Understanding farmers’ perspectives and barriers to adopting alternate wetting and drying (AWD) in Thai rice cultivation using the COM-B model.

Rice cultivation is a significant source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for approximately 24% of global agricultural emissions. Methane emissions are particularly high in rice fields compared to other crops due to the anaerobic conditions created by continuous flooding. The adoption of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is an approach to reduce these emissions significantly. However, AWD can also increase nitrous oxide emissions during drying phases. Therefore, farmers and their decisions play a central role in mitigating emissions from rice cultivation. In this study, we analyse the factors influencing the farmers’ behaviour by using the COM-B model to identify the key drivers and barriers affecting farmers' adoption of AWD practices. The COM-B model explains human behaviour (B) as the result of physical and psychological capability (C), physical and social opportunity (O), and reflective and automatic motivation (M). Data were collected through face-to-face surveys with 150 rice farmers in central region of Thailand between July and October 2024. Overall, farmers have positive attitudes toward AWD, with strong motivation to adopt this practice. This is seen in their agreement with statements about AWD's potential to reduce costs (96.7%) and save water (98%). Furthermore, farmers consider their current irrigation systems (96%) and terrain (87.3%) as feasible for implementing AWD on their fields. These findings align with the motivation and feasibility factors identified through factor analysis. Regarding barriers to adopting AWD, most farmers believe they know how to implement AWD, and these practices do not require significant investment, equipment, or additional workforce. However, operational factors highlighted challenges such as water availability (50%) and water monitoring difficulties (42.67%), which significant barriers to implementation. These findings indicate that farmers recognize their capability to adopt AWD practices, and the adoption does not significantly affect yield. Nevertheless, barriers such as limited water availability and insufficient social support hinder adoption.