Last reviewed 4 Nov 2026 · Facts as of 4 Nov 2026 · 2 min read
1. Climate
- Tropical climate — hot summers; humid along the coast.
- Rain from both monsoons: the south-west monsoon (June–September) for most of the state, and the north-east monsoon (October–December), which matters most for south coastal Andhra and parts of Rayalaseema.
- Anantapur in Rayalaseema is one of the driest districts of India — low and unreliable rainfall.
- The coast is hit by Bay of Bengal cyclones (e.g. the 1977 Diviseema cyclone, Hudhud 2014 at Visakhapatnam).
2. Soils
| Soil | Where |
|---|---|
| Red soils | Most of Rayalaseema and the uplands — groundnut, millets |
| Black soils | Kurnool, Nandyal, parts of Guntur, Prakasam — cotton, chillies, Bengal gram |
| Alluvial (deltaic) soils | Godavari and Krishna deltas — rice, sugarcane, coconut |
| Coastal sandy soils | Along the coast — casuarina, coconut, cashew |
| Laterite soils | Eastern Ghats — coffee (Araku), forests |
3. Major crops and products
| Crop / product | Facts |
|---|---|
| Rice | Godavari–Krishna deltas — called the "Rice Bowl" / granary of the south |
| Chillies | Guntur — one of the largest chilli markets in Asia; Guntur Sannam chilli |
| Tobacco | FCV Virginia tobacco — Prakasam, Guntur, West Godavari; the Tobacco Board is headquartered at Guntur |
| Groundnut | Anantapur — AP's largest groundnut-growing district |
| Cotton, maize, Bengal gram | Kurnool, Guntur, Prakasam |
| Oil palm | AP is India's largest producer of oil palm (Godavari districts) |
| Mango | Banganapalle (GI) — Kurnool/Nandyal; Chittoor's Totapuri |
| Coconut | Konaseema |
| Coffee | Araku Valley (tribal-grown) |
| Aquaculture | AP leads India in fish and shrimp production — West Godavari, Krishna, Nellore |