This study has examined the paddy yield trends of the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh, and the present-day twin ‘rice-bowl’ states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, from 1997-98 to 2019-20. We see a phenomenal turnaround of rice production in Telangana, which for the first time in 2019-20, has overcome Andhra Pradesh, both in terms of paddy production and acreage. However, there’s still some catching up to do for Telangana’s paddy yield rates vis-a-vis Andhra Pradesh. To further understand the dynamics of yield differences across time and space, we delve into the agroclimatic zones of both these states to gauge the intra-state variation in paddy productivity. There has been a steady growth in the yield rates of all the agro-climatic zones of Andhra Pradesh from 2013-14 and of Telangana after 2016- 17, with the latter witnessing reduced volatility as well. These trends have been correlated with expected changes in climatic factors. Finally, we contrast the paddy production in these states with the procurement under the Central Pool of Paddy and observe anomalies in the data for Telangana for two years, in that the procurement of rice is found to be more than the production of rice.