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Drought in Anantapur District:

An Overview

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 DROUGHT IN ANANTAPUR DISTRICT: AN OVERVIEW

M. SRINIVASA REDDY•, SANJIT KUMAR ROUT••

AND E.R UDAY BHASKAR REDDY•~*

ABSTRACT
Dmuglzt is a recurrent phenomenon in India. About I 07 million hectares
of the country i.e., over 68 per cent of Tndia, spread over several
administrative districts in many states, is affected by drought. Anantapur is
one such district of Andhra Pradesh (AP) State where drought conditions are
prevailing consistently over many years causing severe stress to the local
economy, especially the agriculture. The present paper analyzes the adverse
impacts of the drought in the year 2002-03 with respect to crop failure,
depletion of ground water, indebtedness, migration, suicides etc. Tt further,
evaluates the relief measures as well as the coping strategies adopted by the
government and the people during this crisis. The paper brings out clearly
about the inefficacy of the short-term measures to mitigate the drought and
suggests for a comprehensive development strategy.

Section I :Back Ground

Drought usually refers to lack of precipitation over an extended period of time
leading to moisture stress of the land. Although, drought may happen virtually in all climatic
zones, yet, its characteristics differ considerably from one area to another. Rainfall,
groundwater availability, reservoir levels and crop conditions determine the nature and
extent of drought in a specified geographical area. Large parts of the country which are
!ocated in peninsular and western India- primarily arid, semi-arid and sub-humid regions
r perennially stumble under chronic drought. The major drought years in India were 1877,
}899, 1918, 1972, 1987 and 2002. About 107 million hectares area of the count1y
(PACS, 2008). i.e., over 68 per cent of India, which spread over several administrative
~istricts in many states, is affected by drought (Appendix-[ A&B). Of the total affected
area, 'chronically drought-prone areas' constituted around 33 per cent, which received

~· Assistant Professor in RULNR at Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad
ltsrccnivasdrreddy@yahoo.com) .
~, ICSSR Institutional Doctoral Fellow at Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad
~~anjitrout2003@yahoo.co.uk)
~1: ICSSR Inslitutional Doctoral Fellow at Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hydcrabad
~!be authors are thankful to ProfV. Ratna Reddy, ProfM. Gopinath Reddy, Dr. N. Sreedevi of CESS,
ifJydembad and Dr.Y.V.Malla Reddy,Director RDT/AF,Anantapur for comments and suggestions
~n earlier draft of this paper and Dr. U. Hemanth Kumar of NIRD, Hyderabad and Mr. P. Raja
~~arendar Reddy, CESS, Hyderabad for their help in finalising this paper. We are thankful to the
~onymous referee for the useful comments on the earlier version of this paper. However, the
~ual dis~himers apply.
540 A.rian Ec-ci/WIIIic Rotviotw, December 2008, 'fi>lum<' 50, No.3

less than 750 mm of rainfall, and the remaining 35 per cent, classified as 'drought-
prone' received rainfall of750-l, 125 mm.
Frequency of droughts in India (of which severe droughts in the years 1972, 1987,
and 2002) and their spread over the vast area resulted in the relatively high poverty and
vulnerability of people residing in these areas. Hence, there is a need to look into the
i1S~ues like, traditional coping mechanism and the response to drought and real time
monitoring of drought. As, the worst effect of drought situation is generally felt at the
local level, there is a need to inve~tigate the impact of drought at household level, their
coping strategies and the efficacy of the relief measures adopted I implemented by the
state to mitigate/minimize the adverse effect of drought.
Understanding Drought
Number of studies has been done on the issue of 'drought', considering the close
link of it with the economy of India. Before examining the impact of drought on the
economy in general and on the livelihoods of the households in particular, it is important to
know what actually drought means. Drought is an insidious hazard of nature. It begins
from an insufficiency of precipitation that persists for an extended period which ultimately
generate severe hydrologic imbalance. Droughts can be classified as meteorological,
hydrological, agricultural and socio-economic (Nagarajan, 2003).

•Meteorological Drought is the condition which is rehtted to the deficiency of rainfall

compared to long term average amounts of monthly, seasonal or annual tiles scales and
another where periods are identified on the basis of the number of days with precipitation
less than some pre-determined thresholds;

•Hydrological Drought is associated with the effects of periods of 'precipitation short

falls' on surface/ sub-surface water supply and its frequency and severity is often defined
on a watershed or river basin scale;

•Agricultural Drought is related to deficiency in precipitation, difference between actual

and potential evapo-transpiration, soil water deficits, etc., and

•Socio-ecmwmic Drough£ is related with the supply and demand of economic goods
such as water. food grains, fish, hydroelectric power, etc.
Understanding of ' drought impact' has shifted from static to a dynamic view of
poverty and from ex ante to ex post vulnerability. Generally the cost of living and also the
cost of cultivation/farming, after the drought, are much higher due to multi-dimensional
effect and it also curtails rhe risk managemem capability of the households leading to
household food insecurity (Sclvarnjan, K Nand C Ramasamy, 2006). Impact assessment
of drought on livelihoods can be appraised from multiple diversifications. Relevance of.
these measures depends on the sustenance of the village economy. Hence, the farmer's;
Drought In Annntapur District: An Overview 5.JI

perceptions about drought need to be taken into consideration while assessing the impact
of drought situation.
Drought Proofing Programmes in India
The concept of 'drought relief programmes' was initiated by the British government
towards the end of 19th century. Way back in 1888, the first Famine Commission delineated
diverse modalities to be pursued and measures to be adopted for relief during drought.
Even the Second (1898) and the Third Famine (1900) Commissions also highlighted the
need for a long-term perspective on this issue.

After independence, the subject 'drought' has attracted much more attention of
the policy makers than before. To address the 'drought', a number of long-term and
short-term programmes for the rural India have evolved. some of them are - National
Watershed Development Programme for Rain fed Areas (NWDPRA), Integrated
Watershed Development (IWDP), the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), Desert
Development Programme (DDP), Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme
(ARWSP), Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana (PMGY), Food for Work Programme
(FWP), , Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (REGP), Integrated Wasteland
Development Programme (IWDP), Swarna-Jayanthi Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY),
Swama-jayanthi Grameen Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Tube Wells, Food & Fodder
Development Programmes etc. under different Ministries/Departments of the Central
Government and the State Governments.
Considering the recurrent phenomena of drought in India, the Second Administrative
Reforms Commission in its 3rd Report on "Crisis Management" has suggested for setting
up of National Institute of Drought Management, a purely autonomous body under the
Ministry of Agriculture, to monitor and manage the drought situation and will focus on
research and development efforts for continuous and integrated drought management
including the social aspects in the country. It also coordinates the available knowledge
institutes to arrive at a realistic approach for developing and designing policy more
consistently and effectively.

