YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) State general secretary for agriculture and farmers’ welfare M.V.S. Nagi Reddy has demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government declare drought emergency and announce a special relief package for farmers in view of the severe rainfall deficit and crop losses.

Addressing a press conference at the party central office at Tadepalli on Sunday, Mr. Nagi Reddy said Andhra Pradesh recorded 54.73% deficit rainfall, affecting 653 of the 685 mandals. The situation was particularly serious in Annamayya, Prakasam, Chittoor, Markapuram and Visakhapatnam districts, he said.

Mr. Nagi Reddy said the extent of cultivation in the State had also declined sharply. Only 69% of the normal cultivated area had been covered, against 98.3% nationally and 91.84% in Telangana, he said.

Several major crops, including groundnut, cotton, maize, jowar, millets and pulses, had been affected by the adverse conditions, he said, and criticised the government’s advice to farmers to shift to alternative crops, arguing that such recommendations would not help unless adequate rainfall, irrigation facilities and subsidised seed were made available.

He questioned the suggestion that farmers in the Krishna delta should reduce paddy cultivation. Such a proposal was impractical given the region’s dependence on paddy, he said. In Krishna district, paddy accounted for 3.28 lakh acres of the 3.34 lakh acres under cultivation, he pointed out.

The YSRCP leader said farmers were facing a double burden, with cultivation costs rising even as market prices for several crops declined. Cotton, onion, maize, banana and tobacco growers were among those affected by the price situation, he said.

He demanded that the government assess crop losses immediately and provide compensation on a per-acre basis, with the relief amount transferred directly into farmers’ bank accounts.

Mr. Nagi Reddy also sought the immediate clearance of pending input subsidy, crop insurance, interest-free loan benefits and Annadata Sukhibhava payments. He called for restoration of free crop insurance and demanded financial assistance to the families of farmers who died by suicide. The government should also ensure that available irrigation water was utilised effectively to protect standing crops, he said.