Identification of profitable Rabi crops for high altitude areas of Andhra Pradesh

High altitude areas in Andhra Pradesh are located at eastern Ghats which spread in Srikakulam, Vizianagarm, east Godavari, Khammam and Visakhapatnam districts. The above area lies in an altitude ranging from 260–1400 m amsl with minimum temperature ranging from 2–15°C during Rabi season. It consists of variable landscape from wide plains to rolling hill ranges covered with dense vegetation and valleys. The sloppy lands and valley areas are covered with plantation crops like coffee and rubber while in the low lying areas rice is cultivated predominantly. Mixed cropping is a common practice followed in upland areas comprising cereals, millets, pulses and condiments. Due to continuous mono-cropping, erratic rainfall, delayed monsoons, increased pest and disease incidence the farmers are realizing low yields. Introduction of alternate crops in Rabi season which come up well in cool climatic conditions may be profitable to the farming community in high altitude tribal areas. Hence different alternate crops comprising of wheat, barley, safflower, mustard, sunflower and linseed were evaluated during Rabi season at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Chintapalli, AP during 2009–2012 with a view to introduce suitable alternate crops for sustainable production and profitability for small and marginal farmers. Among the above mentioned crops higher benefit:cost ratio was observed with wheat crop (2:64) followed by mustard (2.25), sunflower (1.78), linseed (1.39), barley (1.12) and safflower (1.09) and traditional Rajmash crop (1.94). Diversification with profitable crops during Rabi season in the existing cropping pattern can sustain the livelihood agriculture in high altitude areas of Andhra Pradesh.