Saddled with mounting debts, two tenant farmers have committed suicide by consuming pesticide in drought-prone Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh. While a 45-year-old tobacco grower, V. Ramana Reddy took the extreme step at Inamanamellur village near Madipadu on Friday night, a 42-year-old Chilli grower killed himself at Akaveedu, near Racherla in the district in the wee hours of Saturday.
Unable to get back even the cost of production with auctions reaching the fag-end, the tobacco grower who had sown in 14 acres taken on lease, was clueless on clearing his debts to the tune of Rs. 20 lakh, besides meeting educational expenses of his 17-year-old son studying in a junior college and his 19-year-old daughter studying in B.Tech, Madipadu Sub-inspector M. Devakumar said.
Debts mounted to Rs.4 lakh for the second farmer, S. Ranga Reddy from Akaveedu, near Racherla in Western Prakasam in the wake of repeated crop failures in the last four years, Racherla Sub-Inspector K. Madhava Rao said. Soon after harvest, the ryot ended his life unable to reconcile with poor crop output.
Giddalur Circle Inspector Md. Firoz said that the farmer, who owned two acres of land, had taken on lease five more acres. As her father did not return home in the morning, the farmer's daughter went to the fields and was shocked to find him dead, the CI said.
The farmer had raised a variety of crops like chillis, Sorghum, Pearl millet and red gram to spread the risk. He could not save any of the crops as his borewell dried up due to present dry spell.
The farmer had first suggested to his wife that they both enter into a suicide pact. She refused to toe his line, not to leave in the lurch their daughter studying in 10th Standard and son studying in the sixth standard in Racherla Model School, the SI said.
