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Janardhan Raut walk d out of his hous on that fat ful day; cutting through th arly morning
darkn ss, his brisk pac offs t th slight morning chill. As h mad his way across th villag , to his
thr acr plot, th v nts of th past thr y ars flash d in front of y s. Th first loan that h had
tak n to buy cotton s ds, th n th s cond loan for his daught r͛s w dding m mori s of which
brought a small smil to his fac  that was w ll tak n car off. A dowry of Rs  lakh and  tolas of
Gold had nsur d that his daught r was w ll tr at d in h r husband͛s hous . All his hop s w r
fix d on th cotton crop, that was coming up until disast r struck. A prolong d drought had
d stroy d his crop and push d him to n ar p nury. To buy hims lf som tim , h had to pawn off
his wif ͛s gold bangl s and his ring. Y st rday, th mon yl nd rs' h nchman inform d him that tim
was up to pay th r st of th amount. As h approach d his fi ld, his l g got ntangl d with th rop
that was lying th r . H us d th rop to t th r his ox n. om thing mad him pick th rop aft r
which h continu d his walk to th mango tr that was at th dg of th fi ld. Th tr that h
had known right from his childhood days

As a child h lov d climbing it during th summ r months. H f lt a sudd n urg to climb th mango
tr and sit on th branch that str tch d ov r th brook that had dri d up. Th mor h thought, th
mor h f lt burd n d. Th r was still tim for th first rays of th sun to br ak out, h f lt his spirit
br ak, h f lt w ak, th rop in his hands s m d lik his b st fri nd. H slowly loop d it on th
branch that h was sitting on, form d a noos , imag s start d flashing b for his y s, his
childhood, his youth, marriag , th loans h slipp d th noos around his n ck his daught rs
marriag , th r mind r from th mon yl nd r, and th burd n that lay on his back, h l t go. H
swung from th tr . Th knot was a good on ; it had h ld v n th wild st bull in its plac ,
Janardhan thrash d around for a minut . And th n all was still again. As if on cu , th first rays of
sun brok out across th sky, and shon mildly on Janardhan͛s fac .

Janardhan's d ath was y t anoth r numb r on th national crim r cords databas .

Anoth r suicid in th d bt ridd n, rain fail d, Vidharbha r gion.

Countl ss Janardhans hav b n r gist r d on th national crim r cords databas . At th last

count, according to th National Crim r cords databas r port r l as d in th y ar 2, ov r
 .6% of all p opl who committ d suicid in India w r th Janardhans, i. . th y w r involv d in
farming/agricultur r lat d activiti s. In th y ar 22 and 22 high st farm r suicid rat
was obs rv d in Karnataka which was th n ov rtak n by Andhra Prad sh in 2  . uicid s by th
farm rs in Maharashtra cross d th , mark in th y ar 2, according to th NCRB. To b
pr cis as many as ,2 ! farm rs took th ir own liv s that y ar accounting for on fourth of th
6,6 2 farm r suicid s in th nation. Th fiv worst aff ct d stat s Andhra Prad sh, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Prad sh which w can r f r to as th Big iv account for two
thirds of all suicid s in th country.

Maharashtra's 2 figur of ,2 ! follows on andhalf y ars of farm 'r li f packag s' worth
around Rs.
, cror s and a prim minist rial visit in mid26 to th distr ss d Vidharbha r gion.
B tw n 2
and 2, th tat also saw a pl thora of official r ports, studi s, and commissions
of inquiry aim d at tackling th probl m. Th m dia, NGOs and ͞conc rn d citiz ns͟ all add d to th
m l by conducting th ir own studi s, and lab lling probl ms which according to th m w r
r sponsibl for farm r suicid s. actors lik rising costs of cultivation, ind bt dn ss and bottl n cks
in agricultural mark ting hav b n targ t d by th m dia. Th gov rnm nt on th oth r hand put
th blam squar ly on crop failur .

This pap r aims to analyz th various factors ranging from socio conomic to th structural chang s
so as to und rstand this ph nom non of farm r suicid s. Num rous studi s hav b n und rtak n
to xplain th natur of farm r suicid s. Whil all of th m focus on th sam probl m, that is wh r
th ir similarity nds; th ir styl s and findings hav all b n diff r nt.

