Anantapur Groundnut Dryland Farming Andhra Pradesh Semi-Arid

Anantapur district is India's driest non-desert district, with only 550mm average annual rainfall falling unreliably in scattered events on the rocky red soil plains of the Deccan — making it primarily dependent on groundnut cultivation under dryland conditions without irrigation, using the TMV2 and Kadiri varieties that are drought-adapted through decades of local selection. Anantapur produces about 25% of India's total groundnut output in good rainfall years, but crop failures occur in 4 of every 10 years due to monsoon deficit, making the district chronically food and income insecure. The district's Lepakshi temple complex (16th century Vijayanagara era) is one of India's finest examples of Vijayanagara mural painting, with the Veerabhadra temple's painted ceilings and the monolithic Nandi bull (India's second largest) making it a significant heritage site.