From the farm to the future: investigating Iranian farmers' behaviors in the path of green rice production and pollutant reduction

Climate change poses escalating risks to agricultural systems, particularly rice-based farming, through intensifying droughts, floods, and rising temperatures. In this context, farmers’ climate change adaptation and mitigation behaviors (CCAMBs) are critical not only for enhancing agricultural resilience but also for conserving natural resources and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this dual relevance, most micro-level empirical research has focused predominantly on adaptation, while mitigation behaviors have received comparatively limited attention. This imbalance underscores the need for an integrated analytical approach that addresses both dimensions simultaneously. To respond to this gap, this study investigates the determinants of Iranian rice farmers’ intentions to adopt CCAMBs within a unified framework. The Values–Identity–Personal Norms (VIP) model was extended by incorporating subjective norms and anticipated emotions as additional explanatory constructs. Data were collected from rice farmers in Shushtar County, Khuzestan Province, using a structured questionnaire and analyzed through structural equation modeling. The extended model accounted for 74.9% of the variance in adaptation intention and 80.6% of the variance in mitigation intention, indicating substantial explanatory power. Biospheric values, environmental self-identity, personal norms, subjective norms, and anticipated emotions all exerted positive and statistically significant effects on behavioral intentions. By jointly examining adaptation and mitigation behaviors within an expanded theoretical structure, this study advances the literature on farmers’ climate-responsive decision-making and provides evidence-based insights for policy design. The findings highlight the importance of multi-level interventions that simultaneously activate moral commitments, social expectations, and emotional drivers, while strengthening farmers’ knowledge and institutional support, in order to reduce the intention–behavior gap and enhance the long-term resilience of rice-based agricultural systems under climate change.