Regional disparities in rural and agricultural development in undivided Andhra Pradesh, India

Type Website Document
Title Regional disparities in rural and agricultural development in undivided Andhra Pradesh, India
Author(s)
URL http://works.bepress.com/aamarender_reddy/5/
Abstract
India is a federal union comprising of 28 states. The states are further sub-divided into districts. Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest states in India. The state was formed by merging three regions – Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra – in the year 1956. In terms of development indicators measured in the mid-50s, Coastal Andhra was considered more developed, followed by the Rayalaseema region. Now people of the Telangana region are claiming that their relative backwardness was accentuated after merging with the more developed regions. In this context, this paper examines the regional disparities in agriculture in Andhra Pradesh since its formation in 1956. The most important finding of this study, which is of considerable analytical and policy significance, is that the Rayalaseema region which ranked next to the Coastal region in the beginning of the period has now slipped to third position. It was overtaken by Telangana with many of the development indicators showing convergence. The finding is robust and convincing on account of the poor resource endowments of Rayalaseema and considerable underutilization of resources in the relatively betterendowed Telangana under the earlier feudal setup; and the release of productive forces consequent to the abolition of the princely state and its merger with the rest of the country under independence. Specific analysis at the district level indicated that by and large there is a convergence among the districts in the overall agricultural development, except for resource-poor and remote rural districts. These districts are left out of this convergence process due to poor resource endowment to adopt agricultural intensification through green revolution technology or diversification-led strategies through livestock/high-value crop sector. Livestock/high-value crop sector-led growth is evident in districts surrounded by urban centers since the last two decades. However, it is to be noted that both the green revolution and urbanization benefited only the well-endowed regions (green revolution benefited the landowning class in the Coastal Andhra and urbanization helped the well-educated, resource and capital endowed people, mostly rich migrants from Coastal Andhra who invested their surplus income from the green revolution in the cities either in real estate or in building of nonagricultural enterprises) leaving behind the less educated and resource-deprived sections in poverty

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