Central team visits drought-affected districts in AP

Kadapa: A team of the Union Government on Wednesday toured Krishna and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh to assess the losses caused by the severe drought during the crop season.

The team visited Sambepalli, Rayachoty, Ramapuram, Lakki Reddy Palli and Vemula mandals of Kadapa district, official sources said. It inspected the dried groundnut crop and mango trees and interacted with the farmers.

In Krishna district, which is generally considered one of the most fertile districts of the state, Collector Babu informed the team that farmers were unable to cultivate about 40,000 hectares of land due to the lack of rains. Some crops were saved by supplying Godavari water through Pattissema lift irrigation project, he said.

The district which once sent fodder to Rayalaseema districts was now facing fodder shortfall too, the collector told the team.