Climate Change Induced Adaptation Strategies by Paddy Farmers: Special Emphasis on Socio Economic Insights

Abstract

Climate change is inevitable and will continue into next century. Since the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka is most vulnerable to climate change, a thorough understanding of adaptive measures is important for formulating eff ective policy decisions. This study provides an overview of the status of climate change and adaptation in the paddy sector in Anuradhapura District. Proportionate sampling was done and total of 100 households were studied. 36% of the farmers had the education up to tertiary level. 72% of respondents heard the term “climate change”. The relative importance of adaptation strategies to climate change was analyzed and found that increased use by insuring farm against risk was ranked fi rst and thus most important, among farmers' adaptive strategies to climate change. Use of supplementary reservoir for water storage, shift to shorter cycle crop varieties and planting improved rice varieties were identifi ed as the second-ranked adaptation strategy. The shifting of harvesting period was ranked as the last one. The shifting of harvesting period was ranked as the last one. T test results showed a signifi cant diff erence (p<0.01) in the total amount paddy production among those who had chosen to use traditional and cultural knowledge and those who didn't choose. It is recommended that government must ensure that a climate change sensitive program is established in paddy cultivation that can be eff ective in future climate change scenarios.