As per the official data till the first week of September, there is significant deficit in rainfall across the vast region. Annamayya district leads the deficit chart at 78.3% below normal, followed by Sri Sathya Sai at 61.9%, YSR Kadapa (58.2%), Nandyal (55.3%), Anantapur (46.9%), Kurnool (46.7%) and Tirupati (40.1%) respectively. The average rainfall across Andhra Pradesh itself is 55.2% below normal, while not a single district in the State is in the surplus category.
According to the Agriculture department officials, the year 2026 has turned out differently due to the timing of El Niño. “El Niño conditions, which remained weak in June, are now moving into a moderate to strong phase in August-September. Generally, during this period, the Rayalaseema region gets 60% of its kharif rain. The present conditions are suppressing low-pressure activity in the Bay of Bengal. This has led to fewer rainy days, higher humidity and day temperatures 3-4 degrees above normal in parts of Kurnool, Kadapa and Tirupati,” said a senior official, quoting the IMD figures.
At the irrigation front, the KC canal, the lifeline for close to 3 lakh acres directly and another 2 lakh acres indirectly in Kurnool, Nandyal and Kadapa, is reported to be running below its 31.90 tmcft design entitlement at the tail-end areas, while paddy nurseries are facing the heat in beds. With inflows to the Tungabhadra and Srisailam turning weak, officials said that they are forced to prioritise drinking water over irrigation of crops.
Rayalaseema’s predominant crop, now spread over 8 lakh hectares, is passing through its critical phase in Anantapur, Chittoor and Sri Sathya Sai districts, where the moisture levels have fallen drastically. The cotton farmers in Kurnool and Nandyal are in a dilemma with fluctuations in flowering, as the crop is highly sensitive to dry spells. Delayed sowing of maize and red gram is another issue in the region.
According to official statistics, there has been an alarming year-on-year drop in groundnut cultivation, with the Sri Sathya Sai water table at 21.19 metres, 10.14 metres deeper than it was in September 2025; Annamayya at 18.22 metres, down 7.07 metres; Anantapur at 15.98 metres, down 5.46 metres. Officials admit that in semi-arid and upland areas like Madanapalle, Piler, Rayachoti, Alur and Adoni, the groundwater table has dipped by more than 500 feet, making borewell dependence highly risky.
“Scientists from Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) visited several villages in the Rayalaseema districts and educated farmers on alternative crops in light of the El Niño. However, it is not that easy to adopt new crop patterns under stressful conditions. In Chittoor district, almost all village tanks are on the verge of getting dry. For the first time in two decades, I stayed away from groundnut cultivation,” said Kothur Babu, chairman of the Chittoor district Mango Producers Association.