Drought and its Impact in AP: A Case of Anantapur District

The failure of North-East monsoons and the uneven distribution of rainfall of South-
West monsoons constrained the government of AP to announce about 688 Mandals (out
of a total of 925 Mandals in 18 districts in the state of AP) as drought hit in 1999-2000.
The situation has futther spread to 1087 Mandals (out of 1127 Mandals of the state covering
all 23 districts of the state) as on 02/06/2003 (Appendix-II).
Anantapur is one such district of AP where drought conditions have been occurring
consistently over the past so many years causing severe stress to the local economy,
especially the agriculture. An analysis of rainfall data for the past I 0 decades reveals that
54'2 Asian ccPrwmic Rn•iew, December 2008, ~'.Jiuml' 50, No.3

in every decade almost 7 years are prone to drought. In the present decade almost six
years were rainfall deficient years resulting in severe drought conditions. Anantapur is
now declared as hot-arid district and the Desert Development Programme (DDP) through
watershed development programme is in implementation in all the 63 Mandals of Anantapur
since 1995-96.

Almost all the national schemes mentioned above are implemented in AP. The
review of literature on the drought relief policies earlier to 2003 show that, the policies
framecVimplemented after independence were very short-sighted and more in the nature
of amelioration (Examples include cash/input assistance, deferring land revenue and fom1al
loan collection, employment generation through relief works, and so on) (Desai,2003;
Reddy,2007). Drought relief policies in the past decades promoted overexploitation of
ground water by providing subsidies to the activities such as deepening of wells, drilling
of more bore wells, encroaching hillocks and forest areas. This injected the negligence
towards the traditional water bodies like tanks, springs, and feeder channels- a fundamental
lacuna in our policy-making for agriculture and rural development (Reddy, 2007). Such
short-term policies caused damage to the vegetation and pastures, ground water, surface
water systems. This accentuated the drought-proneness in the Anantapur district (Reddy,
2007). The Finance Commissions have repeatedly expressed apprehension over the
organization of drought-relief measures/mechanism in India. Unfortunately, usually the
arrangement for drought relief is still worked out in a hurry even though adequate notict;
is on hand.

Objectives, Methodology and Layout of the Study

The present study is an attempt to assess the impact of drought situation in Anantapur
District in a wider context of rural livelihoods particular in the year 2002-03 which is a
severe drought year. As the important issues in this regard include the depletion of ground
water resources, consequent low crop production and increasing migration in search of
alternative livelihood activities, the objective of the study is to analyze the impact of
drought situation and relief measures adopted or implemented. by the Government in
Anantapur district. As there exist a continuous drought situation in the district, there
cannot be pre and post drought situations to study.

The study is based mainly on primary data. Available secondary data is made usc
of before initiating the primary data collection which includes both qualitative and
quantitative. The documentary sources include Government sources, Reports published
by local news papers/media, and also from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
sources which are involved with drought proofing activities in those areas. The fieldwork
of this study is broadly divided into two main stages. During the first phase of the primary
data collection, visits are made to a large number of drought affected villages in Anantapur
district, interviewing key stakeholders, and their coping strategies and measures of the
state in this respect to get <m overview of the situation. It also gave the researchers an
opportunity to ascertain the key issues for fmther investigation.
Drought In Anmllapur Dis/riel: 1\rr Overview )-/.1

After the key issues were identified from the initial exploration, four drought affected
villages were selected for closer investigation. Obulapuram and Mallapuram villages of
Kalyandurg Mandai and Hanimireddipalli (H R Palli) of Beluguppa Mandai are most
affected while Neelareddipalli (N R Palli), BK Samudram Mandai relatively in a better
position. The main reason for the selection of these villages is that the research is already
under taken by Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) and Ace ion Fratrnia(AF)
(a subsidiary of Rural Development Tmst, one local NGO) (CESS/AF, 2002) to study·the
watershed approaches for enhancing the mrallivelihood. It is also felt that familiarity
already developed with people increases the public participation and the collected data
stands more realistic. Qualitative research techniques like Focus Group Discussions,
individual interviews, stmctured and semi-structured group interviews are employed in
the study villages to collect the relevant information for this study.

The present Paper has been divided into six major sections. Section II brings about
a complete profile of the study area, j , e, general features of Anantapur district in terms
of its various characteristics. Section III discusses the impact of drought, coping strategies
and the relief measure adopted or implemented by the farmer/government/external
agencies in this district. Section IV deals with a more specific discussion related to the
situation in the study villages. Section V deals in detail the various policies adopted after
2002. The last Section summarizes the general findings of the sn1dy and some suggestions
are given to minimize the severity of drought.

Section II: Geographical Features of Anantapur District

Before assessing the impact of drought, it is essential to know about the geographical
features of the Anantapur District, which is experiencing drought consistently and the
causes of drought in that particular area. The Anantapur district lies between 13?- 30'
and 15?-15 'latitudes, 76?-50'and 78?-30' longitudes. The district slopes from North-West
to South-West. The maximum temperature of the summer season (March to May) is 40?
and a minimum of28 to·33? Celsius. (Chief Planning Officer, 1995).

The average annual rainfall of the district is 521 mm which is lowest in AP. It
occupies 2"d place amongst lowest rainfall districts in the country after Jaisalmer (165
mm) in the State of Rajasthan. Even within the district, intra-regional variations in annual
rainfall are very high. According to the records, the triangle of Kuderu, Atmakur and
A11antapur of Anantapur district, receives only about 250 mm average rain fall. But in
southern parts of Anantapur district like Kadiri, Puttapartlzi, Hindupw; Madakasira,
more than 600 mm average rainfall has been recording. Moreover, as a result of high
temperature during day-time (9?-35?) the evapo-transpiration of moisture in Anantapur
district is far higher than the volume of rain received.

