Farmers' suicides in India

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India is an agrarian country with around 60% of its people depending directly or indirectly upon agriculture. Agriculture in India is often attributed as gambling with monsoons because of its almost exclusive dependency on precipitation from monsoons. The failure of these monsoons can lead to a series of droughts, lack of better prices, and exploitation of the farmers by middlemen, all of which have led to a series of suicides committed by farmers across India.[1]

Contents

Statistics [edit]

Farmers in India became the centre of considerable concern in the 1990s when the journalist P Sainath highlighted the large number of suicides among them. Official reports initially denied the farmer suicides but as more and more information came to light the government began to accept that farmers in India were under considerable stress. On figures there was much debate since the issue was so emotive. More than 17,500 farmers a year killed themselves between 2002 and 2006, according to experts who have analyzed government statistics.[2] Others traced the increase in farmer suicides to the early 1990s.[3][4] It was said, a comprehensive all-India study is still awaited, that most suicides occurred in states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab.[5][6][7][8][9] The situation was grim enough to force at least the Maharashtra government to set up a dedicated office to deal with farmers distress.[10]

In 2006, the state of Maharashtra, with 4,453 farmers’ suicides accounted for over a quarter of the all-India total of 17,060, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). NCRB also stated that there were at least 16,196 farmers' suicides in India in 2008, bringing the total since 1997 to 199,132 .[11] According to another study by the Bureau, while the number of farm suicides increased since 2001, the number of farmers has fallen, as thousands abandoning agriculture in distress.[12] According to government data, over 5,000 farmers committed suicide in 2005-2009 in Maharashtra, while 1,313 cases reported by Andhra Pradesh between 2005 and 2007. In Karnataka the number stood at 1,003, since 2005-06 till August 2009. According to NCRB database number of suicides during 2005-2009 in Gujarat 387, Kerala 905, Punjab 75 and Tamil Nadu 26.[13] In April 2009, the state of Chattisgarh reported 1,500 farmers committed suicide due to debt and crop failure.[14] At least 17,368 Indian farmers killed themselves in 2009, the worst figure for farm suicides in six years, according to data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).[15]

History [edit]

Significant reporting on suicides among farmers in India began in the 1990s In the 1990s India woke up to a spate of farmers suicides. One of the major reporters of these suicides was the Rural Affairs Editor of The Hindu, P. Sainath. The first state where suicides were reported was Maharashtra. Soon newspapers began to report similar occurrences from Andhra Pradesh.[16] In the beginning it was believed that most of the suicides were happening among the cotton growers, especially those from Vidarbha.[17] A look at the figures given out by the State Crime Records Bureau, however, was sufficient to indicate that it was not just the cotton farmer but farmers as a professional category were suffering, irrespective of their holding size.[18] Moreover, it was not just the farmers from Vidarbha but all over Maharashtra who showed a significantly high suicide rate.[19][20] The government appointed a number of inquiries to look into the causes of farmers suicide and farm related distress in general. Subsequently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Vidarbha and promised a package of Rs.110 billion (about $2.4 billion) to be spent by the government in Vidarbha. The families of farmers who had committed suicide were also offered an ex gratia grant to the tune of Rs.100,000 (about $2,000) by the government, though this amount was changed several times.[21]

Causes [edit]

Research by various investigators like Raj Patel,[2] Nagraj,[19][20] Srijit,[22] Behere and Behere,[23] and Meeta and Rajivlochan,[3] identified a variety of causes. India was transforming rapidly into a primarily urban, industrial society with industry as its main source of income; the government and society had become unconcerned about the condition of the countryside; moreover, a downturn in the urban economy was pushing a large number of distressed non-farmers to try their hand at cultivation; the farmer was also caught in a Scissors Crisis; in the absence of any responsible counseling either from the government or society there were many farmers who did not know how to survive in the changing economy. Such stresses pushed many into a corner where suicide became an option.

