Although climate change impacts and agricultural adaptations have been studied extensively,how smallholder farmers perceive climate change and adapt their agricultural activities is poorly understood.Survey-based data(presents farmers’personal perceptions and adaptations to climate change)associated with external biophysical-socioeconomic data(presents real-world climate change)were used to develop a farmer-centered framework to explore climate change impacts and agricultural adaptations at a local level.A case study at Bin County(1980s-2010s),Northeast China,suggested that increased annual average temperature(0.6°C per decade)and decreased annual precipitation(46 mm per decade,both from meteorological datasets)were correctly perceived by 76 and 66.9%,respectively,of farmers from the survey,and that a longer growing season was confirmed by 70%of them.These reasonably correct perceptions enabled local farmers to make appropriate adaptations to cope with climate change:Longer season alternative varieties were found for maize and rice,which led to a significant yield increase for both crops.The longer season also affected crop choice:More farmers selected maize instead of soybean,as implicated from survey results by a large increase in the maize growing area.Comparing warming-related factors,we found that precipitation and agricultural disasters were the least likely causes for farmers’agricultural decisions.As a result,crop and variety selection,rather than disaster prevention and infrastructure improvement,was the most common ways for farmers to adapt to the notable warming trend in the study region.