The forest coverage of the district is only 11 per cent of the total geographical
area, which is contributing to low rainfall. In the district, most of the agricultural land is
very shallow with red soils and the black soils constituting only 18 per cent. Moisture
54-1 Asian Ec(lnnmic Re\·iew, December 2008, V.1lum£' 50. No.3

retention capacity of these red soils is very less. Further, the sub-soil is less-pervious,
hard and rocky resulting in low absorption (only about 10 per cent) of the rainfall into the
soil and transformation into ground water. In short, low forest cover contributes low
rainfall, while the low quality of soil fails to absorb whatever the little rainfall the district
gets, and the high temperature contributes to high evapo-transpiration process - the net
result is the persistent drought situation in the district.

During the study period 2002-03, the availability of land for agricultural purpose in
the district was J1, 02,826 hectares. Out of which, the total irrigated land was 1, 75,276
hectares while un-irrigated land was 9, 27,550 hectares. Thus, Anantapur district had
only 16 per cent of its area cultivated under irrigation mostly under local tanks, bore wells
and wells (54 per cent of the total irrigated area). The area under canals was very less
( 16.1 per cent) in the district. The remaining land gets irrigated by other minor sources.
As all these sources are obviously depends on rainfall, either low or no rain- fall, hits the
agriculture first. According to Second Irrigation Commission Report (I 972), the agriculture
in a district could be stabilized, when at least 33 per cent of cultivated area is under
assured irrigation. But as a result oflack of sufticient irrigation facilities in the district, the
agriculture has become very unstable and this has transfmmed the district into a drought-
prone and subsequently into a desert (Reddy and Reddy 2006). Backwardness and
persistent poverty are the characteristic featmes of the most part of these areas. Natural
resource bases including water bodies, biomass reserves, fodder resources and so on are
staggering in stress, resulting in an endurance stmggle for both human beings and animals.

Section III :Impact of Drought and Farmers Coping Strategies

Acute drought, obviously. means scarcity of water, food and fodder. However, the
impact of chronic drought accelerates extraction and successive depletion of natural
resources, decrease in agricultural production as well as livestock population (Milind
Bokil, 2000. p.4171 ). The resultant adverse effect on agricultural production, and living
conditions of the livestock and human beings reflected in a Joss of output and decrease in
farm incomes. Further, prolonged periods of droughts result in desertification of land in
the near future. The ancient system of traditional occupation such as agriculture, cattle
and sheep rearing though declining, agriculture still remained as the main occupation of
the majority of the population .in Anantapur district but with the alteration in cropping
pattern. Other sectors such as industrial sector, service sector and business sectors are
marginalized. Household industries too vanished. This section discusses the impact of
drought on crop, ground water, indebtedness, livelihood and livestock and the coping
strategies on each of these.

Crop Failure
In most of the Mandals of Anantapur, the rainfall in the year 2002-03 was below .
the nonnal. Out of nmmal acreage of 8, 06,224 hectares for the whole district, the area
under crops sown was 8, 37,942 hectares (Table 1) of which the area under groundnut
 Drought In Anautapur District: Au Oven•iew 5+5

was more than 90 per cent in the district. However, due to severity .o f drought conditions
this crop was totally dried up. For example, in Obuladeva Chemvu Mandai, the area
under groundnut was sown in 11,985 hectares, most of which was dried up and became
useless for harvesting and also involves an additional cost to use it as a dry fodder. Some
of the farmers followed alternative cropping methods during the drought seasons as a
part of their coping strategies. For example, In Nallamada Mandi:zl, the area ll!Jder
groundnut was 35,000 acres while the area under alternative cropping system was 15,
000 acres.
As the yield from food crops is sluggish, commercial crops and more recently, hi-
tech agriculture are promising sources of growth. But their impact on food security is far
from favourable because it diverts the land from production of coarse cereals which are
the local staple food. Commercial crops though raise the incomes of fam1ers, it also
makes them more vulnerable to vagaries of market fluctuations. This puts the farmers in
flux- neither meets food security nor certainty in the returns from the commercial crops.
Hi-tech agriculture is confined to small enclaves. While it would contribute handsomely
to value of agricultural output, it is doubtful whether it would have a beneficial impact on
the income and employment of masses of poor. However, the yield rates of alternative-
cropping patterns were very high when compared to groundnut.
To protect the farmers from the crop failure related hardships, the National
Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) has been put into practice in AP since 1999-2000
and 35 Mandals are covered under this scheme. Eighteen crops are presently insurable
under NAIS during Kharif season (e.g., rice, maize, sunflower, groundnut, sugarcane,
and cotton) and ten crops during Rabi season (e.g., rice , maize, sunflower, and groundnut).
The standard area yield insurance scheme has recently been extended to farm income
insurance and rainfall insurance.
Table 1: Cropping pattern in Anantapur District, 2002
Crops Actual Area (In Acres) Area Sown (In Acres)
Kharif Rabi Kllarif Rabi
Paddy 36,937 25,(XX) 28,827 lO,(XX)
Jowar 6,778 2,851
· Bajra 1,934 1,974
Maize 3.106 3,404
Ragi 6,324 5,005
Horse gram 1,726 1,181
Green gram 1,622 1,170
Black gram 131 32
Red gram 26,115 33,347
Cowpea 1,793 1,416
Groundnut 7,00,?37 21,000 7,32,682 16,(XX)
Sunflower 19,521 27,(XX) 26,253 34,(XX)
Bengal gram 32,000 53,(XX)
Total 806'1?4 105000 837942 113000
Source: BES (2003), Season and Crop Report, GoAP, Hyderabad.
546 Asian Economic Review, Deccm/Jer 200S, Volum<' 50. No.3