Research in Andhra Pradesh showed the very rapid change in seed and pesticide products to have caused "deskilling" in the cotton sector.[24]

GM crops [edit]

A report released by the International Food Policy Research Institute in October 2009 provided evidence that the introduction of Bt cotton was not a major factor in farmer suicides in India.[25] It argues that the suicides predate the introduction of the cotton in 2002 and has been fairly consistent since 1997.[25][26]

As of August 2012, technical experts appointed by the India Supreme Court have recommended a 10-year moratorium on all field trials of GM food, as well as the termination of all current trials of transgenic crops.[27]

Responses to Farmers' suicides [edit]

Vidarbha was in the media for a spate of farmer suicides in recent years ostensibly because of the falling Minimum Support Price for cotton. The problem is complex and root causes include lopsided policies of the World Trade Organisation and developed nations' subsidies to their cotton farmers which make Vidarbha's cotton uncompetitive in world markets. Consequently Vidarbha is plagued by high rates of school drop outs, penniless widows left in the wake of suicides, loan sharks and exploitation of the vulnerable groups.[28]

The Indian government had promised to increase the minimum rate for cotton by approximately ₹100 ($2) but reneged on its promise by reducing the Minimum Support Price further. This resulted in more suicides as farmers were ashamed to default on debt payments to loan sharks. "In 2006, 1,044 suicides were reported in Vidarbha alone - that's one suicide every eight hours."[29]

In April 2007 a development consulting group named Green Earth Social Development Consulting produced a report after doing an audit of the state and central government relief packages in Vidarbha.[30][unreliable source?] The report's conclusions were:

  • Farmers' demands were not taken into account while preparing the relief package. Neither were civil society organisations, local government bodies, panchayats etc. consulted.
  • The relief packages were mostly amalgamations of existing schemes. Apart from the farmer helpline and the direct financial assistance, there was scarcely anything new being offered. Pumping extra funds into additional schemes shows that no new idea was applied to solve a situation where existing measures had obviously failed.
  • The farmer helpline did not give any substantial help to farmers except in Karnataka.
  • The basis for selection of beneficiaries under the assistance scheme was not well-defined. Also, type of assistance to be given led to problems like a farmer needing a pair of bullocks getting a pump set and vice versa (or a farmer who has no access to water sources being given pump sets)
  • Awareness regarding the package was also fairly low.

The report concluded quite alarmingly that the loan burden of the farmers would double in 2008.

To attract attention a variety of catch phrases were coined such as ‘SEZ’ or (Farmers) ‘Special Elimination Zone’ states.[31]

The government set up a dedicated group to deal with farm distress in 2006 known as the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission, based in Amravati [10] A group to study the Farmers Suicides was also constituted by the Government of Karnataka under the Chairmanship of Dr Veeresh, Former Vice Chancellor of Agricultural University and Prof Deshpande as member.[32]

In popular culture [edit]

Summer 2007 by producer Atul Pandey, focused on the issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, as did the 2009 Bollywood film Kissan.[33] Prior to this The Dying Fields, a documentary directed by Fred de Sam Lazaro was aired in August 2007 on Wide Angle (TV series). The 2010 award-winning film Jhing Chik Jhing is based around the emotive issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra. It looks at how the farmer has very little in his control and looks at the impact of indebtedness on his family.[34] Additionally, Peepli Live is a dark comic satire from 2010 depicting the state of farmers' suicides in the fictional Indian state of Mukhya Pradesh, and the political and media frenzy surrounding them.

In 2006, a documentary by Indian film maker Sumit Khanna titled Mere Desh Ki Dharti, did a comprehensive review of the way we grow our food. A well researched and in-depth understanding of the agrarian crisis, it won the national award for the best Investigative film.