Whil on group attribut s th s suicid s mainly to agro conomic probl ms lik crop failur ,
ind bt dn ss, tc., according to studi s conduct d by hiva and Jafri in ""! and D shpand in
22, oth rs lik Assadi, R vathi, Vasavi, arma, tc. highlight politico conomic issu s, blaming th
stat for th trag di s. tudi s that hav b n conduct d hav sugg st d that th suicid s ar th
outcom of historical factors associat d with cotton cultivation [Prasad """#. Parthasarathy and
ham m (""!$ opin d that growing ind bt dn ss is th main r ason for th strain on th farm rs.

In my opinion, th xist nc of any on of th s factors is not nough to driv a farm r to commit

suicid , rath r it is a combination of th s factors that giv s him th motivation and driv to tak
this xtr m st p.

arming is just lik any oth r busin ss activity. It involv s c rtain costs in th ar as of production,
mark ting, storag , proc ssing, tc. To arn profits, it is n c ssary that a farm r should b abl to
scal up his activiti s and achi v optimum profitability. Th Indian farming industry du to various
structural chang s has start d to don th ͞small farm͟ charact r. By ""
"6, n arly 6 p r c nt of
th cultivat d ar a was op rat d by small and marginal farm rs which is an incr as from th 2" p r
c nt in "!
!6 (Tabl $. It can b saf ly assum d that ov r  p r c nt of th land is now op rat d
by small and marginal farm rs. uch a tilt towards small farms can b obs rv d practically in all parts
of th country. With a m agr ass t bas , and almost z ro scalability a larg part of our agricultur is
unabl to withstand v n minor shocks.If w ar to add on to this th shift from food grains to cash
crops lik sugarcan , cotton, tobacco, tc. which ar int nd d primarily for sal in th op n mark t,
th situation b com s mor of a s rious natur b caus in th abs nc of a prop r scal th so
call d cash crops b com d bt crops. This is b caus not only do th s crops r quir a larg amount
of inv stm nt in t rms of irrigation, labour, f rtiliz r, p sticid s all of which com s at a c rtain cost
and is not n gligibl by any standards, but, also th pric at which th farm rs can s ll th produc
d p nds upon th pric that is pr val nt in th mark t at that point of tim .

In cas of a mor ͞progr ssiv ͟ form of agricultur if practis d in a particular plac , th input costs
will shoot up, for xampl , g n tically modifi d(GM$ s ds in cas of cotton cultivation. Th cost of
input was Rs

,  cror in "" " that ros to Rs ,

cror in """2. Th farm rs th n

hav to tak r sourc s to cr dit inord r to fund th inputs. On on hand w hav high input costs
and th n on th oth r hand w hav farm rs not r c iving prop r r turns for th ir produc thanks
to th haphazard coll ction m thodology of th gov rnm nt. A fin xampl of this is th Monopoly
Cotton Procur m nt ch m (MCP $. Which was mad op rational in Maharashtra sinc "2 ,
with th aim of stabilising th pric s, but a profusion of probl ms and loss s ov r a p riod of tim
has r nd r d it non functional. To top this, th Minimum support pric that is off r d by th
gov rnm nt is xtr m ly low. Taking th cas of cotton, in 2 
th cost of production of cotton
in Maharashtra was Rs 2,26 p r quintal, but th Minimum upport Pric (M P$ was only Rs ,"6.
Th M P indicat d is for th long stapl vari ty of fair av rag quality and is assur d only wh n th
crop is sold at th authoris d c ntr s. Not only do s th M P fall short of th costs but is also
wo fully short in achi ving th br ak v n point. If w add on to this th fin distanc (in som cas s
as much as 2km$ at which th authoris d c ntr s ar locat d away from th farm rs, th long lin s
and abov all paym nt in instalm nts for th goods sold w hav a p rf ct r cip for failur (for th
farm rs$ and succ ss of privat play rs purchasing cotton at what v r pric that pl as s th m
forcing th hapl ss farm r to s ll his produc to avoid bankruptcy or s ll products that ar
p rishabl in natur , payoff th local mon y l nd rs or for any oth r myriad numb r of r asons.

