A Tool to Measure the Climate Change Awareness among the Farming Community in Central Plain Zone of Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most critical environmental challenges confronting the world today. The effects of climate change were evident and extended across various climate-sensitive sectors, particularly in agriculture. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have thoroughly documented that climate change poses a significant threat to sustainable economic growth and human survival. The present research tool was developed to assess the awareness level of farmers towards the climate change and its impact. Therefore, a psychometric scale entitled “Climate Change Awareness Scale” was developed. The final scale consists of 24 statements with five possible responses in a Likert type scale.  Statements having relevancy percent (RP) greater than 70, relevancy weightage (RW) greater than 0.70, and mean relevancy score (MRS) greater or equal to overall mean relevancy score (OMRS) i.e. 2.48 were considered for final selection. The precision and consistency of the data were determined by calculating the reliability and validity of the scale. The summated scores of the respondents could be used to group the respondents into different categories. This scale will help the academicians and researchers to estimate the awareness level of farmers towards the effect of climate change on their farming.