Windfall Doubles for Once Drought-Hit Rayalaseema as Funds Follow Water

Anantapur: The once severely drought-hit Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh has been getting endowed with irrigation facilities with 50 TMC feet of Krishna River water reaching the region from Srisailam through the Handri Neeva Sujala Shravanti project as well as 25 TMC feet from the Tungabhadra Dam.

Now, the prominent news is Rayalaseema receiving an allocation of ₹30,000 crore in the budget for development of a horticultural hub in the region. The Rayalaseema Integrated Development Plan that has been announced in the budget includes expanding horticulture from the existing 8.41 lakh hectares to 14.41 lakh hectares by 2030.

Assured irrigation water and micro-irrigation projects will help expand horticulture, while rail and road connectivity will help fruits reach the global markets, benefitting the farmers.

“Rayalaseema region will no longer be described by scarcity, but by surplus; it will no more have constraints, but capabilities; there will no more be uncertainty but opportunities,” AP Finance minister Payyavula Keshav declared after announcing proposals for the ₹30,000 crore investment in the region while presenting the budget for Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.

It may be recalled that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is firm on transforming the lives of farmers in Rayalaseema by turning the region into a global horticulture hub. As part of his plan, there will be more than 200 clusters growing fruits across 303 mandals of Anantapur, Annamayya, Chittoor, Kurnool, Nandyal, Prakasam, Markapuram, Sri Satya Sai, Tirupati, and Kadapa districts.

Rayalaseema region, especially the Anantapur area, has been a top producer of a variety of fruits owing to favourable climatic conditions and different types of soils, which have already made a mark in north India as well as abroad.

Bananas from Anantapur and Kadapa have a huge demand in Dubai and north Indian states. Similarly, sweet oranges from the Rayalaseema region dominate the Nagpur market in Maharashtra. Transporting the fruits from the region is a constraint. But efforts are being made to come over this bottleneck, including moving the products by rail.

Rayadurg MLA Kalava Srinivasulu has expressed happiness over the allocations made for irrigation and horticulture in Rayalaseema. An allocation of ₹3,158 crore to the Handri-Neeva project would help complete pending works and bring additional water to the drought-prone areas, the legislator emphasised.

Referring to the proposed ₹30,000 crore allocation by the centre under the Poorvodaya scheme for orchard expansion over the next five to six years, Kalava Srinivasulu expressed hope that the Rayalaseema region will secure a substantial share of these funds to boost fruit cultivation and exports.