From reaping riches to facing challenges, horticulture switch leaves ryots in a fix

In 2014, Masthan Basha Shaik, 63, arrived astatine the Dubai International Airport to yet instrumentality location aft a two-decade-long stint arsenic a motortruck operator successful the UAE. Mr. Shaik, who had saved a sizeable magnitude during his enactment successful the UAE, was brimming with excitement arsenic helium imagined his beingness arsenic a alloy merchant successful his hometown, Rajampeta – a salient commercialized centre successful Annamayya territory of Andhra Pradesh.

However, his prolonged enactment astatine the Dubai Airport owed to a formation hold altered the people of his plans. With his formation to Chennai delayed by 3 hours, Mr. Shaik recovered himself wandering done the terminal until helium arrived astatine a fashionable foodstuff bar. He noticed a young mates sipping connected a papaya smoothie, which tempted him to bid one. After enjoying it, helium instantly ordered a second. Mr. Shaik soon struck up a speech with the barroom attendant, who introduced himself arsenic Rasool, 32, and mentioned helium was from Chitvel — conscionable 25 km from Basha’s hometown.

During their conversation, Mr. Shaik learned that the papaya utilized was imported from Railway Kodur, a municipality located betwixt Rajampeta and Chitvel successful Andhra Pradesh. Piqued by interest, helium arrived successful Chennai with a caller concern module focused connected papaya cultivation. Within weeks, the would-be alloy trader had purchased a three-acre crippled successful Penagalur mandal.

Today, a decennary later, Mr. Shaik’s 2 daughters are settled successful Dubai, wherever their husbands tally 4 foodstuff bars and commercialized successful export-quality effect pulp crossed the UAE. “I americium not the lone Masthan Basha Shaik from Rajampeta who tasted success. There are hundreds similar maine who returned from the Gulf and are earning a decent surviving done horticulture,” said Mr. Shaik.

The Rajampeta part successful Annamayya territory had witnessed a singular maturation successful the cultivation of fruits and vegetables implicit the past 4 decades. From hardly a 100 horticulture farmers successful the 1980s to a fewer 1000 by the precocious 1990s, the portion contiguous boasts astir 40,000 horticulture farmers—a twentyfold summation successful conscionable 3 decades.

The picturesque Rajampeta portion is surrounded by the Palakonda (Seshachalam), Nallamala, and Lankamala elevation ranges. Forested hills—including the SV National Park and Penusila Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Wildlife Sanctuary—act arsenic earthy protective barriers. This unsocial geography, coupled with divers soils, irrigation methods, and climatic conditions, has contiguous shaped the region’s horticultural identity.

The farmers who had erstwhile relied connected rain-fed crops similar groundnut and pulses, gradually shifted to fruit-bearing trees and vegetables. Horticulture flourished present owed to the semi-arid Rayalaseema climate, reddish sandy loam soils, and past tank-based irrigation systems dating backmost to the Chola and Vijayanagara dynasties.

“This dynamic translation from accepted farming to a vibrant horticultural system is unsocial to Rajampeta,” said Garika Venkat (45), a bundle technologist who manages a five-acre banana plantation adjacent Anantharajupeta village.

According to the scientists astatine the Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural University successful Anantharajupeta, the horticultural gyration successful Rayalaseema began from Rajampeta division, particularly aft the constitution of effect nurseries and grooming centres by the State Horticulture Department, promoting grafted mango varieties specified arsenic Banganapalli, Neelum, Totapuri, and Alphonso.

They noted that anterior to the 1980s, horticulture was constricted to backyard orchards and tiny rootlike gardens adjacent tanks and streams. Mango and banana crops were scattered crossed Nandaluru, Obulavaripalle, and Penagalur mandals and depended astir wholly connected rainfall, with small irrigation support.

However, betwixt 1980 and 2000, the cultivation of horticultural crops expanded rapidly with the instauration of borewell irrigation and micro-irrigation schemes. In the 1990s, the Cheyyeru and Gunjaneru stream basins became a boon to farmers, who began experimenting with mango orchards. Around the aforesaid time, the Gulf returnees, flush with Dirhams and Dinars, took to banana and papaya cultivation crossed the alluvial plains adjacent Rajampeta and Obulavaripalle.

In 2022, pursuing the reorganisation of Rajampeta part nether the recently formed Annamayya district, horticulture received renewed authorities absorption done schemes similar the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) and the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), which promoted micro-irrigation, drip and sprinkler systems, and high-density crops.

Mango reigns ultimate successful Rajampeta, dominating ample tracts of onshore successful Penagalur, Obulavaripalle, and Pullampeta mandals. These areas nutrient commercialized varieties specified arsenic Banganapalli, Neelum, and Totapuri, which are exported to markets crossed India and abroad, including Southeast Asia and the Gulf.

Banana and papaya thrive successful the irrigated belts of Rajampeta and Nandaluru mandals, supported by borewell and tank-fed systems. These crops importantly lend to farmers’ yearly income, often rotated with seasonal vegetables. Farmers are besides progressively cultivating saccharine lime, guava, and coconut, adopting mixed farming and intercropping systems that heighten sustainability and ungraded health.

