Published Oct 16, 2026 | 9:01 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 16, 2026 | 9:01 AM
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Struggling farmers across several Telangana districts are renting costly diesel generators amid severe power supply disruptions, particularly during afternoon hours, to irrigate their standing crops at a critical stage.
Farmers in Nalgonda–Suryapet, Medak–Siddipet, Mancherial, Mulugu–Warangal, Mahabubabad, Vemulawada, Khammam, Nagarkurnool, Vikarabad and Sangareddy districts told South First of widespread distress caused by irregular electricity, low voltage and unscheduled cuts.
Deficient rainfall this year has already increased dependence on borewells. With power supply often limited or interrupted, crops are beginning to wither, and cultivation costs are rising sharply.
In the Suryapet area of erstwhile Nalgonda district, a farmer from Bollampally mandal said, “We have no choice but to use diesel generators to save our crops. There is a well in our field, but we have no power to operate the borewell and pump water. As a last resort, we are using a generator.”
Yadagiri, a farmer from Nalgonda district, added, “Afternoon cuts have become a regular problem. By the time power comes, the critical time for watering is over. We are spending heavily on diesel just to keep the crop alive.”
A member of the Telangana Farmers Federation said, “All we request is that the government supply quality power for another 15 to 20 days. The crops are at a critical stage, and harvesting will commence. If water is not supplied, they will dry up, and farmers will suffer huge losses.”
Similar conditions prevail in Medak and Siddipet.
Pandu, who cultivates paddy on three acres in Erravally village of Markook mandal, said he had to run a generator for two full days after his crop started drying due to lack of power for the tube well.
Farmers in the region report receiving barely eight hours of supply, often accompanied by low voltage that burns out motors.
Santosh Sharma of Chelmada village in Medak explained the financial burden: renting a generator costs between ₹1,500 and ₹4,500 for every 12 hours, in addition to diesel (about three litres per hour) and transport charges.
Narsimha Reddy from the same area observed, “We had never witnessed such power cuts and low-voltage issues during the decade-long BRS rule.”
Many farmers are now forced to operate generators at night and remain in the fields to refuel every few hours.
In Mancherial’s Bellampalli area, farmers from Sandravelli, Gurijala, Chakepalli and other villages staged a sit-in at a substation, saying unscheduled outages left paddy and other crops on the verge of drying. Having already borrowed at high-interest rates for cultivation, they were compelled to hire generators at further cost.
Yakub, a farmer from Mahabubabad district, said, “Power is coming for only a few hours and that too with low voltage. Motors are getting damaged frequently. We cannot afford to keep repairing them while also paying for generators.”
Rajesh from the Vemulawada area said, “In our fields, the power cuts are worst in the afternoons. Crops need water at that time, but the supply is either absent or too weak to run the pump sets. Many of us are spending sleepless nights running generators.”
Appa Rao from Khammam district remarked, “We invested everything in this season’s crop. Now because of power problems, we are forced to take more loans just to hire generators. If this continues, the losses will be very heavy.”
Farmers in Mulugu’s Wazeedu mandal reported that agricultural power, earlier available both day and night, has been restricted since June to roughly 8 am to 6 pm, with interruptions lasting up to four hours even within that window. Night-time supply has been stopped.
In Nagarkurnool’s Mahadevanipeta village, farmers blocked the main road, complaining that the six to eight hours of daily supply comes with low voltage that damages pump sets.
In Vikarabad, farmers from five villages said quality power is available only two to three hours a day, while those in Nizampet mandal of Sangareddy reported about eight hours of supply and demanded continuous power until harvest.
Across districts, the problems are the same: irregular daytime supply, low voltage burning motors and transformers, and generator costs ranging from ₹4,000 to ₹6,000 or more for every 12 hours. Farmers who invested heavily in the current season now face additional debt simply to protect their crops.
Farmers are demanding uninterrupted, quality three-phase power until the harvest is complete, an end to unscheduled cuts and low voltage, and restoration of adequate daytime supply so that costly diesel generators are no longer necessary.
For farmers already coping with below-normal rainfall, every hour without reliable electricity translates into higher costs, sleepless nights in the fields and the real risk of crop loss. Without urgent solutions in the coming days, the financial and agricultural damage is expected to deepen.
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(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