Failure ofgroumlmtt crop and farmers opinions

Madhava Reddy, from Vemareddy pally of O.D. Cheruvu mandallzas sown grozmduut in
16 acres of land. Out of these 16 acres, 8 acres sowed under hybrid groundmtl. He spent
Rs. 25001- per acre. The yield he got was 011ly 2 bags per acre at the end. Ultimately, he
opined that cultivation is not suitable due to present conditions of drought.
Chitlambara Reddy, from Vemareddy pally of O.D. Chemvu mandai has sown grormdnut
in3 acres ofhis land. He got credit/loan worth Rs. 35,000from his neighbours aml invested
the whole amount on/tis 3 acres of land. Tlze yield he got was only 1.5 bags per acre. lie is
expressiug his misery as he is notfinding the way to clear /tis debt, whicll he invested Oil his
3 acres of land.
So far as the perceptions of the farmers are concerned, the terms and conditions .
of the National Crop Insurance Policy are not helping the farmers as the sanctioned
'insurance amount' is linked with the yield rate. The method of insurance amount estimated
is based on Crop Cutting E.,periments choosing the villages arbitrarily by the officials
(Chief Planning Officer of the concerned District.). This method takes into consideration
the tive-year average crop yield. Based on this average yield, farmers get crop insurance
on their crop loans. If one or two villages selected randomly by the officials get good
yields, then the other villages experiencing continuous drought conditions which obviously
get low yields may not get the insurance amount that they ought to get. Majority of the
farmers got very low amount of crop insurance based on this method (Table 2). From
1999-2000 onwards the insurance sanctioned amount to the farmers has been coming
down.
Table 2: Particulars of Crop Insurance, 2002
Year Yield per acre(in Bags) Insurance Sanctioned (%)
1999-2000 6.50 36.00
2000-2001 4.00 13.70
2001-2002 2.25 9.15
Source: Chief Planning Officer, (2003) Report on Drought Relief (Revenue Dept), Anantapur

Farmers' Opinions Oil Crop lllsurance:

Konda Redd.v, ji'Oin Reddyvaripally of Kadiri Mandal has opined that during
the crop cutting experiments, the officials has to take tlze village as a unit
instead of Mandai. Because, even with in a mandai the rainfall varies from
place to place. Another farme r Laxmi Reddy from Jokala ofAmadagur Mandai
opined that the crop insurance policy has to be changed as the existing method
H'as not justifiable. Narasimhulu from Bandlavandla pally of Kadiri Mandai
has argued that the crop insurance has to be paid taking village a unit and
using average yield offive .vears as the basis in the crop cutting experiment.
Drought In Anamapur Di.rtrict: 1\11 Overview 5-17

Depletion of Groundwater

Groundwater level in Anantapur district has come down on an average by 7.14

mts in 2001, 12.89 mrs in 2002 and it deterioration continues with the continuous if the
drought situation continues. The main cause for the depletion of groundwater is over
exploitation of sand (digging of sand for sale) and over exploitation/digging of bore wells.
For example, prior to 2000-01 the farmers of Kalyandurg Mandal had sufficient
groundwater when they were digging the bore wells up to 150-180 mts. In the drought
year 2002-03, there was no ground water up to 200 to 300 rots when dug. The drought
conditions and depletion of groundwater resources imposed serious imbalances in the
crop production as well as in the availability of drinking water. For example, in Settur
Manda! about 90 per cent of the area is under rain-fed crops and the rest is under bore
wells and wells. Due to persistent drought conditions, almost all the bore wells and wells
were dried up. This is not the unique feature of this mandai but the common feature of all
the mandals and the entire district too. These conditions negatively affected the crop
production and drinking water facilities in the entire district.

The State Government, in order to address this problem had sanctioned Rs. 20
crores to Anantapur district out of its Rs. 200 crores share that it had received from the
Central Govemment under Rural Infrastructural Development Fund (RIDF) scheme. As
per the provision of this scheme, preference was given to those Mandals, which have
limited groundwater facilities. The activities under this scheme were de-silting/repair the
small tanks, feeder channels and waterways. Our study found that the scheme was not
that effective as the genuine drought affected farmers were not benefited.

Indebtedness

In the district, 17 Cooperative, 72 Regional Rural Banks and 137 Commercial

Bank Branches are in operation. There is an increase in agricultural loans to the farmers
from cooperative and commercial banks from 1991-92 to 2001-02 (Table 3).The increase
is more than doubled by 1995-96 and by 2001~02, it is increased by nearly four times.
548 Asilm Economic Review, December 2008, Volume 50, No.3

Table 3: Institutional loans to Agriculture in Anantapur District

Year Loan (Rs. In crores)

1991-1992 67

1992-1993 81

1993-1994 90
1994-1 995 117
1995-1996 159
1996-1997 184
1997-1998 195
1998-1999 246
1999-2000 252
2000-2001 259
2001-2002 246
Source: Chief Planning Officer (2003), Anantapur District, Anantapur.
However, Indebtedness claimed a total of 40 suicides that are recorded in the year
2001. Out of this, 90 per cent of the cases were from marginal farmers. In Anantapur
district, farmers' suicides have been reported in 72 per cent of the Mandals. Most of the
suicide victims in this district were found to be cultivating groundnut (Vidyasagar and
Suman Chandra, 2003). Only in few cases where fanners had well-iiTigation they have
opted for other crops in a minor way. All farmers, irrespective of the land holding size,
have bonowed both from institutional and non-institutional sources. Among the suicide
victims there is a ,positive correlation between farm size and average lo;;m amount.

To minimize the hardship of the drought, the government bas declared the defemzent
of interest payment on crop loans in the district during the year 2002-2003. During this
year the farmers had received loans from the banks worth Rs. 337 crores.

However, some studies indicate that most of the farmers were relying on non-
institutional sources for credit. A joint study undertaken by CESS and AF in four villages
of Anantapur which is also our study villages found that 70-82 percent of farmers have
taken loans from non-i nstitutional sources - Mallapuram (82 per cent), Hanimireddy
pally (78 per cent). Obulapuram (86 per cent) and Neelareddy pa/ly (70 per cent).
While lending, the Cooperative and other commercial banks in this district preferred the
large farmers only and not the small and marginal farmers. Therefore, the motive of the
govemment to defer the interest payment on crop loans benefited only to the big farmers
but not the small and marginal farmers.
Drought In Ana11tapur District: 1111 Overview 549

Migration
The persistent drought condition in the district collapsed the labour market - farm
and non farm - and forced the labourers and the fanners to migrate. For example, the
farmers and labourers of O.D.Chemvu migrated to Bangalore, Tamil Nadu, Timpati,
Hyderabad, and Telangana places for livelihoods during this drought period. They are
engaging in construction based activities,Pou]try farms, selling pilgrimage materials at
Tin1pati and cable works at Ooty and Warangal areas. However the they have rett1med
to the villages after the introduction of 'drought relief works' and wage employment
programmes.

