Another farmer in West Bengal was found dead on Saturday at Goaltore in Paschim Mednipur.
The body of 52-year-old farmer Dilip Mondal, a resident of Rangta village under Goaltore police station under Garbeta I block of the district, was found in the early hours of the day.
The family members of the farmer said that he had cultivated potato in several acres of land and had taken a loan of Rs 1.5 lakh.
Bimal Kumar Sharma, Block Development Officer of Garbeta I, admitted the farmer’s death, but said the reasons have not yet been ascertained.
West Bengal Agriculture Minister Purnendu Basu who has been so far maintaining that the farmers, who had taken their lives had enough resources to pay off the debt, said he had not received any report on the incident in Goaltore.
‘No report so far’ “I have not got any report so far. I am busy with other work,” Purnendu Basu told The Hindu .
Only a day ago, a 27- year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide in Bardhaman district after his crop failed to yield profit.
So far at least a dozen such incidents have been reported in the State, particularly in districts of Bardhaman, Hooghly and Paschim Medinipur.
There has been a 20 per cent increase in potato production this year and a bumper yield of 110 lakh tonne.
The warehouses of the State have exhausted their capacity and farmers are resorting to distress selling.