In 2009, the International Museum of Women included an examination of the impact of farmers' suicides on the lives of the farmers' wives and children in their exhibition Economica: Women and the Global Economy. Their slideshow "Growing Debt" and accompanying essay by curator Masum Momaya entitled "Money of Her Own" showed how many widows were left with the burden of their husbands' debts, and were forced to work as indentured servants to repay the debt. The widows were also unlikely to remarry, because other men in the community were unwilling to take on the widows' debts for themselves.[35]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Shiva, Vandana. "Why Are Indian Farmers Committing Suicide and How Can We Stop This Tragedy?". Voltaire Network. Retrieved 14 April 2013. 
  2. ^ a b Raj Patel, Stuffed and Starved, Portobello Books, London, 2007
  3. ^ a b Meeta and Rajivlochan (2006) Farmers suicide: facts and possible policy interventions, Yashada, Pune.
  4. ^ Glocal Hyperreal and the Sad Demise of the Corporeal: An Obituary
  5. ^ "Drought, debt lead to Indian farmers' suicides". Associated Press. Auhust 28, 2009. 
  6. ^ "Spate of farmers' suicides in India worrying WHO". The Hindu. Oct 15, 2006. 
  7. ^ Waldman, Amy (June 6, 2004). "Debts and Drought Drive India's Farmers to Despair". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-02. 
  8. ^ Huggler, Justin (2 July 2004). "India acts over suicide crisis on farms". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2010-05-02. 
  9. ^ Pinglay, Prachi (5 May 2008). "No let up in India farm suicides". BBC News. 
  10. ^ a b VNSS Mission
  11. ^ India together
  12. ^ "Farm suicides worse after 2001 — study". The Hindu. Nov 13, 2007. .
  13. ^ "Farmers’ suicides in India not due to Bt cotton: IFFRI". Mint. Nov 11 2008. 
  14. ^ "1,500 farmers commit mass suicide in India". London: The Independent. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-02. 
  15. ^ The Hindu-December 2010 column
  16. ^ Rediff News
  17. ^ Planning Commission report
  18. ^ 1. Meeta and Rajivlochan (2006) Farmers suicide: facts and possible policy interventions, Yashada, Pune, pp. 11-13.
  19. ^ a b Macroscan reports
  20. ^ a b Nagraj, K. (2008) Farmers suicide in India: magnitudes, trends and spatial patterns
  21. ^ M Rajivlochan (2007) "Farmers and firefighters" in Indian Express, August 28, 2007, [1]
  22. ^ Mishra, Srijit (2007). "Risks, Farmers’ Suicides and Agrarian Crisis in India: Is There A Way Out?". Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR). 
  23. ^ Behere PB, Behere AP. Farmers' suicide in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state: A myth or reality?. Indian J Psychiatry [serial online] 2008 [cited 2009 Oct 23];50:124-7. Available from: http://www.indianjpsychiatry.org/text.asp?2008/50/2/124/42401
  24. ^ Stone, Glenn Davis, 2007. "Agricultural Deskilling and the Spread of Genetically Modified Cotton in Warangal." Current Anthropology 48:67-103
  25. ^ a b Guillaume P. Gruère, Purvi Mehta-Bhatt and Debdatta Sengupta (2008). "Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: Reviewing the Evidence". International Food Policy Research Institute. 
  26. ^ Sheridan, C. (2009). "Doubts surround link between Bt cotton failure and farmer suicide". Nat Biotechnol. 27 (1): 9–10. doi:10.1038/nbt0109-9. PMID 19131979. 
  27. ^ Economic Times of India Bureau (2012). "Panel recommends 10-year moratorium on Bt crop trial". 
  28. ^ Deshpande and Arora. Agrarian Crisis and Farmer Suicides. Sage,. ISBN 978-81-321-0512-1(HB). 
  29. ^ "The Dying Fields". Wide Angle (TV series). PBS. 2007.
  30. ^ "GreenEarth report on Impact of Relief Packages on farmers suicides in Vidarbha". Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  31. ^ "17,060 farm suicides in one year". The Hindu. Jan 31, 2008. 
  32. ^ Deshpande(2002)
  33. ^ "Has Bollywood shut its eyes to movies on farmers?". The Economic Times. 29 Aug 2009. 
  34. ^ "Jhing Chik Jhing - a story of hope". January 2010. 
  35. ^ "Marriage and Money". Economica: Women and the Global Economy. October 2009. 
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