seventy year after Independence the farmers are still poor

The rate of farmers suicide is increasing horribly now a days and the major reason for farmers committing suicide is poverty and high debt burdens. Farmers are the major suppliers of food and dairy products in the country and without them we won' t be able to survive. They work hard day and night to produce food grains and increase the production of agriculture. Despite the democratically-elected governments that claim to represent a country where over half the population is dependent on farming, agriculture has been consistently ignored at a steep cost to farmers' lives. Remedies have been tried -the state waived loans to small and marginal farmers ahead of elections and such actions were criticized after elections for disrupting credit discipline among the borrowers.

Farmer suicides reflect the crisis brewing through several phases of structural transformation of the rural sector. The National Crime Records Bureau of India has reported that the cases of farmer suicides in the country are higher than that in any other occupation. The cases in the state of Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are comparatively higher. A number of factors are said to be responsible for this.

Some of the major reasons for farmer suicides in India include:

• Inability to pay debt.
• Damaging of crops due to erratic weather conditions such as droughts and floods.
• Unfavorable government policies.
• Inability to meet the demands of the family.
• Personal issues

Reasons why farmers commit suicide?

Statistics reveal that 11.2% of the total suicides in the country are farmer suicides. Global warming has led to extreme weather conditions such as drought and floods in most parts of the country. Such extreme conditions lead to damaging of crops and the farmers are left with nothing. When the crop yield is not sufficient, the farmers are forced to take debt to fulfill their financial needs. Unable to repay the debt, many farmers usually take the unfortunate step of committing suicide.
Most farmers are the sole earners of the family. They face constant pressure to fulfill the demands and responsibilities of the family and the stress caused by the inability to meet the same often leads to farmer suicides. Other factors responsible for the increasing number of farmer suicide cases in India include-

• Low produce prices
• Changes in government policies
• Poor irrigation facilities