Th probl ms ar slightly diff r nt as far as th larg farm rs ar conc rn d. In th ir cas th y hav

an add d burd n of social xp ctations and would want to b abl to liv up to thos xp ctations.
Th ir probl ms g t acc ntuat d, as th y shift from food grain cultivation to cash crops. Th high
yi lding vari ti s of s ds ar sold by th MNCs ar nonr g n rating, i. . th plants do not b ar th
s ds and th farm rs ar forc d to approach th compani s ach tim th y r quir th s ds.
Thus, adding to th inputs cost of farm rs. or th first tim th farm r has to pay for som thing
that has b n traditionally fr , for .g. if a farm r want d to plant wh at in his fi ld all that h had
to do was dip a bit into his r gular stock of wh at grains and utiliz that amount; th cost involv d
was minimal or n gligibl . Now with th adv nt of GM crops th farm r not only has to pay for th
oth r input factors but also th s ds. This d adly combination of high input costs, high rat of
int r st on capital, shift to cash crops, lack of prop r irrigation has prov n to b fatal for a lot of
farm rs, with Babji Maruti Masram, of th Jhatala villag in Ghatanji t hsil of Yavatmal, a Gond
farm r with a land holding of approximat ly  acr s, b ing just on of th m.

Th story of Babji will xplain th d adly cycl that many of our farm rs ar stuck in.

Babji was known for introducing highyi lding vari ti s of cotton and soyab an s ds in his farm
using th lat st and costli st p sticid s. But h n v r built up his own wat r r sourc s. Aft r th
division of th land, h till d th lands of his two broth rs as w ll, but th farms r main d ʹ and still
r main ʹ parch d. H n v r addr ss d th basic issu ʹ wat r scarcity. o much, that th mor h
irrigat d his land, th mor it r main d rainf d. On th on hand h xhaust d his financ s on
s ds, p sticid s and ch micals, and on th oth r h slowly d lin at d hims lf from th traditional
ways of farming. H had to purchas s ds v ry y ar, a shift from his fath r͛s way of farming.

"Maruti Mahajan suppli d s ds to th ntir villag onc from th stocks that h sav d from his
own produc v ry y ar," says Kisan B lab , a villag r and clos fri nd of Babji. Thus, whil his
fath r n v r sp nt on s ds or p sticid s, Babji not only purchas d s ds and p sticid s v ry y ar,
but also sp nt h avily on th inputs. Th mor th land, mor w r th inputs r quir d. In th mid
nin ti s, wh n th stat run Monopoly Cotton Procur m nt ch m w r in shambl s, Babji͛s
financial probl ms soar d. Cotton pric s crash d around th sam tim . o with hug input costs
and l ss produc pric s, Babji plung d into hug loss s. Th loss s only soar d in th y ars to com
b caus h stuck to th cash crops, and could n v r tak up a s cond crop du to lack of wat r. Th
wag s that Babji paid to th farmlabour rs also add d to th big input costs, B lab says.

In """"!, Babji had to borrow mon y, p rhaps for th first tim . That was also th y ar wh n
th r gion fac d its worst drought. Th dwindling yi ld push d him furth r, as his loans and int r sts
augm nt d his loss s. In th last fiv y ars, his loans from th privat usur rs and int r sts on it
compound d his probl ms. Babji had to s ll his produc in op n mark ts twic in distr ss, informs
B lab . That y ar ʹ th 222 s ason ʹ Babji pil d up unpr c d nt d loss s.
In 2 , his sowing fail d compl t ly in Jun . H w nt for a r sowing on th hug ar a of land that
h cultivat d. Which m ant h n d d to borrow mon y for s ds, again. H did v ntually, and
sow d s ds a s cond tim . But wh n th monsoon fail d to smil on th r gion, th s ds fail d to
g rminat onc mor . Babji n d d to purchas s ds again, this tim for th third sowing. Th
l nd rs play d th ir part in fu lling th situation. Th y d mand d th r imburs m nt of pr vious
loans. inc that day, Babji n v r r cov r d from th t nsion, his moth r says. On July !, wh n
things look d bl ak on th agricultural front, h took th xtr m st p.

Though th story of Babji, sp aks about how a farm r bought about his ruin by adopting farming
practic s that w r not b st suit d to th land, th rol that local mon yl nd rs and abs nc of
prop r capital infusion into agricultur also hav had a major rol to play.

