Farmer suicides have been a major issue in India since the 1990s. The document discusses the key causes of farmer suicides as monsoon failure, high debt, crop failure, lack of irrigation, declining prices of crops coupled with increasing input costs, and poverty. It provides statistics showing that states like Maharashtra and Kerala have seen thousands of farmer suicides annually, with debt being a factor in over 80% of cases and average debt levels of Rs. 50,000. Suggested solutions include more crop insurance, profitable prices for farmers, increased access to credit, and support for inputs.

2.  A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising
living organisms for food or raw materials.
 A farmer might own the farmed land
or might work as a labourer on land
owned by others.
 In advanced economies, a farmer is
usually a farm owner, while employees
of the farm are known as farm workers,
or farmhands.

3. The word Suicide originates from Latin word ‘suicidium’,
which means ‘to kill oneself’.
Suicide is ending of one’s life by a person dependent on
farming as their primary source of
livelihood. This may be due to
personal issues, family problems,
monsoon failure, government
policies, high debt burdens, etc.

4. 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Maharashtra
Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka
Madhya Pradesh
Kerala
Uttar Pradesh
Total Farmer Suicides In 2012
Total Farmer Suicides

5. The National Crime Records Bureau of India reported in
its 2012 annual report that 135,445 people committed
suicide in India, of which 13,754 were farmers (11.2%).
Farmer suicides rates in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh - two
large states of India by size and population - have been
about 10 times lower than Maharashtra and Kerala.

6.  In the 1990s India woke up to an era of farmer suicides.
 The first state where suicides were reported was
Maharashtra. Soon newspapers began to report similar
occurrences from Andhra Pradesh.
 In the beginning it was believed that most of the suicides
were happening among the cotton growers, especially
those from Vidarbha.
 The figures by the State Crime Records Bureau indicated
that it was not just the cotton farmer but farmers as a
professional category were suffering.

7. • Home to 3.2 million cotton farmers.
• Over 200 suicides from July 2005 to February
2006
• In this state alone there
were almost 2 suicides a
day in this 8 month period.

8.  More than 100,000 farmers have taken their lives
since 1997.
 86.5 percent of farmers who took their own lives
were financially indebted.
 Their average debt was about Rs. 50000.
 On average, there has been one farmer’s suicide
every 32 minutes since 2002.

9.  While the prices of crops have been pushed down even
below the cost of production but the prices of inputs
such as seed, fertilizers and pesticides have gone up.
 With limited resources, farmers depend on borrowed
money to purchase seeds and other inputs and to farm
their land. A drop in their farm income could quickly
lead to farmers to suicide.

10. Crop failure is another main reason
for farmers to commit suicide. Following are the various
reasons of crop failure:-
 Single crop a year.
 Cotton, the dominant crop.
 Improper irrigation.
 Regular rise in cost of input, lowered margin of profit.
 Maximum use of chemicals and pesticides.

11.  Disruption in regular rainfall
cycle since 2001. Long dry
spells, less monsoon.
 93% of area under dry land
farming. Which means, totally
dependent on the rainfall.
 Lack of irrigation, because of
inproper monsoon.

12.  Indian farmers are heavily
dependent on monsoons.
They don’t have any source
for proper irrigation farming.
Irrigation farming is when
crops are grown with the
help of irrigation systems by
supplying water to land through rivers, reservoirs,
tanks and wells, etc.
 58% of farmers having committed suicides had absolutely
no irrigation facilities.

13. According to a well-known saying, the Indian peasant is born
in debt, lives in debt and dies in debt. With the increase in the
level of poverty, the level of debt increases. The burden of
debt passes on from generation to generation. Indebtness is
the reason behind the suicide of 93% farmers.
The Indebtness is caused by following reasons :-
1. Poverty of the farmers.
2. Small sized holdings.
3. High rates of interest by private money lenders.
4. Addiction to drinking.
5. Excessive burden of land revenue.
6. Burden of Marriages.
.

14.  Many tasks related to agriculture are
power/electric dependent.
 Costly or no electricity supply proves to a
significant problem.
 Due to overdependence on groundwater
for all purposes domestic or industrial
in India, ground water table is decreasing
at an alarming rate. Many farmers due to
lack of proper irrigation systems, use tube
wells and are now facing problems due to it.

15. It is too risky to adopt expensive technologies such
as tractors, plows etc.

16. • Farms are confiscated due to inability to pay back high
interest loans.
• Harassment of the family by corrupt money lenders.
• Children sometimes lose both parents to suicide. Leaving
their education in
between, and they have to
work in order to provide for
their needs.
• It causes a lot of psychological
distress to family.
• The families moves from farm labor to permanent labor.
• This also leads to child labor.

17. • Immediate compensation for crop failure.
• Effective crop insurance to cover all crops and all
farmers.
• Profitable prices, direct procurement from farmers.
• Modify export/import policies and tariffs in favour of
Indian farmers.
• Bank credit to all farmers with adequate scale of
finance.
• Day-long joint session of Assembly/Parliament to
discuss farmer suicides and agrarian crisis.
• Seed support, manure, cost of cultivation can be
provided.
• Interest free loan and free health insurance services
are also be provided.

18. T H A N K S