Waidyarathne, K.P.Perera, S.A.C.N.2025-03-282020Adapting to Climate Change: A Sri Lankan Perspective, The Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka.https://dl-cri.nsf.gov.lk/handle/1/4347Weather events individually or as averages over time affect critically on biomass and crop yields, making them vital in addressing the effects of climate on agricultural productivity. Potential detrimental effects of extreme weather events related to ambient temperature and rainfall have been a growing concern, especially in view of the global climate change. Drought is the most crucial extreme weather event for coconut in Sri Lanka. Coconut is an economically important palm species and being a perennial plant, it is adversely affected by weather fluctuations throughout its life cycle. Coconut is especially sensitive to drought during the post-fertilization phase of growing bunches. This reduces nut set resulting from a reduction in assimilate production and ultimately affecting quantity as well as the quality of nuts. As per the distribution of coconut by agro-ecological environments, the low country intermediate zone, IL1 and IL1b contributes to approximately 50% of the annual national coconut production. Coconuts grown in the intermediate zone are exposed to supra optimal or high temperatures, especially during the months of drought. Long term precipitation data has provided evidence for the increasing occurrences of drought events in agro-ecological region IL1b. The correlation of drought events with long term yield data has revealed the patterns of adverse effects of drought on coconut yield. The increased frequency of drought events necessitates the implementation of drought preparedness measures for the sustainability of the coconut industry.enCocos nucifera L.climate changecrop yieldsdroughtSri LankaBook chapter