Th cr dit faciliti s xt nd d by th coop rativ soci ti s and oth r formal ag nci s in vi w of th

rising cost of cultivation ar inad quat . Th cr dit provid d by th lic ns d mon yl nd rs (who
advanc d loans und r th Bombay Mon yl nd rs Act, " 6 is also limit d. Th numb r of th s
mon yl nd rs and also th amount of loans advanc d by th m to th nontrad rs (including th
farm rs$ d cr as d notic ably, according to a study conduct d by Mohanty and hroff in th y ar
2 . Mor ov r, in th r c nt y ars th lic ns d mon yl nd rs hav c as d to play any rol . As a
r sult, th farm rs hav no choic but to d p nd on th informal mon yl nd r/shopk p rs for
tim ly agricultural input r quir m nt who usually charg xorbitant rat s of int r st. As a
cons qu nc , a significant portion of farm rs͛ agricultural incom go s in r paying th ir loans. A
classic xampl of this is th cas of Gan sh a farm r of Bhambraja villag of Yavatmal, who
committ d suicid in arly August of th y ar 2 . Gan sh who b longs to th Kunbi cast of th
Marathas, is r port d to hav borrow d mon y at an int r st rat of Rs2
p r Rs  for sowing in
May nd, according to Jaimala Gomas , a n ighbour who has b n h lping his widow umitra run
th hous hold sinc th untim ly d ath of h r husband. Two fail d sowings, fac s of hungry childr n
who hav had to drop out school, push d th ͞simpl man͟, Gan sh to nd his lif .

rom th paragraphs abov it is v ry cl ar that a farm r fac s a multitud of probl ms ranging right
from wat r supply, high production costs, abs nc of gov rnm nt support, to a pot ntial loss of
status in th v nt of a failur of crop or v n th rains. All of th s probl ms if approach d in a
syst matic mann r can b solv d v ry asily. What is r quir d is that w look at ach issu in
isolation and in th larg r sc nario so that it may b solv d.

Tak th cas of wat r supply for instanc . Vidharbha is in th rain shadow r gion, a plac that is not
g ographically ndow d to r c iv good amounts of rainfall. A possibl cours of action that can b
tak n is rain wat r harv sting and wat r sh d programm s. H r car must b tak n to nsur that
th programm is aim d at ground wat r r charging or at rain wat r storag and ff ctiv usag
according to th soil profil of th particular villag . Eff ctiv storag & usag of wat r will nsur
that th villag s will hav nough wat r for at l ast two sowings in a particular y ar. Eff ctiv
int gration of ground and surfac irrigation programm s would also go a long way in solving th
probl m of wat r scarcity to gr at xt nt. In this, activ participation of th farm rs and all thos
who would b b n fitt d dir ctly or indir ctly must b sought, so as nsur that th programm s
ar plann d and d ploy d according to th n ds of th p opl .

uffici nt availability of capital is proving to b anoth r major issu for th farm rs. D spit th
talks, banks find ways to avoid giving cr dit to th farm rs und r th pr t xt that th y ar aiming to
cut out th d fault rs. But th n aft r fiv d sp rat y ars if w only tak into account th y ars
from 2 , v ryon is a d fault r. Ev n a farm r, who was w ll off at som point of tim , today is
looking for som form of inv stm nt/cr dit/mon y to fund his farming op rations. Tak th cas of
th farm r who has approximat ly  acr s of land and an outstanding d bt of Rs , with th
bank. H borrows Rs, from a local mon y l nd r at a rat of Rs 2,
 p r day; pays back th
outstanding amount, and g ts a loan of Rs !, from th bank. H th n pays back Rs 2,
 and
has just about Rs ,
 to inv st in his  acr s of land thus having a n w d bt of Rs !, upon
hims lf. This is



 (or shifting burd n from on should r to th oth r$. Many such
instanc s can b found in most of th villag s. o what a bank is doing, on surfac app ars to b
providing farm r with th r quir d amount of cr dit, but in r ality it is only adding to th burd n.

unds ar availabl for various typ s of v ntur s/busin ss activiti s and many a tim s wh n such
d bts turn bad or stop p rforming (NPAsnonp rforming ass ts$ banks ar willing to giv xt nsion
and xp rt support und r various forms to th d btors. Loans and quat d monthly instalm nt
(EMIs$ ar availabl to buy things ranging from t l visions to comput rs and v n as is th lat st fad,
cloth s. But th farm r in India do s not g t any mon y und r any form to buy s ds, or th inputs
that ar r quir d for th farm. Th outstanding d bt in most of th cas s as far as a farm r is
conc rn d, do s not go b yond Rs
, as oppos d to th lakhs and cror s that is ow d to th
banks by th various oth r d faulting compani s and individuals in th citi s. What I propos is not
subsidy to th farm rs, n ith r is it fr grains to th farm rs. But rath r, grains to b sold to th
farm r at % or % rat of int r st, with th first  months b ing int r st holidays. This facility
must b provid d only to thos farm rs willing to s ll th ir produc to th approv d authoris d
procur m nt c ntr s. Th pric s that must b calculat d so as to includ all th costs and also
nsur a fair profit for th farm r too, and not th pittanc that is giv n to th farm rs in form of th
M P.

