Drought in Andhra Pradesh: Naidu seeks farm loan rescheduling and Central aid as Rayalaseema stays 43% short of rain despite two cyclones

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked the Centre on Wednesday, 4 November, to extend every possible help to drought-hit farmers in Andhra Pradesh, after a Central team that toured four of the driest districts briefed him on what it saw. Two cyclones have soaked the coast, but Rayalaseema has still received 43% less rain than normal since June.

Chinmay Gotmare, a Joint Secretary at the Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ministry, heads the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT). Working in two groups, its members went to Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, Kurnool and Nandyal districts on 2 and 3 November, looked at crop losses and spoke to farmers before meeting the Chief Minister.

Loan rescheduling and water schemes sought

Naidu told the team that the coastal districts were coping with cyclone damage while Rayalaseema and several other areas faced severe drought, brought on by poor rain and El Nino. Anantapur, he said, had the second-lowest rainfall of any district in the country. Farmers in Rayalaseema were short of water for their fields, water to drink and fodder for their cattle.

Groundwater levels had dropped sharply, he said, and many of the extra borewells drilled had not found water. He asked the Centre to allow rescheduling of farm loans and to back a wider Jal Jeevan Mission, along with work to develop and link water sources in villages, so that lasting fixes go alongside temporary drinking water arrangements. Crop insurance payouts to farmers were being arranged by the state, he added.

388 mandals, 12 districts still short of rain

District-wise figures up to 4 November put the state at 583.42 mm of rain since 1 June against a normal of 777.2 mm, a shortfall of 24.93%. Cyclones Arnab and Murasu lifted Visakhapatnam and Guntur into surplus and cut Coastal Andhra’s deficit to 11.56%. Rayalaseema, with 317.82 mm against 558.2 mm, is 43.06% short and received only 6.65 mm in the first four days of November, when 19.43 mm is normal. Twelve of the 28 districts remain deficient. Markapuram is the worst at 58.2%, and Sri Sathya Sai, Prakasam and Kurnool are each more than half short.

For kharif 2026, the government has named 388 drought-hit mandals spread over 21 districts, 283 of them severe and 105 moderate, under GO No. 4 signed by G. Sai Prasad, Special Chief Secretary for revenue and disaster management. It did so ahead of the usual 31 October date because June-August rain was 53.4% below normal. A first report seeking Central assistance has already gone to the Centre, and Naidu told the team that a detailed drought report would follow within a week.