Farmers shun groundnut cultivation in Kurnool
Rising costs, decline in yield and fall in prices cited as reasons
Kurnool: Farmers in Kurnool and Nandyal districts are increasingly avoiding groundnut cultivation due to inconsistent rainfall and declining market prices.
While groundnut traditionally covered nearly one lakh hectares, its cultivation has shrunk to 40,000–45,000 hectares, signalling a change in the region’s agricultural profile.
Kurnool district is the second largest producer of groundnuts in the state after Anantapur, but has been facing a host of challenges. Poor rainfall in July caused severe crop damage, resulting in reduced yields of 8–14 bags per acre.
Farmers cite high input costs, including seeds, fertilizers, labour and transportation, which have increased to Rs 30,000– Rs 35,000 per acre.
With yields not exceeding 10 bags per acre during the rainy season, losses of Rs 5,000–Rs 6,000 per acre were unbearable to the farmers. A fall in market prices has compounded the issue.
While groundnuts fetched over Rs 7,000 per quintal three months ago, the prices now range between Rs 5,000 – Rs 6,000 per quintal.
"We are facing continuous losses due to price fluctuations and cultivation-related issues. We are gradually switching to other crops in view of these uncertainties," said A Rangappa, a farmer from Adoni.
Kurnool district follows a "fallow-chickpea" cropping system for major crops including chickpea, sunflower, rice, millet, cotton and onion. While paddy, cotton and pigeon pea dominate the rainy season, chickpea, sorghum and sunflower are preferred as crops in the post-rainy season.
Groundnut, a significant oilseed crop, contributes 35.29 per cent of India’s total oilseed production. However, its cultivation has been declining over the past two decades. During this period, the national acreage dropped from 83 lakh hectares to 49.71 lakh hectares. This shift, driven by farmers opting for more remunerative crops introduced during the Green Revolution, is majorly evident in Kurnool.
Out of the regular cropping area that covered almost 95 per cent of the farms in 2021-22, it declined to 60 per cent in 2022-23 and further to 45 per cent in 2023-24. If this trend continues, groundnuts may become scarce in the region in future.