Experiences Of Old People:

Chimwppa Reddy (70) from Jokala of Amadagur mandal has expressed that the
severity of drought and famines in this year is very high. He never experienced
such type of severe drought earlier. During good and olden days they were happy
even possessing two or three acres of land. The present situation has worsened
his position even if he has now 20 acres of land in his possession. He had
experienced three worst droughts during his lifetime so far. During the time of
such situations he used to procure the food from the forest. Now the area under
forest has come down and the availability offorest products too very Low. The
impact of this drought forced him to migrate to other places with uncertain
livelihood.
Tippanna(83) from Kandukuri pally of Amadaguru mandai has remembered his
experiences that at the age of 16, he experienced severe drought. He had
experienced four drought situations during his Lifetime so far. During those days
the British government lzad taken temporary relief measures which lze thillks
comparatively better than the present initiative of the government.

Livestock
In the year 2002, the livestock populations in the district comprised of 9 .86lakhs of
cattle, 16.76lakhs of sheep and 3.67lakhs of goat population. The main dairy development
areas in Anantapur district are, Hindupuram, Madakasira, Roddam. Amarapuram,
Gudibanda, Agali and Rolla. Due to the severe Drought in this district, the fodder and ,
pastures that grew on the common land for the many years have been virtually failed.
The near-total failure of monsoon crops resulted in scanty fodder. Obviously, the village 1
stocks of dry fodder exhausted. The livestock populations in this district suffered due to
the lack of fodder. Most of the farmers and livestock rearing holders began to sell out
their livestock especially small ruminants to mitigate the drought effects.

Dairying was one of the severely affected off-farm activities during the drought
period in these villages due to shortage of drinking water and fodder. This led to insufficient
supply of milk to meet the higher demand on one side and on the other the income (price
per litre) from this source was rarely exact and encouraging.
 Asian Economic Re~·iew, Dec:emher 2008, Volumr 50, No.3
550

Voluntmy Fodder Development Programme (VFDP) has been introduced in

the district to meet the requirement of fodder to feed its livestock population. Under the
Buyback System fodder seeds were distributed to the fanners to be sown in 1000 acres
under bore wells and wells. But this did not materialize as the farmers preferred Groundnut
and Sunflower crops to fodder.

Section IV: Households Situation in the Study Villages : Landed, Landless Off •
Farm and the Aged. ·
Focus group discussions were held in four villages to assess the impact of drought
conditions during the year 2002-03 and information drawn is classified in to Landed
house holds, land less households, non fann activities, women and old age people. Subsidiary
information is given in appendix Ill

Landed Households
Drought hit villages of 'Mallapuram', 'Hanimi Reddy Pally' and 'Obulapuram' are
plagued by the problems such as delay in groundnut sowing, moisture stress, failure of
ground nut crop and input loss. Drying-up of the open we~ls, bore wells, improper power
supply to the agriculture bore wells are other equally impmtant factors due to which the
villages have experienced declined irrigated area and consequently declined food and
fodder to the villagers and livestock respectively.

The impact of severe drought was on the farmers of all economic classes - large,
medium, small and marginal farmers. Due to lack of sufficient groundwater and erratic
power supply, most of the farmers here started cultivating irrigable dry (ID) crops
(groundnut, sun flowers and ragi). But the unavailability of sufficient groundnut seeds
posed another problem in every season. Moisture stress in groundnut crops and 'red hair
cater pillar' (RHC) pest in groundnut added to their woes. The use of pesticide, which is
labour as well as capital intensive, is again a costly affair for the already distressed poor
fanners. In spite of the effort made under the 'watershed programme' to distribute LPG
gaslights and other Integrated Pest Management (IPM) material and propagating and
demonstrating low cost technologies to control the RHC, all the farmers in the three
villages faced the above problems. In those villages, decline in the yield of dry fodder
compelled almost all farmers to sell their cattle or reduce the size of the cattle. Due to
severe drought situation even the medium farmers who used to supervise the works now
indulge in watershed wage works to sustain themselves. Even the large and medium
farmers in the absence of irrigation facility have engaged in the watershed based wage
works.

In Obulapuram watershed village, the Project Implementing Agency (PIA) i.e.,

RDT/AF, under Soil and Moisture Conservation activity, has introduced pebble bunding
work; m the fields by involving the farmers under watershed development programme.
In this, the farmers are required to pay some cash contribution, in order to ensure their
DmiiJ:hl In Analllapur District: An Overview 5 5!

active participation (15 per cent for General category farmers and 10 per cent for SCs
and STs Farmers). But, due to drought, most of the farmers could not even pay the
requisite amount to start the pebble bunding work in their own fields. Those who managed
to secure loans from various sources could pay the requisite contribution amount and
took the pebble bwzding works in their respective fields. But for most of the farmers
who could not raise loans for the same involved themselves in other fields as watershed-
based causal labour to e am some money to meet the above mentioned requirement.
Some of the farmers have even postponed this activity to the following year. ,

So far as tl1e Dry Land Horticulture Programme promoted through watershed

development is concerned, the perceptions of the beneficiaries such as medium, small
and marginal farmers are that this programme is also a burden to the drought hit regions
as horticulntre consumes a lot of water and to fetch it from far away places is a hectic
task for them besides finances and availability of water. However the horticulture farmers
are receiving incentives towards watering and maintenance for the survi val of the plants
worth Rs.l 00 per month for the period of three years under watershed development
programme. At least, this has provided some sort of relief to the farmers .

