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The organic tea cultivation sector is confronted with significant challenges due to the adverse effects of climate change, necessitating the urgent implementation of effective adaptation strategies. Ethno-climatology is an interdisciplinary field focusing on understanding how diverse cultures and communities perceive, adapt to, and interact with their environment's climate and weather patterns. This study aims to evaluate the extent of ethno-climatology knowledge among organic tea farmers in the Uva High Grown region and examine their implementation of adaptation measures to address climate change challenges. Utilizing a cross-sectional and exploratory research design, this study employed a diverse data collection method, including in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, expert consultations, field observations, and questionnaire surveys, to ensure a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to data gathering. These methodological approaches facilitated the collection of valuable insights into farmers' awareness levels and their adoption of mitigation practices. Subsequently, the collected data were analyzed to discern the farmers' knowledge and implementation of adaptation measures in response to climate change challenges. The findings revealed a substantial majority of farmers displaying a notable level of awareness regarding ethno-climatology, with scores exceeding 75%. Additionally, approximately 37 farmers demonstrated a high level of awareness, scoring above 85%. These findings indicate a promising trend of increasing awareness among farmers. Correlation analysis further revealed that factors such as age, experience, and practical knowledge, experience, observations, personal beliefs, and cultural practices played pivotal roles in shaping farmers' awareness and comprehension of ethno-climatology. Conversely, variables such as education level and the number of information sources exhibited weak or non-significant relationships with awareness levels in the specific field of ethno-climatology. Multiple regression analysis was employed to identify independent variables significantly influencing farmers' awareness of ethno-climatology, explaining a substantial 96.2% of the observed variance in the dependent variable. As revealed by this research, the perception of the organic farming community offers valuable insights into the current status of ethno-climatology knowledge and the adoption of adaptation measures within the organic tea ecosystem. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the importance of implementing effective adaptation strategies in the organic tea cultivation sector in the Uva High Grown region, given the challenges posed by climate change. The findings contribute valuable insights into the current state of ethno-climatology knowledge among organic tea farmers and inform the implementation of adaptation measures.
Amarathunga et al. (Sun,) studied this question.