In almost v ry nook and corn r, v ryon talks about forming unions, coming tog th r, coll ctiv
bargaining and th works, for almost v ryon right from taxi driv rs and hous hold h lp to th rag
pick rs, but th poor farm r who stands as th prov rbial wall against hung r and starvation, for th
ntir nation and is as much of a soldi r as a offic r of th Indian Army, g ts nothing. Without
xc ption v ry farm rs association g ts hijack d du to political int r sts, and th ir activiti s g t
d viat d. In th nd th y nd up doing v rything but prot cting th rights of th farm rs. Th n d
of th hour is farm r coop rativ s must b form d, at micro l v ls in villag s, with inv stm nts from
th farm rs. Th aim of th s coop rativ s must b to us th ir coll ctiv muscl to bargain and g t
th b st possibl rat s on various inputs that ar r quir d. Th advantag of such a coop rativ is
manifold, first and for most is th cold busin ss d cision and driving th numb rs to achi v th
b st possibl rat s. condly, pooling in of r sourc s will nsur that th r is no duplication of
fforts and that scarc r sourc s lik that of thr sh rs, crush rs, tc ar us d to th ir optimum
l v ls, thirdly th xist nc of such a coop rativ would giv a much n d d motional support to
th farm rs v n in th v nt of a crop failur . Oth r ancillary b n fits such as crop insuranc ,
b tt r pric s for th ir products can also b d mand d from th gov rnm nt if such coop rativ s
com into xist nc .

According to an articl publish d by K.C. uri , th official statistics p rtaining to agricultur show
alarming tr nds: th growth rat of agricultur has d c l rat d ov r th last 
y ars; th r has
b n no mploym nt growth in agricultur ; th proportion of marginal and small holdings has b n
on th ris and th shar of agricultur in GDP has b n going down whil th proportion of p opl
d p nd nt on agricultur for th ir liv lihood has r main d mor or l ss stabl  Th proc ss of
d c l ration of agricultural growth b gan in th ""s and xc pt for on y ar (2  $ th annual
agricultural GDP growth has b n n gativ . India as far as I am awar still us s ric , chappati, and a
whol vari ty of puls s and oth r agricultural produc to fill its stomach and not softwar s or
comput rs or cars or c ll phon s to fill its stomach, lit rally sp aking. No softwar whiz can cr at
softwar s to grow ric or wh at, no BPO can grow puls s to f d th mass s, no manufacturing
company has th t chnological xp rtis to manufactur produc that fills th stomach and giv s
pl asur to both pal tt and h art. or all of this w n d th farm r. If not for anything ls at th
v ry l ast, for th sak of our own stomach, for th sak of satiating our own hung r, m asur s
n d to b adopt d to h lp th farm r, not b caus h n ds it or d s rv s it, but b caus th
ntir nation can b h ld to ransom if suffici nt Janardhans and Babjis ar cr at d.

m
  
. Ov r 6,6 farm rs in 2, http://www.indiatog th r.org/2!/d c/psa6k.htm, Dat
ac ss d 2/2/2"

2. Th uicid Economy of Corporat Globalisation, http://www.count rcurr nts.org/glo

shiva
  .htm, Dat ac ss d /2/2"

. arm rs͛ uicid s in Maharashtra, rijith Mishra, Economic and Political W kly, April 22 26

. arm rs͛ uicid in Maharashtra, iddhartha Mitra and ang ta Mishra, Economic and Political
W kly, D c mb r ! 2

. arm rs͛ uicid in Maharashtra, B.B. Mohanty and ang ta hroff, Economic and Political
W kly, D c mb r 2
2

6. Agrarian Crisis Looking b yond th d bt trap, V Ratna R ddy and Galab, Economic and Political
W kly, May  2

. Political Economy of Agrarian Distr ss, KC uri, Economic and Political W kly, April 22 26

!. Agrarian Distr ss: trat gi s to Prot ct Vuln rabl s ctions, V Vyas, Economic and Political
W kly, D c mb r 2
2

". Vidarbha 2 : A suicid s Diary, http://www.indiatog th r.org/2

/jan/agrvidarbha.htm, Dat
acc ss d 2"/2/2"

. lowing down th suicid s, http://www.indiatog th r.org/26/jun/psastopsui.htm , Dat

acc ss d /2/2"