Andhra Pradesh’s farm sector is reeling under a severe crisis triggered by the coalition government’s failure to supply inputs, ensure fair prices, and honor support promises—undoing the gains of the YSRCP era.
Collapse in Inputs & Support
Fertilizers, quality seeds, and pesticides are in short supply. Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) are being shut, free crop insurance scrapped, input subsidies delayed, and the CM’s price-monitoring app and price-stabilization fund withdrawn. The zero-interest crop loan scheme has ended. Chandrababu’s Annadatha Sukhibhava promise of ₹20,000 per farmer collapsed—only ₹5,000 was released in the second year.
Fertilizer Shortage & Black Marketing
Under YSRCP, urea was delivered within 24 hours via RBKs with no queues. Now farmers wait for hours, often returning empty-handed. About 35% of urea was allegedly diverted to the black market. Despite CM claims of 95,000 MT stock (Sept 2, 2025), shortages persisted.
Historic Price Crash
• Paddy: ₹1,150–1,400 per bag (vs ₹1,800–2,000 earlier)
• Chillies: ₹8,000–11,000/quintal (vs ₹21,000–27,000)
• Tomatoes: ₹1.5–2/kg (vs ₹20–25)
• Tobacco: ₹100–300/quintal (vs ₹15,000–18,000)
• Mangoes: MIS support limited to 25% of produce at ₹1,490/quintal while Karnataka secured higher backing.
Broken Procurement Promises
Chilli, tobacco, and mango MSP commitments were ignored; central chilli procurement proposals worth thousands of crores remain pending. Tobacco buyers offered barely ₹3,000/quintal despite earlier assurances of ₹12,000–18,000.
Onion Farmers Betrayed
Prices crashed to ₹2–3/kg. Against a promised ₹1,200/quintal MSP, the government bought only 13,000 tonnes of the 2.67 lakh tonnes needed, offering just ₹50,000/ha compensation, limited to parts of Kurnool and excluding Rayalaseema.
Investment Support & Insurance Removed
Free crop insurance that benefited 30.85 lakh farmers with ₹3,411 crore was scrapped; farmers must now pay premiums under PMFBY, while ₹1,385 crore in 2023–24 claims remain unpaid.
RBK System Undermined
The YSRCP-built network of 10,778 RBKs for inputs, e-crop booking, and MSP procurement is being dismantled across urban and coastal areas.
YSRCP’s 2019–24 Record
Farmers earlier received ₹1,86,548 crore directly: ₹34,288 cr Rythu Bharosa, ₹7,802 cr free crop insurance, ₹3,262 cr input subsidy, ₹7,726 cr other-crop procurement, ₹65,313 cr paddy procurement, and ₹43,744 cr free power, plus aqua subsidies, drip irrigation, seed aid, and ₹2,051 cr zero-interest crop loans.
Bottom Line:
Chandrababu’s coalition has reversed YSRCP’s farmer-centric gains, driving Andhra’s agriculture into unprecedented distress, debt, and despair.
