Climate change and rain-fed agriculture in the dry zone of Sri Lanka

A study conducted by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s Rice Research Program of the Department of Agriculture (DoA) in 1981 was able to bring out the inherent degree of variability in rice production (both irrigated and rain-fed rice) in this country; and to make a comparative evaluation of this variability with other rice growing countries in the Asian region. A summary of the findings of this study is shown in Table 1, and the implications of these findings are discussed below.