-Livemint.com A total of 158 farmers killed themselves in July in the state, bringing this year’s toll of farmer suicides to 197, the most since 2003 Bengaluru: The farmer suicide rate in Karnataka has hit the highest level in a decade, highlighting agrarian distress in the state. A total of 158 farmers killed themselves in July alone in the state, government data showed, bringing this year’s toll of farmer suicides to 197,...

-The Hindu Too much of public discourse on farmer suicides could bring on unseemly haggling over the numbers. Activists and the media rightly question loopholes in the National Crime Records Bureau data, pointing out that several State governments often report no farm suicides, contrary to local media reportage. However, there is also much needless suspicion and conspiracy-theorising; the NCRB’s data are from police station-level First Information Reports, and FIRs are often...

-FirstPost.com Travelling across the country for the past five months to bring farmers’ voices to urban audiences through a programme called ‘Smart Agriculture’ - to be broadcast every Saturday and Sunday from 25 July on CNN-IBN - we have learnt that agriculture is not a low-profit activity. In fact, it returns more than double the amount of cash invested. Sandipan Suman, a 47 year-old agricultural sciences graduate and maize grower in Bihar’s...

-The Indian Express Response to the crisis of farmer suicides is narrowly focused. Poor health accounts for most suicides, necessitating improved access to healthcare rather than special packages For over a decade, farmer suicides in India has been a serious public policy concern. More recently, this has led to a shrill media outcry and much politicking. The government response to the crisis of farmer suicide has mostly been simplistic and sometimes aggravating....

There is a class angle to farmers' suicide in India. Close to three-quarter of farmers who committed suicide in 2014 were small and marginal farmers. ‘Bankruptcy or indebtedness’ accounted for one-fifth of total farmers’ suicide during 2014. The report entitled Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2014 by the National Crime Records Bureau of Ministry of Home Affairs clarifies the doubt that indebtedness and bankruptcy were major causes of farmers' suicide,...