-TheWire.in A recent report on farmer suicides in Punjab reveals the circumstances which lead farmers and farm labourers to take their own lives, debunks popular myths regarding the same, and points to policy measures needed to tackle the problem. Suicides are a sign of a deep crisis in a society. And in Punjab’s so-called ‘agriculturally developed society’, suicides of farmers and farm labourers have been taking place unabated for the last two...
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A Fresh Spike in Farmer Suicides in Punjab -Shweta Saini, Siraj Hussain and Pulkit Khatri
-TheIndiaForum.in Since 2015, there has been a sharp rise in farmer suicides in Punjab. Farmers in the state borrow large loans at high interest rates; some of which is used for consumption. According to official data, 51% of farmer suicides in Punjab are due to a high level of indebtedness, mostly to institutions. Farmer suicides are back in focus. Media reports suggest that in April 2022 alone 14 Punjab farmers died by...
More »Maharashtra’s female farm workforce struggles in the shadows of floods -Sanket Jain
-India.Mongabay.com * Some women agricultural labourers in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur and Sangli districts are reporting disruptions to their physical and mental wellbeing as they deal with the aftereffects of floods in 2019 and 2021 and uncertainty of climate. * Healthcare systems need to take an integrated and cohesive view of public health, recommend experts. * There is a lack of health data that connects climate change to its impact on health. Early warning systems...
More »Farmers working in burnt sugarcane, paddy fields, at risk of chronic kidney disease
-The Hindu A multinational study including NIMS nephrologist concludes the finding Hyderabad: Farmers and daily wage labourers working in burned sugarcane could be at the risk of developing Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu). A multinational original research article, including a nephrologist from Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Telangana, India, has concluded that ‘human exposure to amorphous silica nanoparticles found in burned sugarcane fields could have a participatory role...
More »In South Asia, record heat threatens future of farming
-United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) A prolonged and deadly heatwave has hit large swaths of India and Pakistan affecting hundreds of millions of people and sparking food and energy shortages. Experts say the extreme heat is a grim preview of what the climate crisis has in store for a region home to over 1 billion people. Temperatures in India’s capital and parts of Pakistan have at times reached close to 50°C, killing...
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