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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farmer suicide rate: 5 a week by Sanjeev Kumar Patro

Farmer suicide rate: 5 a week by Sanjeev Kumar Patro

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published Published on Mar 4, 2010   modified Modified on Mar 4, 2010

The bane of farmers’ suicides has taken Orissa in its vice-like grip with five ending their lives in every seven days. The trend has grown by over six per cent in 2008 as the State has climbed the ladder at a notoriously fast pace to rank 12th of the 28 states with most farmer deaths, the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau has revealed.


The growth is over 40 per cent for the males with 245 taking the extreme step against 170 in 2007. Farmer suicides constitute a significant 5.3 per cent of the total 4,904 suicide cases in Orissa.

The year 2008 has assumed significance against the backdrop of the mega loan waiver scheme offered by the Centre. Though nationally the total number of suicides by farmers has dipped, an upward trend is noticed in states of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, AP, MP, Rajasthan, UP, TN and Gujarat.

What is of concern is that most farmer deaths in Orissa have not been of those involved in cash crop cultivation but majorly paddy growers.

The rise in suicides when seen through a recent report `Combined Finances of Union and State Governments’ brings to the fore some farreaching conclusions. All the States that have registered a rise except Chattisgarh have a very poor per capita expenditure on agriculture. And, except West Bengal all other states that recorded a fall have a very high per capita expenditure on agriculture.

As per the report, the expenditure on agriculture in 2007-08 in Orissa was Rs 890 crore with per capita expenditure of Rs 224 only. The per capita spending of Orissa is only 0.8 times of the national per capita spending on agriculture. Spending on pure agriculture activities like crop husbandry, R&D and other agri-programmes for the same period stood at Rs 315 crore only. Orissa’s per capita spending is even below that of the north-eastern states.

According to Farmers Commission, there is a serious lapse in the Government’s policy towards farmers in Orissa.

It finds that 94 per cent operational holdings in Orissa is below four hectare and currently no improved implements are used in farming there. Only 0.5 per cent of the holdings covering only 6.35 per cent of the cultivable area have tractors, power tillers, pumps and sprayers.

The Commission urged the Government to declare a mechanical package entailing provisioning of ergonomically improved bullock drawn and manual tools and introduction of mechanised power tillers, self-propelled reapers, transplanters and tractors on custom hiring basis to address the falling costs per holding. The input subsidy offered by the Orissa Government on mechanised farm inputs would not ameliorate the problem, as suicides are mostly committed by farmers owning below 4 hectares land.


Express Buzz, 3 March, 2010, http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Farmer+suicide+rate:+5+a+week&artid=0zQKWh0a%7CcQ=&SectionID=mvKkT3vj5ZA=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=nUFeEO
 

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