Andhra Pradesh Drought and Agricultural Resilience
Context
Andhra Pradesh declared drought in 21 districts, with 283 mandals categorised as severely affected and 105 as moderately affected. Rainfall deficiency, along with El Niño conditions, adversely affected kharif sowing and water availability.
Key Highlights
- Drought is a slow onset disaster assessed using rainfall, crop conditions, soil moisture and hydrological indicators.
- Rainfall deficiency alone is not sufficient to determine the severity of drought, as local crop stress and reservoir conditions also need to be considered.
- The Rayalaseema region remained particularly vulnerable to drought conditions.
- Delays in drought declaration can affect the timely delivery of input assistance, employment support and debt relief.
- Increasing climate variability highlights the need for crop and water management at the sub-district level.
Key Concepts
- Meteorological Drought: A significant deficiency in rainfall over a given period.
- Agricultural Drought: A situation where available soil moisture is insufficient to meet crop requirements.
- Hydrological Drought: A prolonged shortage of water in rivers, reservoirs and groundwater systems.
Way Forward
- Introduce transparent, trigger-based mechanisms for timely drought declarations.
- Expand micro irrigation and promote drought resilient crop varieties.
- Ensure timely settlement of crop insurance claims.
- Strengthen measures to safeguard drinking water availability during droughts.
- Converge MGNREGA works with watershed restoration and water conservation measures to improve long-term agricultural resilience.