Challenges Faced by the Paddy Farmers during COVID-19 Regime in Andhra Pradesh

Rice is the main food for about 800 million people in India, which constitutes about 65% of its population. The unexpected imposition of lockdown with very little preparation obstructed farming and the food systems in numerous different ways. Rice was majorly affected by the restrictions during COVID-19; hence the present study was designed. A multistage sampling design was adopted the for selection of the sample. Garrett’s ranking method was used to prioritize challenges and the results revealed high input cost, high wage rate of labour, high transportation cost, and non-availability of farm labour were major challenges faced by paddy farmers to cope with these challenges we suggested that Government should provide adequate inputs to the farmers at a judicious time on a need basis through RBK’s, high need to encourage farmers towards mechanization, labour scarcity should be reduced by employing MGNREGA workers in operations, Government should provide required inputs at lower/ judicious prices by establishing the manufacture industries and also should ensure that correct and reliable market information to reach the farmers.