The face of 80 -year -old Munswamy from Vijayapuram in the Nagari assembly segment reflects the struggles that tolerated as a farmer in the ripe fields of Relacema. Every wrinkle tells a story of ingestion that he had to take with unexpected monsoon and unwanted official promises in a hungry area for water. As a youth, he expected to improve the situation, but looked at his livelihood with a steady decline and mourned his fellow farmers in disappointment.
Perhaps that’s why the old-timer fulfills the news of possible industrial development in the area with a quiet prayer on their lips. “I hope the younger generation does not have to do toilets like us. With the climate being rapidly hostile, agriculture has lost its appeal here. We need industrial establishments that can provide employment to our youth,” they say. Munswamy’s family is one of the few people who easily accepted the government’s move to get a parcel of their land in the city revenue division.
“I hope the younger generation does not have to do toilets like us. With the climate being rapidly hostile, agriculture has lost its appeal. We need industrial establishments that can provide employment to our youth”MunswamiElderly farmer
Notorious for water crisis
Including joint districts of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Kurnool, Rayalaseema is known for its semi-dry climate and perennial water scarcity, both for irrigation and drinking. Dr. in Annamaya district. A senior professor in the Anantrajupata Complex of YSR Horticultural University, who wished to remain anonymous, suggests that Rayalaseema lacks a perennial river as it falls in the shadow of the Western Ghats. “The region, such as,, has been contested politically from rivers, such as Krishna and Penna rivers. Including the execution of inter-region water transfer projects and enhancing the crisis of incomplete canals of handry-night and galroo-nagri projects, they say.” They say.
Farmers cultivating horticulture crops such as peanuts, millet and pulses, such as mango crops,, such as, have completely depended on the fickle monsoon, which have caused disastrous agrarian crisis over the years. According to the official records, around 550 farmers ended their lives in the United Anantpur region between 2014 and 2018, due to the failure of the crop failure caused by the water crisis.
A panoramic view of Chennai-Bengaluru expresses on the Chittoor-Vellor border. , Photo Credit: Ke Umashankar
The horticulture department in Madanpalle Revenue Division believes that incredible surface water, more groundwater, high input costs and good prices have all contributed to breaking the back of Rayalaseema farmer.
Industrial boom is importing?
However, Rayalaseema is now going through an intense change by projects such as Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor, Bangalore-Chennai Expressway and recently approved Kadapa-Bangalore double line railway project. Already, the four-lane road, Tirupati-Madanapal NH-71, have reduced travel time between the two cities to two hours to two.
Farmers like Abbia Naidu, a 63 -year -old from Piler in Annamayya district, who contributed to their farm in NH, expects the project to increase industrial development in the district. A large number of farmers, who participated with their land, dreamed of an acre or some Saint, Chittoor, Annamayya and Tirupati districts with agro-based and greenfield industrial units for various roads and railway projects in districts.
Youth entrepreneurship
Disillusioned with agricultural uncertainties, most of the youth in the region pursue higher education in engineering, science and technology, many have already moved to cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru and abroad.
Recent developments in the infrastructure of the region, however, are renewed among the youth in subtle, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
General Manager of Industries Department C. Suri Babu says that many people are contacting industries and banks with proposals to establish enterprises in food processing, textiles, bio-energy, ethanol plants, printing, dairy development, hotels and tourism industries. In particular, some are creating groups to remove financial obstacles and win the bank’s trust with a detailed project report (DPRS).
Munswamy says her 25 -year -old granddaughter, Radhika, who now lives in Australia, wants to start a peanut oil extraction unit and a dairy.
Suri Babu says that the Rain-Shadow district like Chittoor at MSME at Agro has a lot of possibilities. For example, the poultry sector has an annual turnover of ₹ 7,000 crore and in the district, 4,000 crore, Amul, mother and Sreeja Dairies, units in Chittoor district, expand their operations, this figure is bound to move forward, they say.
An thirty -eight -year -old Vidyasagar from Sankrantapal is a success story in Bangarupalem Mandal in Chittoor district. He launched a mineral water plant, ‘Girish Aqua’ a decade ago. The plant now supplies packed drinking water in the royalseema and also completes the community and official functions. Vidyasagar says that when he started, he invested ₹ 15 lakh. Now, the annual business of business is ₹ 2 crore
“When I started the unit, my aim was to supply pure water to rural people. Now, I have expanded the business to include pets also,” they say.
