Impact of Climate Change on Paddy Yield: An Empirical Study based on Hambantota District

Abstract The intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) defines Climate Change (CC) as the change in the state of the climate that can be identified (using statistical tests) by the changes in the mean and or the variability of its properties and, that persists for an extended period, typically decade or longer”. Paddy cultivation is highly vulnerable to CC and subsequently its yield determines how much income is earned by farmers. This study was undertaken by the researcher to ascertain whether there is a relationship between CC on paddy yield gained by farmers in Hambantota district as the same study dedicated to Hambantota District has had not been done. Data, temperature and rainfall, for a period of 30 years otherwise mentioned as the sample size of sixty samples representing both in Yala and Maha were obtained from the Meteorological Department in Sri Lanka at the same time paddy yield in Hambantota district was also used and regression analysis used in quantitative method analysis was employed in determining whether CC has an impact on paddy yield gained the. The researcher built following hypotheses for the model, Rise in temperature may impact on crop yield to fall down, fall in temperature may impact on Crop yield to fall down, and Rise may impact Crop Yield to increase. It was found out that temperature has a significant impact on paddy yield whereas rainfall has no significant impact on paddy yield. Additionally, an independent predictor variable, extent of land made a significant impact on paddy yield. To mitigate the adverse effects of CC, enlarging the extent of land cultivated and remedial actions to be taken to control the adverse impact by rise in temperature were also suggested. Key Words: Climate Change, Extent of land cultivated, Paddy yield