Vegetable cultivation became an integral portion of the determination economy, with farmers wide increasing tomato, brinjal, and chilli successful the Railway Kodur and Cheyyeru vale regions. Excellent roadworthy connectivity to the Chennai–Mumbai National Highway and casual transport to municipality markets further boosted economical prospects of the region.

Despite specified favourable conditions, the farmers are struggling owed to increasing challenges similar erratic weather, recurring harvest diseases, and deficiency of selling facilities and authorities support.

“Across Penagalur, Obulavaripalle, Nandaluru, and Pullampet mandals, we person seen falling yields for the past 5 years,” said Mallikarjuna (35), husbandman from Anantharajupeta. “The emblematic Rayalaseema dryness is present coupled with abrupt cloudbursts and flash floods, which disrupt ungraded conditions,” helium added.

Pointing to the yellowed papaya leaves, different husbandman from Obulavaripalle, Rajasekhar (42), said, “In caller years, temperatures person risen sharply during the time and dropped steeply astatine night. Papaya cannot tolerate specified drastic changes.”

The farmers besides pointed retired that the predominant flash floods on the Cheyyeru and Gunjaneru rivers harm basal systems and erode fertile topsoil—particularly devastating for banana plantations. During the highest harvest months of June and July, erstwhile the southwest monsoon sets in, pest and fungal infestations worsen.

Mango orchards are attacked by anthracnose, powdery mildew, and effect flies, portion banana crops endure from sigatoka leafage spot and stem weevil, they said. Farmers besides feared that humidity pursuing cyclone “Montha” volition aggravate these problems, perchance forcing them to summation pesticide use.

While pointing retired the hurdles successful selling their crops, the farmers noted that the portion produces implicit 3.5 lakh metric tonnes of mangoes, 2 lakh tonnes of bananas, and a akin quantity of papaya annually. Still they brushwood difficulties selling their nutrient successful the marketplace owed to a deficiency of due selling facilities and authorities support.

Hussain, 30, a young husbandman said, “Our 2.7-acre onshore was managed by my parents till a decennary ago. After Covid, cultivation and transport costs skyrocketed. This year, our banana output was implicit 70%, but prices crashed to ₹3 a kg—while the aforesaid quantity sells for ₹60–70 successful the unfastened market. The middlemen are the existent winners.”

The farmers claimed that until 5 years ago, traders from the Northern States visited Rajampeta fields to acquisition the nutrient astatine what section farmers called the “Minimum Decent Price”, redeeming farmers cutting and transport costs. “However, now, we are astatine the mercy of middlemen,” said Ravindra (28), different young husbandman from Chitvel. “Agents hole prices arsenic they wish. It is intelligibly a syndicate,” helium alleged.

Similarly, Narasimha, 61, who grows papaya successful Chitvel, said that the prices person plummeted to ₹5 a kg. “As the effect is highly perishable, agents hold for our distress calls. We person nary prime but to merchantability astatine immoderate terms they quote,” helium said.

As for mango, the authorities had offered a ₹4 subsidy connected ₹8 per kg terms aft farmers protested against pulp industries’ reluctance to wage much than ₹4 per kg. Though the territory medication declared the “unofficial enactment price” successful June, galore farmers said that they are yet to person the subsidy, according to the reports.

However, Annamayya District Horticulture Officer S.S.V. Subhashini clarified that mango, banana, and papaya crops are not covered nether the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system. “The caller terms fixation for mangoes was simply a authorities involution to easiness husbandman distress,” she said.

A tract serviceman from the horticulture section successful Rajampeta said that horticulture took a large deed betwixt 2015 and 2020.

The young farmers who took up agriculture implicit IT jobs alleged that they did not person the boost and maturation they had hoped for. They recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 run committedness to acceptable up acold retention plants and processing units successful the Rayalaseema region.

They said that they are reconsidering their decision. “It is amended to spell backmost to our jobs than combat a losing battle,” said a section banker, adding that his son-in-law, an MS postgraduate from the U.S., returned to the IT assemblage aft a failed effort astatine agriculture.

They further alleged that the beingness of Dr. YSR Horticultural University College astatine Anantharajupeta did not assistance them with field-level solutions. “The scientists are doing bully research, but the fruits of their enactment ne'er scope our farms owed to deficiency of funding,” they alleged.

Pointing retired these hurdles, the farmers noted that Rajampeta—formerly portion of Kadapa district—received much administrative attraction earlier being merged into the caller Annamayya district. “Now, the territory office astatine Rayachoti is acold from accessible. Most absorption is connected the Madanapalle and Rayachoti divisions,” said a module subordinate astatine Dr. YSR Horticultural University College.

“Given Rajampeta’s horticultural imaginable and its captious relation successful the agrarian economy, the portion tin genuinely thrive if it becomes a territory headquarters,” the farmers said.