Economic Evaluation of Crop Transition Patterns in Ananthapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India

The study aims to examine the crop shifts in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Anantapur is the southern-most district of the Rayalseema region of Andhra Pradesh. While agriculture remains the most important economic activity of the district, it is characterized by high levels of instability and uncertainty. Being in the rain-shadow region of Andhra Pradesh, the district is drought-prone. The results revealed that the groundnut which is an important crop in the district recorded a negative and non-significant growth rate of 0.69 per cent in area, but the productivity and production were significant. The result of Markov chain analysis shown that groundnut was the most stable crop with high retention probability compared with other crops in the district. The crops from which groundnut gained were bengalgram, redgram, jowar, chillies and sunflower but with varying transfer probabilities. The area under paddy was significantly influenced by rainfall. The area of ragi, cotton and bengalgram were influenced by their own lagged prices.