Climatic Variability Associated With Tea Cultivation : A Case Study of Nuwaraeliya Pedro Tea Estate in Sri Lanka

The tea cultivation highly depends on the prevailing weather conditions and is extremely sensitive to climate variability and changes both short and long term. The excessive rainfall and high temperature can cause the low productivity and low quality of the tea. This study has attempted to understand the perception of tea estate workers about the impact of climate variability and change on tea cultivation in Pedro tea estate which is the highest tea estate located about 3 km east of Nuwaraeliy in Sri Lanka. James Tailor has established this tea estate in 1885 and it had 668.38 hectares with the elevation about 1910 m. But the tea areas extent is now decreased due to various factors. The main objective of this study is to identify the public perception of tea working community towards the climate variability and change on tea cultivation and compare with some original climate data analysis. The primary data have been collected from a questionnaire survey, observations and focus group interviews with tea estate community. Rapid Rural Participatory Appraisal is used to gather for further information. 25 tea estate workers were randomly selected for the survey. Focused group discussions are also held with tea estate manager and other officers to get an in-depth preview of the impact of climate variability on tea cultivation. Two field surveys have been conducted in the month of October 2011 and February 2015. The experiences gain from both field surveys is added to the results and discussions where necessary. The climate data of rainfall and temperature have been collected from various secondary reports and Department of Meteorology, and analyzed through the various statistical methods. Questionnaire data is tabulated, coded and analyzed using various graphical methods. Increases of temperature, dry spells, frequency of drought, high intensity of rainfall, soil water deficit and dry soil condition have affected the tea cultivation in the study area. Planting of the drought tolerance tea, growing of high shade trees, introduce rainwater harvesting, proper land preparation, and soil moisture conservation practices can be introduced in the study area. Adaptation practiced should be encouraged because preliminary assessments showed that climate variability will have a significant impact on future tea cultivation of high elevation in Sri Lanka