S1-Supplementary files for PONE-D-23-41050

Climate change is undeniably impacting crop production worldwide, and coastal regions are particularly vulnerable to its adverse effects. Given the projected rise in temperature and shifting precipitation patterns, it is crucial to examine the current challenges faced by farmers in the coastal region of Bangladesh in terms of crop cultivation, climate-adaptive agricultural practices, and the extent of food security. Using 2 commonly used Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools (Focus Group Discussions: FGDs, and Key Informant Interviews: KIIs), we assessed the perceptions and experiences of farmers and agriculture-focused stakeholders regarding the existing agricultural practices, the challenges they face in crop cultivation and adoption of climate-adaptive practices in 2 sub-districts in southeastern coastal region of Bangladesh. Moreover, using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Terrestrial water storage Index (STI), we assessed the frequency and intensity of different climatic conditions (e.g., ranging from extreme wet to extreme dry) in these two sub-districts. The respondents of FGDs and KIIs expressed their concern regarding reduced crop productivity due to frequent and intensified droughts, untimely precipitation, and shortage of irrigation water during crop growing season. From the respondents’ view analysis, we get perception on land cultivation hindrance precisely, one quarter of the arable land was not possible to cultivate due to a lack of soil moisture. To tackle the climate extremities farmers mentioned nine crop adapted cultivation processes in the interviews. Despite these challenges, farmers have been implementing several climate-adaptive practices including heat- and drought-resilient crop varieties, using organic fertilizers to enhance soil health, employing mulching techniques to conserve soil moisture, collecting rainwater in ponds for winter irrigation and adopting shorter-duration crop cultivation methods to better adapt to changing climatic conditions. The results of quantitative analysis of 3- and 6-month SPEI and STI values (SPEI-3, SPEI-6, SIT-3, and STI-6) show that the studied sub-districts experienced frequent and intense dry climatic conditions during the growing-season, the dry period trend are statistically significant in our trend analysis of drought indices (P < 0.05) for 3-months and 6-months drought indices, which supports the farmers and stakeholders concern of increasing occurrence of droughts during crop growing periods. The study reveals that farmers encountered challenges in accessing nutritious foods due to poverty, limited awareness, and restricted crop diversity and the climate-related challenges exacerbated the situation, further hindering food security and nutrition.The results suggest that despite the adoption of climate-resilient practices under increasing frequency and intensity of growing-season droughts, farmers require support from government and NGOs in terms of capacity-building training, awareness programs, stress-resilient seeds, subsidized organic fertilizers, and irrigation support. This study holds significant practical implications for government and non-government organizations, policymakers, and livelihood service providers for ensuring sustainable agricultural productivity in the coastal region of Bangladesh.