Farmers’ Adoption of Drought Tolerance Varieties of Rice in Dinajpur District of Bangladesh

Rice is a major cereal crop with a crucial role in the global economy, and its reproductive stage is highly sensitive to water scarcity, which can severely reduce yield through delayed flowering and increased spikelet sterility. Drought-tolerant varieties (DTV) of rice are considered a climate-smart technology to mitigate the impacts of water shortage, yet limited research has examined the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of these varieties in drought-prone regions. This study investigates the level of adoption of drought-tolerant rice varieties and explores the socio-economic factors affecting adoption among rice farmers in Biral Upazila of Dinajpur district, northern Bangladesh. Primary data were collected from rice-growing farmers, and adoption of DTV was measured as a binary outcome. A logit regression model was applied to estimate the probability of adoption using Stata 15.0. The results show that although 76.8% of farmers were aware of drought-tolerant rice varieties, only 61.32% had adopted them. The analysis reveals that gender, education, farm size, income, access to training, extension services, credit facilities, and information and communication technology significantly influence farmers’ adoption decisions. The study contributes empirically by applying an econometric approach to identify key socio-economic and institutional determinants of DTV adoption and highlights the need for strengthened government and non-government extension programs to enhance the dissemination and adoption of drought-tolerant rice varieties in Bangladesh.