Farmers in Karnataka this year celebrate Makara Sankranti, the harvest festival, with mixed feelings. While the total number of farmers who committed suicide has crossed the 1,000 mark (from April 2015 to January 12, 2016), there has been a decline in the trend since November.
However, what emerges on a closer look at the statistics is that it is growers of two cash crops — cotton (114) and sugarcane (110) — who have been the worst hit. Two major sugarcane growing regions, Mandya (96) and Belagavi (76), have also seen the maximum number of suicides among districts. As many as 126 farmers who committed suicide were simply not able to grow anything on their farms.
The phenomenon of farmers’ suicides is not limited only to sugarcane and cotton growers. Farmers who were cultivating maize, paddy, ragi, red gram, arecanut, sunflower, and other crops have also taken the extreme step.
The number of suicides crossing 1,002 in the last 10 months, as revealed by the Agriculture Department statistics, is being dubbed as the highest in the decade in Karnataka and second only to Maharashtra, which recorded 3,228 farmers’ suicides in 2015.
However, the happy news is that the trend has been declining since November. While 94 farmers ended their life in November, the number was 52 in December. Farmers’ suicides recorded in January (till 12th) is seven.
Farmers’ leaders are unhappy with the way the situation was handled by the government, despite taking some measures such as waiver of interest on loans and action against moneylenders. The government also increased the quantum of compensation from Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased farmers.
“Had the Chief Minister waived loan for one year and asked financial institutions to sanction fresh loans, the crisis would have not reached this stage,” said Kurubur Shanthakumar, president of the Karnataka Rajya Kabbu Belegarara Sangha. “Instead of making the government to act, the Opposition parties tried to exploit the situation for political gains,” he said. He said no attempt had been made to force sugar mills to clear the dues of Rs. 4,900 crore.
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Most of them middle-aged
Interestingly, figures of farmers’ suicides show that a majority of those who committed suicide were in their middle age. While 291 farmers in the age group of 41 and 50 ended their life, 260 farmers in the age group of 31 and 40 killed themselves in the last 10 months.
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One crisis after another for cotton growers
Widening gap between the cost of cultivation and income is a major issue for cotton growers. Firstly, cotton price in the open market fell to around Rs. 4,000 a quintal last year from around Rs. 6,500 a quintal in previous years, while the prices of inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, machinery and labour were constantly on the rise. Simultaneously, the natural calamities hit them hard last year.
“Cotton seeds were sown soon after the fields received good rainfall. But, there were no rains when cotton plants were at their crucial stage of growth and in need of water, affecting the yield quantity and quality. When cotton was about to be harvested, floods destroyed the fields,” explainedChamarasa Malipatil , State president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha.
He explained that the situation was no better this year. “Bt cotton crop has been destroyed by pink bollworm pest attack despite the seed companies’ pest-resistance claims,” he said. He feared that the situation would not improve if the government did not compel the seed companies to pay compensation to the affected farmers immediately.
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Greater coordination of Centre and State need of the hour
T.N. Prakash Kammaradi, Chairman, Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission, attributes the farm crisis to larger policy issues such as flawed policies of import and export, and overemphasis on controlling food prices in contrast to giving remunerative price to farmers.
“Liberal imports of agricultural commodities and restricting exports have made an impact on States such as Karnataka,” he observed.Failure to enhance the minimum support price (MSP) is also another reason for the increase in the number on farmers’ suicides. The Centre has increased the MSP of main commodities by a meagre 3 per cent, compared to more than 15 per cent in the previous tenure, he said.
More importantly, the Centre implementing the M.S. Swaminathan Committee report which has fixed remunerative price for produce with a 50 per cent profit margin over the cost of production would act as succour to the farming sector, he said.
“There is a need for greater coordination between the Centre and the State in offering remunerative price for agricultural and horticultural produce and increasing the MSP,” he said.
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Month-wise figures of farmers’ suicides as on January 12, 2016
April 2015 – 11
May – 31
June – 25
July – 208
August – 217
September – 144
October – 213
November – 94
December – 52
January 2016 – 7
Total: 1,002
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Status of cases pertaining to farmers’ suicides
Number of claims accepted – 360
Number of claims rejected – 275
Cases pending for disposal – 367
Cases in which compensation of Rs. 5-lakh has been paid – 354
Cases in which Forensic Science Laboratory report is awaited – 164
Cases pending for various other reasons – 203
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Farmers’ suicides in the last 13 years
2003–04: 205
2004–05: 114
2005–06: 94
2006–07: 176
2007–08: 182
2008–09: 139
2009–10: 145
2010–11: 117
2011–12: 112
2012–13: 77
2013–14: 58
2014–15: 48
2015–16 (till date): 1,002
