AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

Agriculture is the main occupation of the district. About 71 percent of the total work force is dependent upon agriculture sector either as cultivators or agricultural labour. Most of the rural areas in the district continue to be backward as there are no major river systems and no assured water supply for irrigation purposes, except in few delta taluks. the total cropped area is 3.40 lakhs hectares, while the net area sown was about 3.16 lakhs hectares. Food crops counted for 84.4 percent of the total cropped area. rice is the staple food in the district and paddy covered about 55.9 percent of the total cropped area in the District. Jowar forms about 11.8 percent, bajra about 3.5 percent, rigi about 16 percent, groundnut about 3.5 percent and tobacco about 5.6 percent of the total cropped area in the district. the per hectare yield of paddy is much below the yield of the coastal region, as well as that of the state. Whereas the coastal region and the state average yields are 2269 kgs. and 2156 kgs. per hectare respectively, the district yield rate is only 1679 kgs. per hectare. Similarly, the yield rates of the district in bajra, jowar and sugarcane also are much low compared to that State and regional avaerages. Since yields are directly related to the application of inputs like chemical fertilisers, pesticides and high yielding varieties of seeds as well as improved practices, it is essential in the district to provide facilities for the supply of the above inputs to the upland and backward areas like Udaygiri, Vinjamur, Raipur, Atmakur, Venkatagiri and podalakur taluks, in order to improve the yields to the desired level. Irrigation - As mentioned earlier, there are no major river systems in the district except Pennar and Swarnamukhi. Both these rivers and some part rivulets flowing in the district, get dry for most part of the year and carry heavy floors during the rainy season and thus found to be not of much use to the development of canal irrigation in the district. Only Pennar river is being put to irrigation purposes by having two anicuts at Sangam and Nellore. However, irrigation through canal system accounts for only 33 percent of the net irrigated area in the district, the other important sources being tanks (34%), tube wells and filter point (16%), other wells (15%) and other sources (2%). The net irrigated area, however, forms 46.28% of the net area sown in the district.

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