But the story of Nella Reddy Pally, another study village is little bit different from
the three study villages mentioned above. This village has access to assured irrigation
facility through Tungabhadra High Level Canal (TBHLC), as a resul t of which the
impact of drought was less in this village compared to the other three villages. Although,
there exits irregularity in releasing the canal water, the farmers of this village have
succeeded in <m-esting the moisture stress by canal irrigation or ground water irrigation.
The availability of canal water not only acted as a savior for the paddy cultivation but also
reduced the fodder and drinking water problem for the cattle. However, the picture could
not be said to be rosy, as this year, they could not purchase new cattle nor sold as such.
However, in this village, few farmers were caught in debt trap as their heavy investment
in bore wells did not fetch the desired result due to failure of bore wells. Sweet lime
horticulture was affected by diseases due to which plants dried up resulting in low yields.
Low paddy yield due to delayed release of water from the canal posed another problem.
However, the fmm ers with both canal as well as ground water facility did not get affected.

Landless Households
Lack of sufficient wage works, particularly in the agriculture-based activities, decline
in agriculture wage rates and low employment opportunities, erratic power supply and
decline in the water table are the legacies of drought prone district of Anantapur (in fact
any district/state). Failure of groundnut crop added to the already exiting woes forcing
the habitants to migrate to other areas. H owever the fa~mers have returned to the villages .
after the introduction of 'drought relief works' under watershed d evelopment
programme. Contrary to this, NR Pally is not affected very badly as this village has
assured irrigation facilities through TBHLC and it is reflected in the better employment
opportunities unlike in the other villages.
552 Asian Economic Review, December 2008, Vt•lum" 50,.f:liJ'JJiB

Non-farm activities
Non-farm activities like other alternative employment and petty business
also crushed down due to drought situation prevailing in these areas. Low/ no
employment left the people with low /no income that rocked their living conditions:
had an impact on the Petty businessmen who faced recovery problems from the
which in turn resulted in poor business turnovers. For promoting income generation,
employment schemes such as PMRY, CMEY and Rajiv Yuvashakti for
unemployed youth are implemented.
D. Srinivasulu of HR Pally, along with his wife, migrated to Bellary town in
and worked for eight months in the activity of 'catering (seasonal) and
construction activity.
G C Peddanna of Obulapuram watershed village whose major activity was petty
(grocery shop) too saw downslide due to lack of activity in the village because of ·
repayment from the customers which forced him to migrate to Anantapur town. ·· ·.
G Lingamma. watershed committee chainnan ofMallapuram village and her sons
major livelihood activities used to be petty business, now indulged in private
(compounders in private hospitals) and also are now sustaining on the loans eXJ[enac
them by the wholesalers for their survival in the backdrop of her falling bus
previous savings of her sons are proving to be supportive in this difficult condition

M. Venkatesulu of Mallapuram Watershed village, a milk vendor, found it

make the two ends meet.
K Lakslunanna of HR. Pally watershed village engaged in sheep rearing,
once considered as lucrative business, found unable to continue the same and
li vestock to migrate.
K. Nagireddy of NR Pally whose major and preferred livelihood activity was d
found !he escalating cost of the dry fodder with no corresponding increase in
of milk. However, he is still continuing with the same profession in the absence
remunerative returns, as he is incapable of taking any other profession.
Women:
Women are vulnerable group of the society who generally suffer a lot during .··
Their responsibilities include fetching water from far off places along with
household activities and also participate in economic activities in all possible
by working in others fields or collecting fuel wood, cattle rearing, etc. to
income level of their family. The impact of drought has a major toll on them as i
their household as well as economic activities. The activities of DWCRA
were now integrated under a programme called Indira Kranti Padlzam so that
o~jective of Women Empowerment with Poverty Alleviation will be achieved.
Drorrglu In Ana11tapur Distric:t: Au Overview 553

Old age people:

Due to drought the old age people particularly who belong to poor sections were
severely affected as their sustenance becomes problematic for the above all reasons.
The old age pension is increased from Rs. 75 per month toRs. 100 and further toRs. 200
under social security measures.

H Savitramma of Mallapuram is one such lady whose major livelihood activity was
'goat rearing' and 'agriculture labour' is now affected by drought. N Lakshmidevi,
president of RDT disabled group of Mallapuram watershed is a physically challenged
lady who depends on her family members (agriculture wage workers) for her·sustenance.
Under RDT promoted assistance to disabled groups, she has received a loan (interest
free) through Permanent Drought Fund (PDF). As a result of this she could cope up the
drought situation to some extent. However she engaged herself in 'dairying' activity to
generate income. Her family memb<!rS too benefited from the Drought Relief Wage
works through watershed programmes. Nagamma ofHR Pally Watershed village heads
her household and also the sole breadwinner .in her family. Her major livelihood activity
is labour. Due to drought situation no employment opportunities were available in the
village even at low wages. Hence, she got migrated to Anantapur town for livelihood
and indulged herself as a labourer in papaya horticulture based activities. She visits her
village once in 10 clays to meet her family members and support them. After the
introduction of drought relief watershed programme works (pebble bunding), she returned
to her village and is able to sustain herself through the watershed programme initiated
work.

The major livelihood activities of H. Obulappa of Mallapuram watershed village was

rope making. His wife who is dependent on him earlier used to go the groundnut fields
to collect the residue of the nuts if anything remained after the harvest and sell the
same. But the situation in the village detoriated after the drought and he lost market for
his ropes and his wife too could not go to the fields to collect the residue because the
villagers who used to buy their product earlier are now incapacitated. To cope with the
drought sit1mtion the government has extended the 'mid-day meal programme' to the
aged people along with the children for whom this was initiated. This fetched them
some sort of relief.
H Subbanna of Obulapuram watershed village and his wife are aged and depend upon
their sons who live separately. Though their sons used to give the old parents enough
grains and pocket money yearly, in the absence of the yield the sons are unable to raise
any amount of crop, so the condition of the poor old people. Government provided 10
Kgs of rice per month for free of cost under Annapurna Scheme. This was continued
during summer. They were' also getting old age pension.
554 Asian Economic Review, December 200S, Volume 50,

Section V :Relief Measures in Recent Past

Some new programmes/Schemes are now introduced to tackle the drought.
put an end to the increasing number of suicides which are mainly due to crop
linked indebtedness which in turn due to drought, AP state government has ""'''"'J'"u
moratorium for a period of two years on repayment of loans raised by farmers from
institutional and non-institutional tinancers. The state government has announced a ·' n'""'·n'
Package of Relief & Rehabilitation also for the distressed farmers, providing .,u._.... v •.u
and tinancial relief for them. The government waived collections of stamp duty in . ...."1"'-'-l'· ~¥a
of crop loans to farmers.

