A very recent study on farmer suicides during 2000-2018 in six districts of Punjab has stated that as many as 88% of these were due to debts. This study by Sukhpal Singh, Manjeet Kaur and HS Kingra of Punjab Agriculture University published in the Economic and Political Weekly has stated about this state, which has seen the most intensive form[Read More…]

It is also important to know the history of farmer suicide. And it would be logical to know that in the context of the state of Maharashtra. In 1990, The Hindu, an English language newspaper, published a report on rural affairs. Sainath regularly reported farmer suicides. Initially, the reports came from Maharashtra and soon after, news of suicides started coming[Read More…]

Figures on suicides released by the National Crime Records Bureau on October 28, 2021 show that 10,677 people related to agricultural sector committed suicide in the country during 2020. Among those who committed suicide were 5,579 farmers and 5,098 agricultural labourers. During 2019, 5957 farmers committed suicide, which is 5579 during 2020. These figures show a 6.35 per cent reduction[Read More…]

New Delhi, January 27th 2020: In a National Consultation co-organised by MahilaKisanAdhikaarManch (MAKAAM) and UN Women on the “Status of Women Farmers in Farm Suicide Families”, affected women demanded a special support package from the government from this Budget itself. “We find that governments are not doing enough to prevent farm suicides. They are not even extending adequate and uniform[Read More…]

  The large swathes of cotton farms in Central India have been the epicentre of a global crisis that has gripped the rural population in crippling debts and driven thousands to suicide. But amidst the gloom, it is the women of this region who have emerged as the torchbearers of hope and progress. This new hope comes in the form[Read More…]

  Even as India celebrated its 70th  year of independence, the number of suicides of beleaguered farmers in Marathwada, the drought prone belt of Maharashtra, touched a new high. In the last seven and half months ending with !5th August ,580 cultivators have committed suicide  .At the end of July, the toll stood at 531 and it has gone up[Read More…]

While debates continue to rage on reforming the agricultural sector to improve the economic conditions of farmer, there has till now recently been no attempt to focus on the likely mental problems arising out of economic stress that may be leading to suicides. Farm suicides are a reflection of the economic plight of an ailing rural economy but demonstrate the utter state of mental hopelessness and weak resilience of farmers who have become emotionally so fragile that they are meekly taking their own lives.

At least 217 farmers have ended their life in the month following Maharashtra Government’s farm loan waiver announcement on June 2 this year.This numbers for the month of June equal the average monthly figures in the past six months.

  How many deaths will it take ‘til he knows That too many people have died The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, The answer is blowin’ in the wind. –Bob Dylan, Nobel Laureate India’s economy may be soaring, but agriculture remains its Achilles’ heel, the source of livelihood for hundreds of millions of people but a fraction[Read More…]

How does one deal with a 42% spike in suicides by farmers/cultivators in a country where “development” has been the buzzword for the last couple of years? If the question isn’t creepy enough to send a shiver down one’s spine, consider that “Bankruptcy or Indebtedness” and “Farming Related Issues”, i.e. non-personal reasons, account for 58.2% of these suicides. No pretensions[Read More…]