soil conservation, were most widely adopted, while institutional measures, such as access to credit and market support, were less commonly implemented. Key factors influencing adoption included farm size, the experience of farmers, and the availability of institutional support. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers seeking to improve the adoption of climate-resilient measures and enhance the adaptive capacity of farmers in Wayanad.