The state government has introduced JNDIRAMMA (Integrated Novel Development

in Rural Areas and Model Municipal Areas) scheme starting from 2006-07 for about 5
years mainly to provide basic amenities to one-third of villages. In order to achieve
high yield and more income at low production cost, the Government is putting forth its •·
efforts to inculcate and spread awareness among the farmers about the latest technologies ·~
in farm cultivation by way of conducting Rytlw Sadassu, Rythu Chaitanya Yatras, J
Polam Badi, Seed Village, Rytlzu Sandhu etc.

The government is widely popularizing "SRf' (System of Rice Intensification)

method of paddy cultivation under "SRI Vari- Mee lnta Siri" programme which is viewed
as most appropriate for drought prone regions like Anantapur since it will improve the
water use efficiency in paddy cultivation. SRI is a method of rice cultivation based on the
synergy muong several techniques like seeding on dry bed, trm1splanting the seedlings
younger than 15 days, wider spacing (25/25 or 20/20) with single plant, intermittent
irrigation with no standing water, frequent weeding etc. SRI paddy cultivation was
introduced in Anantapur district during Klwrif and Rabi seasons in 2003-04 by ANGRAU
and also by WWF-ICRISAT in 2004-05. It is also promoted by RDT in their watershed
villages since 2003-04. SRI not only requires less number of irrigations but also less
number of total hours of irrigation. Tltis will not only reduce the pressure on the precious
ground water resources but also the energy requirements for pumping groundwater.
Therefore, judicious promotion and adoption of SRI could result in sustainable and efficient
use of scarce water resources. Another advantage of SRI is its high labor intensity. As
most of the drought prone areas are characterized with low employment rates and high
seasonal migration, widespread adoption of SRI may resolve these issues to some extent
(Reddy et.al 2005).

The state government has introduced Samagra blw abhivruddhi karyakrwnam

(indira prabha I CLDP) programme to facilitate immediate and effective cultivation of
the land which were assigned earlier· to the poor. The beneficiaries will get financial
assistance from Indira Prabha to make their land cultivable.

To help the farm sector in their efforts to enhance productivity and also brace up
to competition, "Agricultural Technology Mission" (ATM) was launched in 2006. The
'ornught In Anmllapur Distric:t: An Overview 555

jnission seeks to identify potential yield gaps in various crops and bridge them through
Jprecision fanning techniques, improve water use efficiency, sustain dry land agriculture
through crop diversification, encourage contract farming with appropriate legal framework,
;strengthen agro processing and bring in value addition to farm sector produce through
market linkage.

The Government has taken up several measures to strengthen market yards .and
remove intervention of middlemen in purchase-and-sale process and see that remunerative
price is made available to the fanners produce, particularly in case of groundnut, maize,
cotton etc.

The activities of DWCRA and Velugu were now integrated ·under a programme
called Indira Kranti Padlzam so that the twin objective of Women Empowerinent with
Poverty Alleviation will be achieved.

However, the relief programmes carried out by the government do not fall into the
category of integrated rural development. The programmes are depicted as the economic
opportunities offered to the effected people. Most of the programmes mentioned looks
replica of the earlier schemes with change in the nomenclature with no long-term
perspective. However, the implementation.and effects of these relief measures are to be
studied.

Section VI: Conclusions

In the study district of Anantapur and also the study villages, low forest cover
contributed low rainfall, while the low quality of soil failed to absorb whatever the little
rainfall the district gets, and the high temperature contributed to high evapo-transpiration
process - the net result is the persistent drought situation in the district.

Mitigation of drought should have both short-term and long-term perceptions. In

this context, emphasis should be given to work out ways and means of looking at the
long-term interventions while planning short tenn relief measures. As the worst effect of
drought situation is experienced at the local level, there is a need to consider the micro
level management aspect while formulating funtre drought management policy. There is
also a need for horizontal and v~rtical integration of vario~s aspects of drought management
across various levels of government by establishing mutually benefiting linkages of science,
communities and administration.

While the areas lagging in development like drought- prone areas immediately
require investment and infrastmcture, the emphasis on these issues in the policy making
remained temporary I ad hoc relief measures. Mostly the money is spent on strengthening
infrastructure like roads rather than creating assets for the affected communities.

Following are some of the suggestions which will be helpful in this endeavor. Further,
the area under assured irrigation has to be increased to at least 33 per cent of cultivated
556 A.fi{ln Economic Rel'iew, December 2008, Volume 50, No!!!!

:;1
area as per the recommendation of the Second Irrigation Commission, 1972. The'\~
unregulated exploitation of ground water should be stopped. Increasing practice of dri~{~
and sprinkler inigation technologies would enhance water use efficiency. Deep ploughirui'f~
must be discouraged in drought-prone areas to preserve moisture content in the soil and '~
an application of deep-rooted local varieties of crops will succeed in dry land and drought-
prone areas. Moreover, implementation of crop rotation, diversitication of cropping pattern ~
and mixed farming will help protect the crop during drought. Besides, in dry land areas,
agro-forestry should be encouraged in addition to seasonal and annual crops to maintain
the farming system during stress. Agricultural Research Centers should bring out ne\v .
drought resistant seed varieties given the changing climatic conditions. Proper planning
and policy initiatives are needed in order to develop markets and other related infrastructure
to promote the growth of fruits and vegetable crops.

Appendix-!

