Overview
- Officials reported a 69% rainfall shortfall in July and said the June–November monsoon may deliver about 551 mm versus a normal 844 mm, creating widespread drought risk.
- Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu ordered a dedicated El Niño control room, regular field monitoring by ministers and scientific advisories through Rythu Seva Kendras to guide local responses.
- The state has mandated insurance for every cultivated crop, warned District Collectors they will be held accountable, and reiterated enrollment windows under PMFBY and the weather‑based scheme through July 31 with paddy allowed to enroll until August 15.
- Officials will push farmers to shift from water‑intensive paddy to crops such as red gram, black gram and castor from awareness drives starting August 3, and will optimise Vamsadhara river releases and explore borewell irrigation in 122 identified high‑risk mandals.
- The government reported fodder stocks that cover about five months but ordered year‑long reserves, set measures to protect milk output and essential‑food prices, and warned that the drought threat could reduce harvests on roughly 2.78 lakh hectares of cotton and 1.07 lakh hectares of paddy.