Agricultural systems in the Gangetic Plain are increasingly exposed to climate-induced stresses, making the region one of the world’s most critical vulnerability hotspots. This research quantifies farmers’ resilience and identifies key adaptation drivers across three major agro-climatic zones of Gangetic West Bengal New Alluvial, Coastal Saline, and Red & Laterite, where climatic risks are severe, with approximately 40% of the area prone to flooding and 16% affected by drought. A composite Farmer Resilience Index (FRI) was constructed using a principal component-based weighting scheme that integrates economic, social, technical, and physical dimensions of resilience. Field data were collected from 360 farming households during 2023–2024 and analyzed using Spearman rank correlation and ordered logit modelling to establish empirical relationships between resilience categories and adaptation behaviour. The results demonstrate pronounced spatial heterogeneity. The New Alluvial zone achieved the highest overall resilience (FRI = 0.515), largely supported by stronger economic conditions (0.548) and social capital (0.532). In contrast, the Coastal zone exhibited the lowest resilience (FRI = 0.482), where deficiencies in physical infrastructure were strongly associated with overall resilience outcomes ( r = 0.72). Among adaptation practices, modification of planting dates (adoption index = 0.793) and adoption of resistant crop varieties (0.758) were most prevalent. Econometric results reveal that access to non-farm income reduces the probability of high-level adoption by 4.7% ( p < 0.01), whereas education increases it by 4.9% ( p < 0.001) and operational landholding by 2.7% ( p < 0.05). These findings underscore the need for zone-specific policy interventions, particularly enhanced physical infrastructure in coastal areas and strengthened educational and extension services in lateritic regions.
Biswas et al. (Sun,) studied this question.