A). Reported drought events in India over the past 200 years.
Period Drought years Period Drought years
1801-1825 1801, I804,1806,1812,18 19,1825 1901-1925 1901 '1904, 1905, l907, 1911,
1918, 1920
1826-1850 1832, I833, 1837 1926-1950 1939,1941
1851-1975 1853,1860,1862,1866,1868.1 873 1951-1975 1951, 1965,1966, 1971,1972,
1974
1876-1900 1877,1883,1891,1897,1899 1975-200) 1977,1978,1979, 1982,1983,
1985, 1987 , 1988,1992

Government of India, 2000. "Contingency Plan-Drought 2000'', Department of Ag riculture and

Cooperation, Ministry ofAgriculture, New Delhi.
B). Administrative districts frequently affected by drought
States Districts
AP Anantapw·, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Hyderabad, Kumool, Mahaboobnagar,
Nalgonda, Prakasam
Bihar Munger, Nawadah, Palamau, Rphtas, Bhojpur, Aurangabad, Gaya,
Gujarat, Ahmedabad, Amrely, Banaskanta, Bhavanagar, Bharuch,
JaJrulagar, Kheda, Kutch, Meslma, Panchmahal, Rajkot, Surendranagar
Haryana Bhiwani, Gurgao, Mahendragarsh, Rohtak
Jammu&Kashmir Doda, Udhampur
Karnataka Bangalore, Belgaum, Bellary, Bijapur, Chitradurga, Chickmangalur,
Dharwad, Gulbarga, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya, Mysore, Raichur, Tumkur
Madya Pradesh Bettll, Datia, Dewas, Dhar, Jhabuva, Khandak, Khargaon, Shahdol,
Shahjapnr, Sidhi, U.ijain
f)mugllf In Anmuapur Disrric:r: An OvervieiY 557

Maharashtra Ahmedanagar, Aurangabad, Beed, Nanded, Nashik, Osmanabad,

Pune, Parbhani, Sangli, Satara, Sholapur
Orrissa Phulbani, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Kendrapada
Rajasthan Ajmeer, Banaswada, Barmer, Chiru, Dungarpur, Jaisalmeer, Jalore,
Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali, Udaipur
Tamil Nadu Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Salem,
Tiruchirapally, tirunelveli, Kanyakumari
Uttar Pradesh Allahbad, Banda, Hamirpur, Jalan, Mirtapur, Varanasi
West Bengal Bankura, Midnapur, Pwulia
,Gol (2000), Contingency Plan-Drought 2000, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of
Agriculture, New Delhi.

Appendix-IT
List of the Districts and the Mandals (AP) that are drought declared
Name of the district Total MandaJs Mandals Declared
Srikakulam 38 28
Vizianagaram 34 34
Visakhapatnam 43 42
E~ist Godavari 60 53
West Godavari 46 42
Krishna ·so 50
Guntur 57 57
Prakasam 56 56
Nell ore 46 46
Chittoor 66 65
Cuddapah 51 51
Anantapur 63 63
Kumool 54 54
Mahaboobnagar 64 64
Ranga Reddy 37 36
Hyderabad 16 0
Medak 45 45
Nizamabad 36 36
Adilabad 52 52
Karimnagar 57 57
Warangal 51 51
Khammam 46 46
Nalgonda 59 59
Total 1127 1087
GoAP (2003), Memorandum on Drought, Revenue Department, Hyderabad.
558 Asian Ewnnmic Rel'iew, December 2008, Vn/unu: 50. Na.J

Appendix: Ill : The views of the focus group discussions in the four study villages of
Anantapur district
Drought H.R Palli Mallapuram Obulapuram
situation
Groundwater Bore Dried up of Dried up of
wells/open bore bore
wells dried up. v.ells/open wells/open
Of the total 10 v.ells: 50 wells (with
open well<i 8 open wells electrical
are dried up. and 15 bore pump set) 15
Of the total 20 v.ells are open wells
bore wells 7 dried up. are dried up
bore wells are
dried up in the
present year
su~r (all
are working in
the last year
slliiliier)

Water level Water level Water level Water level

has corre has come has corre has come
down from 60 down from down from down from 50
fts to 120 fts. 60 fts to 150 14{) fts - 160 fts to 60 fts.
fts. fts.
Power supply IAiration Power supply Pov.er supply
to the fuwer to the to the
agricultural supply to the agricultural agriculturnl
bore wells has agricultural bore wells bore wells has
corre down bore wells has corre come down
from 9hrs. to has come down from from 9hrs. to
7hrs. down from 9hrs. to 6hrs. 6hrs.
9hrs. to 6hrs.
Wages m Decreased by !Xcreased by Decreased by Decreased
Agricultural 50 percent 50 percent. 50 percent.
based works
Drought .In Anantapur District: An Overview 559

Animal Most of the cattle Most of the cattle sold out Most of tl1 e
husbandry sold out 150 80 number cnttle sold out.
number buffa loes bufialoes/cows, 15 pairs 150 num be r
I cows. I0 pairs of bullocks, nnd 15-20 % bu flaloes I
of bullocks. & of the small ru minants cows were sold
500 goats/sheep were sold out out
were sold out.
sale value per sale value per c.1 ttle sale value per No tr~msactions
cattle decreased decreased by 20-40 % cattle decreased
by40-50% by 40-50 %
From the The decline in the Khnrif Fodder supply Fodder supply
grou ndnut field grou ndnut crop area has come down has co me dO\.,n
of 5 acres, the resulted in the decline of from I to 0. 75 and the cost of
fodder supply has fodder. It was only half carts o f pnddy dry fodder per
come do\\11 from bullock cart per acre. The nnd 1.5 to I bullock cart
5-6 bulloc k carts cost of grou ndnut fodder carts of has increased
to 1.5-2 bullock per bullock cart ha s groundnut. drnstically.
carts. increased. Decrease in the
area of paddy cultivation
Obviously. the is another n.'nson for the
cost of dry fodder decline in tl1e fodder
per bullock cart production.
has doubled.
Drinking The village tank Severe drinking water Severe drinking
\\-'iller and river penna problem for the ca ttle water problem
was dried up and (during open grazing of in the village.
severe drinking ca ttle). Outof3 hand
water problem pumps only I is
for the <.'Utile at in good
open grazing condition.
area.
Migration 10-15 families 20·2 5 families have 15 families No migrnt ion.
have migm ted migrated to irrigated hnve migrated
temporarily tracts for wage based tempomri ly
works
- ·· - - - ; - - - - - - : - - - -··----;-----:--+-::-:---· - -- - - - -- - -1
Cropping Area under Are u under groundnut Murginul
pattern pad dy. groundnut rm d sunflower has come increase in tl1e
and sunflower down. Per ncre }icld has nrea under
has come down. declined. vurious crops.
Per acre yield of However, Per
each of these acreyi!ldof
crops are ve I)' enc h o f these
low due to crops are very
insufiicient low.
power and water
supply.

rsource: Field Survey

 560 Asian Ec(Jnomic Review, December 2008, Volume! 50, No.J

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