Major Factors contributing to suicides in Maharashtra
There is an old saying in Marathi which means “Farmer takes the birth in debt and dies in the same condition”. This was the position of farmers before independence and it still continues after 60 years of independence. If we analyze the suicides by farmers in Maharashtra, it is revealed that it is higher in Vidarbha region of the state where farmers preferred cultivation of “white gold” i.e. cotton – a risky venture that suffered due to non-availability of quality seeds coupled with the farmers’ inability to buy costly Bt. cotton seeds. They could also not get remunerative price for their produce.
According to Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, although 60% people in India depend on agriculture and Agriculture Sector contributes to 25% of National Income over the period, investment and production in agriculture has declined. In the developed world, the percentage of dependence of population on agriculture is much less e.g. in USA it is only 2% and income from agriculture is just 4%.
There are related issues of quality for export and competition in global market.
The answer to the question as to why the farmers are committing suicides lies in a combination of factors such as crop failure, shifting to more profitable but risky (in terms of output, quality and prices) cash crops like cotton/ sugarcane/ soyabean, exorbitant rate of interest and other terms and conditions of loans availed from money lenders, lack of non-farm opportunities, unwillingness to adopt to scientific practices, non availability of timely credit from formal channels , absence of proper climate/ incentive for timely repayment of bank loan, etc. In some places even though water is available,itcan’t be exploited fully due to insufficient power supply. Huge expenditure on children’s education and sudden demand of money for health considerations and marriage, etc. in the family are also major contributors for stress in farming community. Inconsistency of rainfall during monsoon, absence of support mechanism for marketing of agriculture produce also contributed to uncertainty and financial risk of the farmers.
To commit suicide is not normal but generally occurred for farmers due to fear of pressure of moneylenders e.g. if they fail to repay the loan, their land will be forcibly taken away. Their economic condition in many cases changes to such an extent that the farmers are unable to face the society. In this situation of loneliness and in absence of any institutional or social mechanism to fall back upon, farmers were forced to commit suicide. For farmers to come out of the stressful situation, a system to address the various issues discussed in the earlier paragraphs have to be evolved through an institutional mechanism with necessary arrangement for review and follow up. A rehabilitation program which addresses repayment of overdue interest, supply of quality inputs for next crop, insurance against natural calamity, opportunity of supplementary income through non farming activities, provision of forward linkage such as marketing and storage, extension services, etc. has to be devised and implemented.