Suri Babu says that they are trying to educate youth, especially engineering graduates about the importance of entrepreneurship. The Department of Industries informs sensitive and unemployed youth to educated and unemployed youth on the possibility of entrepreneurs.
Field level officials hold regular camps in rural areas and educational institutions. When an aspiring entrepreneur presents a DPR and takes suggestions, the authorities sometimes tick to make ideas eligible for debt. The major ideas coming so far include chicken processing, dairy development and textile units.
Several poultry units have already come between Chittoor-Bangaluru NH between Chittoor and Palamanar. In Kuppam and Palamanar regions, many youth have established a small -scale dairy with half to a dozen cattle, which supplies milk to prominent players such as heritage, Amul, Sreeja and Maa, says officials say.
A revenue officer, who played an important role in solving unrest among mango farmers in Chittoor district and who wished to be anonymous, says that the prices of mangoes slipped up to 6 kg in this season as there are not enough common processing units in the district. He says, “A handful of units were very afraid to buy more fruits as they already had stock from previous years. The same with tomato cultivation. More processing units are important to remove the issue,” they say.
Matsya: An unexpected development story
Another growing area in the royalseema is fisheries and aquaculture. Many of the youth of SPSR Nellore district who are beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sandapa Yojana (PMMSY), now take the fish and shrimp to Tirupati and other Rayalaseema cities, Chennai, Bangalore and beyond. One of them is 30 -year -old Subramaniam from Nellore.
He buys a wet gheenga from the Aqua peasants and Godavari districts in Kawli and Gudur, mainly from Bhimavaram, and supplies them to Rayalaseema towns and major cities. Subramanyam started his business four years ago with an investment of ₹ 1.7 lakh and now its monthly business is ₹ 25 lakh. He employs four youths and plans to enter exports to South East Asian countries in 2026.
To support economic development in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh is planning to set up an industrial park at the level of Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APIIC) constituency. Land acquisition for some of these parks has started in Nagari, Kuppam and Palamner areas.
A senior revenue officer in Putaparthi, who demanded oblivion, says that once an industrial bounce is set, governments will be forced to come up with ways to bring water to parked areas. “This will promote agriculture in turn,” says the official.
Challenges before msmes
Lack of coordination between industries and banks often delays DPR approval. In addition, apart from dairy and poultry, the sector does not get much official protection, Gujjala Ishwara, Member of CPI State Secretariat, Kadapa.
“There is a lot of political intervention in the MSME region. A youth with political support can enter into any field, while a youth of poor classes of society gets a gentleman work to approve their DPRS and approve the loan”Gujjala eCPI State Secretariat Member, Kadapa
Most of the young aspirations in the region come from urban areas such as Kadapa, Tirupati and Kurnool, very few are coming from rural areas. “There is a lot of political intervention in the MSME region. A youth with political support can enter any field in any field, while a youth of poor classes of society gets a horrific work to approve their DPRS and approve the loan. Despite the claims of the government, the SC and ST community fall behind in MSMEs,” they say.
Although the MSME revolution started two decades ago, it is not yet rooted in the royalseema, they say. “APIIC Rayalasema owns thousands of acres of land, but they are not serious about allocating land to MSMEs. Thus, it is a big challenge for the entrepreneur to find land for their businesses and show banks to get loans.”
He also underlined how people dreamed of an industrial revolution in Rayalaseema when late Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy laid the foundation stone for a steel plant in Kadapa in 2007. In 2018, the then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid another foundation stone for a steel plant in Kadapa. In 2019 and 2024, it was the turn of the then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, with foundation stones. Nevertheless, the steel plant is yet to come, they say. They say that the lack of a railway line passing through the rural areas of the core Rayalaseema is another obstacle to the MSME revolution in the area.
Suri Babu says that lack of labor suitable for MSME units is another major challenge as most skilled laborers like to work in cities for high wages.
As Rayalaseema experiences a boom of a infrastructure, proper support can begin an industrial revolution in the region, with youths young as a flagbier. By addressing challenges in capital shortage, political will and efficient labor, the government can ensure that young entrepreneurs become funds and employment generators for a region, who suffer from economic uncertainty.
