Rayalaseema region has been experiencing deficit rainfall since 2012, and the impact of climate change is vividly visible on ground in majority of the four districts of the region, with Kuduru-Atmakuru stretch in Anantapur being its epicentre.
Rainfall deficit has been the worst during current year in Anantapur district with the IMD recording minus 45.7% deficit between June 1 and November 27, with 262 mm received against a normal of 482.8 mm. There have been only four normal crop years in the past 20 years, observes Y.V. Malla Reddy, Director of Accion Fraterna Ecology Centre.
The worrisome fact is the unpredictability of rain and the decrease in the number of rainy days along with longer ‘dry spells’ which are debilitating for the farmers. The maximum tolerable gap between two rainy days for a rainfed crop like groundnut is 15 days, but it has gone beyond 20 days now, leading to the onset of drought conditions.
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Revival of crops has become impossible with the government declaring the area drought-hit and providing ‘input subsidy’. All the 63 mandals of Anantapur have been declared drought-affected in 2018 and input subsidy is likely to be disbursed in December.
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India Meteorological Department data from 2013 to 2018 shows monsoon has been playing truant in this region with deficit rainfall between minus 8% and minus 41% except for +37 in 2016. Anantapur in June 2018 witnessed normal rainfall followed by minus 72% and minus 62% rainfall in the next two months, which dashed all hopes of revival of groundnut crop in 90% of the 5 lakh acres of sown area.
Groundwater has been the key source of irrigation for about 3 lakh acres and the micro irrigation projects implemented in the district since 1989 had been coming to the rescue of the farmers. The district with a carrying capacity of 70,000 borewells, has 2.80 lakh functional ones, according to the figures available with A.P. Minor Irrigation Project.
Experts call for total ban on flood irrigation in Anantapur district to save water. These 2.80 lakh borewells need to draw nearly 85 tmcft of water for flood irrigation, but with the introduction of drip and sprinkler irrigation (rain guns) by the APMIP since 2003, it is being limited to 40 tmcft.
Irrigation projects
The State government has been releasing Krishna water to various irrigation tanks through Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) project canals, but with no canal network in place to connect all the tanks in the district, the beneficiaries are limited to those in villages closer to the HNSS network system.
The Anantapur region, which was earlier classified as ‘semi-arid’ is now ‘arid’ region, though signs of desertification might not be visible to the naked eye as of now. The State government through the A.P. Drought Mitigation Project had invested ₹1,100 crore a year ago taking funds through International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Implementation is done through Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), a society of key stakeholders involved in agricultural activities for sustainable agricultural development in the district.