Agrarian struggles: The reality of tenant farming in Andhra Pradesh

India’s agrarian economy heavily relies on tenant farming. It is a growing practice wherein landless, small and marginal farmers lease land from absentee landowners for cultivation. This study investigates the challenges encountered and suggestions proposed by tenant farmers in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, where tenancy is widespread. An ex-post facto research design was adopted, covering 180 tenant farmers across 12 villages of East and West Godavari districts. Data was collected through structured interviews and analyzed using frequency and percentage methods. Findings revealed that the primary limitations faced by tenant farmers included lack of access to government schemes (100%), absence of crop insurance (90%), no input subsidy (93.33%), and dependency on high-interest loans from private moneylenders (88.33%). The informal and undocumented nature of tenancy further excluded them from institutional credit and support services. Based on these constraints, respondents strongly recommended formalizing lease agreements, extending crop loans (100%), ensuring provision of MSP (94.44%), subsidized inputs, and monitoring of lease rents by the government. Further, the study highlighted the urgent need for policy reforms and targeted interventions to protect tenant farmers’ livelihoods and integrate them into the broader agricultural support ecosystem.