Farmers Suicides in India: Facts, Causes and Prevention

 


Farming and cultivation is the main occupation of several Indian individuals. For its essential staple diet, India depends upon farming and agriculture. India is the second-most populous country in the world; a large part of this enormous population earn their living from farming and agriculture.

Very clearly, India largely depends upon cultivation. Its farmers and field workers are the people upon which it heavily demons for their food and other cultivation.

Naturally, hence, we should take good care of these people who supply us with our food after days of hard toil out under the sun. However, it is not the case. Unfortunately, innumerable farmers in India are reported to commit suicides periodically.

Statistics show that nearly 18000 farmers had committed suicide in 2004; this is the highest number record so far in a year. Of the suicides committed in the country, 11.2% account for farmer suicides.

The main reason that compels farmers to take their own lives is frustration and irritation from the standard of living that they usually have to live. They live in deliberate poor conditions and are not able to achieve a decent lifestyle owing to the government’s negligence on their part.

Apart from human-made and government-imposed neglect for the farmers, natural causes also contribute to the rate of their suicides. Prolonged periods of drought with little or no rain at all yield very little produce.

A tremendous loss is inflicted in their yearly harvest; all the money and time spent in making previous arrangements go to vain. Draughts bring about considerable damage in the agricultural sector. Similarly, floods also contribute to the loss of agricultural produce.

Water gusher over the crops, and erode them or wash them away; nothing remains, fields after fields get cleared. All the time, energy and money spent on the harvest go to vain.

Such tremendous losses lead to debts; the farmers fall in a dark hole of unpaid debts. They run out of courage to resume work; they also run out of money to clear their debts away. Hence, they enter into periods of depression, that finally makes them take away their own lives.

Areas that are prone to floods and droughts record a higher number of farmer suicides every year. Farmers also incur tremendous losses in selling thorn crops. A large part of their income is swallowed by the capitalist stores which sell their produce.

As a result, only a bit of the total profits trickles down to the farmers. A large portion of the benefits that they have a right on does not reach them at all. Apart from this economic robbing, farmers are socially robbed as well.

They have to live daily under unfortunate circumstances; the government does not provide them a comfortable scenario where they can live. Such depressing and repressive events give way to their suicides.

Farmers’ Suicides – Basic Facts:

1.   Seven states in the country account for 87.5% of the farming sector suicides. They are Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Maharashtra shows the highest figures out of these states.

2. Suicides are not restricted to marginal farmers. Even small farmers are committing suicides.

3. Even the state of Punjab, which benefited maximum from the Green Revolution, has its share of farmer suicides. From 1995 to 2015, 4687 farmers were reported to commit suicide from Punjab with one district Mansa reporting 1334 suicides.

4.   In 2012, Maharashtra alone accounted for 25% of the farmer suicides in the country.

Causes of Farmers Suicides in India:



1. Rise in input costs 

there has been an overall increase in agricultural input costs. Cost of seeds and chemicals like fertilisers and pesticides. Cost of agricultural equipment – agricultural equipment like tractors, pumps, etc. add to the surging cost of inputs.

2. Labour costs  

Hiring animals and labourers are also getting increasingly expensive, adding to the burden. Schemes like MGNREGA and the increase in the minimum basic income has been counter-productive for agriculture.

3. Loan distress 

As per the National Crime Records Bureau, 2474 out of the researched 3000 farmer suicides in 2015 had unpaid loans from banks. Interestingly, contrary to popular perception, only 9.8% of the loans were from money-lenders.

This could imply that muscle-power and harassment by money-lenders could not be a major driving force. The data from the Bureau also shows a strong linkage between farmer suicides and indebtedness.

While Maharashtra and Karnataka had the highest number of farmer suicides, these two states also had a high rate of suicides for indebtedness.

4. Lack of direct market integration 

Despite innovative government schemes like e-National Agricultural Market (eNAM), removing or minimising intermediaries in this sector is proving to be more difficult than easy.

5. Lack of awareness 

While there are schemes and policies aimed at helping farmers, a lack of awareness pushed by the literacy and digital divide in India, is proving to be an obstacle in improving a lot of farmers, especially marginal and small ones.

They are unaware of the schemes, or do not know how to avail of the benefits offered to them by the government, and thus suffer.

6. Water crisis 

A look at the figures for suicides also reveal that there is a concentration of suicides in the water-deficient regions like Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Failing monsoons only add to the voes of the farmers. Interstate water disputes also cause unnecessary distress on the farmers. Water shortage has led to a failure to meet the production demands.

7. Climate change  

Climate change is also affecting farmers and agriculture. Uncertain monsoon systems, flash floods, etc. have led to crop losses. Deferred monsoon also causes production shortfalls regularly.

8. India’s economic policies 

India’s economic policies are generally urban consumer-driven as reflected in the exigency to impose price controls in case of price rise (like bringing produce under the Essential Commodities List) and withdrawal once the price is under control.

Such policies limit the profit margins and mar the farmers’ chances of breaking the debt cycle.

9. Loan waivers 

Loan waivers are populist measures undertaken by the government as an appeasement policy to secure certain votes. Rather than loan waiver, the government should focus on reinvestment and restructuring measures to improve the primary sector.

Measures to prevent Suiciding:





  • Reducing the reliance on agriculture on nature. Using effective water management techniques. The government should focus on preventing crop failure.
  • Making institutional finance available to every farmer, particularly the poor farmers. Reducing red tape in this regard, effective monitoring to ensure that the poor farmer actually gets the loan and is not a front while the real beneficiary might be a bigger landowner.
  • Effective and timely counselling should be given to farmers on economic methods of cultivation.
  • Technological advancements in agriculture should be made available to poor farmers as well.
  • The government should also try to pool lands of small farmers and convert them into bigger chunks of economically cultivable land.
  • Small farmers should be advised on alternate sources of income and given training for the same.
  • Provision of relief should enable farmers’ families to sustain a livelihood rather than as just a relief. In certain cases, in Andhra Pradesh, a few farmers committed suicide just so their families could get the relief packages.

There is no single sure-shot method to reduce the burden on our farmers.

The government, in consultation with various stakeholders, should come up with effective and long-term measures to reduce farmer indebtedness, improve crop yield, manage water resources efficiently and make alternate income sources to farmers.

This issue of farmer suicides is a burning note and demands immediate attention. The government of the respective states, along with the central government, have launched various programs to ensure the farmers.

The farmers should be valued and should be paid efficiently for their hard work. People should realize the importance of the matter at hand and work together for its prevention.


Written by – Sakshi Chauhan

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