200,000 Indian farmers committed suicide since 1997: BBC

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200,000 Indian farmers committed suicide since 1997: BBC

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

ISLAMABAD: In India, according to the statistics of National Crime Records Bureau, around 200,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1997.

Another government report published in 2007 suggested that “about 12 per cent of marginal and small farmers have left farming” over the past few years, the BBC reported. Punjab, a major producer of food grain in India, has faced many economic crises since the mid-1990s.

A report commissioned by the government of Punjab this week estimated that there had been “close to 3,000 suicides” among farmers and farm labourers in just two of Punjab’s 20 districts in recent years.

Almost every village in Punjab has witnessed a suicide in their once-prosperous farming families and it is a major issue in the general election. Each year before the harvest, the small farmers of Punjab, who make up nearly 85 per cent of the state’s farming community, borrow from local rural moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates to meet production costs, including fertilisers and electricity for irrigation. Defaulting on payment increases the rates of interest and a farmer is publicly humiliated in the local panchayat if he fails to pay up.

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Punjab suicides cast shadow on polls

Jasbir discovered the body of her father, Sukhbinder Singh, whose photo is held by her mother

By Suvojit Bagchi
BBC News, Barnala, Punjab

Mandip Kaur, a 29-year-old housewife from a farming family in southern Punjab, guards her husband round the clock.

"I fear he may commit suicide," she says in broken Hindi.

Almost every village in Punjab has witnessed a suicide in their once-prosperous farming families and it is a major issue in the general election.

Ms Kaur's 35-year-old husband, Lakhbir Singh, a small farmer with a two-acre land holding, is a strong and neatly dressed man.

He shows no sign of irritation or discomfort when we meet him in the village of Boparai Khurd in Barnala, about 500km (300 miles) north of Delhi.

Each year before the harvest, the small farmers of Punjab, who make up nearly 85% of the state's farming community, borrow from local rural moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates to meet production costs, including fertilisers and electricity for irrigation.

"Commodity prices are plummeting in the international market... and farmer suicides may increase in coming months"
Bernard D'Mello, deputy editor,
Economic and Political Weekly

"[Lakhbir] has a loan of more than 700,000 rupees ($15,000), which he cannot repay," says Ms Kaur.

Defaulting on payment increases the rates of interest and a farmer is publicly humiliated in the local panchayat (self-governing rural body) if he fails to pay up.

"His elder brother, my father, committed suicide more than a year ago, as his loan had accumulated up to $20,000," says 15-year-old Jasbir, who discovered her father's body.

"I do not think I can ever repay the whole amount," Lakhbir confesses.

The Bhartiya Kisan Union-Ekta, (BKU-United), one of the largest farmers' unions in Punjab, is urging its members not to vote in the election if they feel that none of the parties is addressing their needs.

'Major issue'

National Crime Records Bureau statistics say close to 200,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1997.

The Punjab government says the state produces nearly two-thirds of the grain in India.

But the state has faced many economic crises since the the mid-1990s.

No comprehensive official figures on farmer suicides in the area are available.

Mandip Kaur fears her husband Lakhbir may commit suicide

But a report commissioned by the government of Punjab this week estimated that there had been "close to 3,000 suicides" among farmers and farm labourers in just two of Punjab's 20 districts in recent years, agriculture ministry sources told the BBC.

The general secretary of BKU-United, Sukhdev Singh Khokri, says: "The findings of this report will snowball into a major electoral issue."

Another government report published in 2007 suggested that "about 12% of marginal and small farmers have left farming" over the past few years.

Among the reasons is the lack of access to credit, a facility denied by banks to farmers with no property.

"Bank loans to small farmers without collateral declined sharply as India introduced neo-liberal policies in the 1990s," says Bernard D'Mello, deputy editor of Economic and Political Weekly.

Farmers had to approach rural moneylenders who charge exorbitant rates.

Amarjit Singh, another small farmer from Barnala whose father committed suicide a few years back, says: "My father could not read or write, so he could not calculate the amount of loan he had incurred.

"Once it reached a staggering sum, he was publicly threatened by the moneylender and committed suicide.

"If I am asked to pay my father's debt, I will also have to commit suicide," says Amarjit, who has also taken on loans to meet rising production costs.

Surplus

The Punjab government's website proclaims that "India has gone from a food-deficit to a food-surplus country" largely because of the Green Revolution of Punjab.

Union man Sukhdev Singh Khokri says there will be protests

In the 1960s, it revolutionised agricultural production by introducing high-yield varieties of seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and machinery.

But the 2007 report criticises the revolution and its surplus of crops.

Independent researcher and activist Ranjana Padhi says: "Since everyone had money, labourers were replaced by tractors and unemployment increased, while productivity steadily declined."

As production costs have risen, food prices have slumped.

Traditionally, the government buys grain from farmers and distributes it in the open market.

Sukhpal Singh, a senior economist at Punjab Agricultural University, feels farmers had to bear government prices that were too low and failed to take into account "risk factors like crop failure or soil maintenance".

Poor prices internationally restricted the government from a higher buying rate for farmers.

Amarjit Singh "will commit suicide" if he has to pay his father's debts

Another factor is the subsidies in place in areas such as Europe.

German non-governmental organisation Foodwatch says the European subsidies are responsible for large-scale unemployment and poverty among farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The issue is pending with the World Trade Organisation but talks on the issue have repeatedly failed.

Bernard D'Mello feels the worst is yet to come given the recent recession.

"Commodity prices are plummeting in the international market as a result of recession, which will depress the price in Indian markets as well and farmer suicides may increase in coming months," he says.

Punjab Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah says the state government has increased farming subsidies to all categories in recent years.

But the Election Commission has put further projects on hold pending the polls.

Meanwhile the farmers' unions are co-ordinating a joint protest to highlight the plight of farmers.

Amarjit Singh will be one taking part. "We will stop everything in the state for two days," he says.

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Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
LAHORE: Over 1,500 farmers in an Indian state committed suicide after being driven to debt by crop failure, it was reported on Thursday.

The agricultural state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels. “The water level has gone down below 250 feet here. It used to be at 40 feet a few years ago,” Shatrughan Sahu, a villager in one of the districts, told Down To Earth magazine.

“Most of the farmers here are indebted and only God can save the ones who do not have a bore well.”

Sahu lives in a district that recorded 206 farmer suicides last year. Police records for the district add that many deaths occur due to debt and economic distress.

In another village nearby, Beturam Sahu, who owned two acres of land was among those who committed suicide. His crop is yet to be harvested, but his son Lakhnu left to take up a job as a manual labourer.

His family must repay a debt of £400 and the crop this year is poor.

“The crop is so bad this year that we will not even be able to save any seeds,” said Lakhnu’s friend Santosh. “There were no rains at all.”

“That’s why Lakhnu left even before harvesting the crop. There is nothing left to harvest in his land this time. He is worried how he will repay these loans.”

Bharatendu Prakash, from the Organic Farming Association of India, told the Press Association: “Farmers’ suicides are increasing due to a vicious circle created by money lenders. They lure farmers to take money but when the crops fail, they are left with no option other than death.”

Prakash added that the government ought to take up the cause of the poor farmers just as they fight for a strong economy.

“Development should be for all. The government blames us for being against development. Forest area is depleting and dams are constructed without proper planning. All this contributes to dipping water levels. Farmers should be taken into consideration when planning policies,” he said.

[Zob]

damn sad thing in third world countries the government doesn't help the poor farmers much.....

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Well the GOI has already sanctioned Debt write off for poor farmers to the tune of Rs. 70,000 crores.

Though this is not going to be enough but coupled with NREGA and other schemes things should improve for the farmers.