Andhra Pradesh - Region Profile




Andhra Pradesh is India's fourth largest state by area with about 27.5 million hectare area and fifth largest by population, with more than 84 million inhabitants in 2011. Agriculture has been the chief source of income for the state's economy. Andhra Pradesh is an exporter of many agricultural products. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, chilli pepper, mango, and tobacco are the local crops. Recently, crops used for vegetable oil production such as sunflower and peanuts have gained favor.

Andhra Pradesh has been historically called as the "Rice Bowl of India" and continues to be the largest producer of rice in the country. Table 1 illustrates the current area, productivity and production statistics of major crops in Andhra Pradesh.


The state of Andhra Pradesh ranks second in fertilizer consumption in the country next to Uttar Pradesh. Nutrient consumption in Andhra Pradesh in the past decade is given in Fig. 2. The consumption of total fertilizer nutrients increased from 2.747 million MT during 2012-13 to 3.119 million MT during 2013-14 registering a significant increase of 13.6% over the previous year. Total nutrient consumption increased both in Kharif and Rabi seasons. During Kharif 2013, the consumption increased by 5%, and in Rabi 2013-14 by 22.6%. Kharif: Rabi share in total consumption changed from 51:49 in 2012-13 to 47:53 during 2013-14.

During full year, the consumption of N at 2.113 million MT, P2O5 at 0.747 million MT and K2O at 0.259 million MT during 2013-14 increased by 18.6%, 4.7% and 2.8%, respectively, over 2012-13. NPK use ratio changed from 7.1:2.8:1 during 2012-13 to 8.1:2.9:1 during 2013-14. Per hectare consumption of total nutrients increased from 199.7 kg to 226.7 kg during the period. Using the area and production of major crops, the total nutrient (N, P2O5 and K2O) removal by each crop was calculated and a nutrient balance sheet was prepared (table 2).

Table 1: Latest Crop Production Statistics of Andhra Pradesh- 2012-13

ParametersRiceWheatMaizeTotal CerealsGramTotal PulsesTotal FoodgrainsTotal OilseedsSugarcaneCotton#
Area3628897250416811949699019451962400
Production1151010485517039762162318662.51651.1155677350
Productivity31731250499533801119833267084979423521
Area ('000 ha); Production ('000 tonnes); Productivity (kg/ha); # Production and Productivity in 1000 bales of 180 kg each

Table 2: Nutrient balance sheet for major crops of Andhra Pradesh (2012-13)

CropArea (in '000 ha)Production (in '000 tonnes)
Nutrient Removal (kg/tonne)
Total Removal (tonnes)
NP2O5K2ONP2O5K2O
Rice
3628
11510
20.1
11.2
30
231351
128912
345300
Wheat
8
10
24.4
8.6
32.8
244
86
328
Maize
972
4855
8.2
3.1
15.5
39811
15050.5
75252.5
Total Pulses
1949
1623
40
5
20
64920
8115
32460
Total Oilseeds
1945
1651.1
54
14
46
89159.4
23115.4
75950.6
Sugarcane
196
15567
1.7
0.2
2
26463.9
3113.4
31134
Total removal by major crops
451949.3
178392.3
560425.1
Total fertilizer consumption in Andhra Pradesh
1780920
713920
252260
Consumption * Efficiency factor
712368
214176
176582
Balance/Deficit
260418.7
35783.7
-383843
Efficiency of N=40%; P2O5= 30%; and K2O=70%

*Crop production and fertilizer use data are retrieved from Fertilizer Statistics, 2013-14, The Fertilizer Association of India, New Delhi


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