Farmer suicide is the intentional taking of one’s life by a person who relies on farming to earn a living. Farmer suicide is a serious issue in many states. Surveys reveal that suicide rate in farming is forty seven percent higher than any other profession. Farming was once considered a prosperous and peaceful way of living but now things have changed.Farmers` suicide rate varies with countries.
In recent years, farming has become a vulnerable livelihood option. According to reports, one farmer dies in every thirty minutes. By looking at the plight of farmers, it won’t be wrong to say that farmers are on the verge of extinction. Of late, it has become a global concern. According to statistics, more than three lakh farmers have killed themselves since 1995. Farmer suicide rate (FSR) was 16.3 which is almost 5 more than the suicide rate for the rest of the population in 2011.The phenomenal increase in the suicides committed by the farmers is becoming a social calamity and a drag on the quality of life of the farmers and their dependents. Various reasons attributed to farmer suicides are: indebtedness, poverty, natural calamities, low produce prices, marriage related issues etc. Surveys reveal that only twenty five percent of the suicides are due to farm related issues.In agrarian countries like India, important reasons are monsoon failure, unseasonal rains, lack of irrigation etc. Three important characteristics of high risk farmers are cash crop cultivators, people that own small lands(less than one hectare) and those who have debts with informal sources. These reasons cause seventy five percent of the suicides. The suicide rate among agricultural workers is also high due to low wage rate growth. In countries like India, the majority of the population is dependent on agriculture. Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood in India. So, government policies that are ineffective affects people. The declining rate of agriculturalist population shows the lack of profits and support by government. These negative stats and reports question the effectiveness of government plans and highlights the flaws in policies framed by policy makers. Surveys reveal that small land owners are the most vulnerable ones.
Failure to fix proper produce prices, inefficient policies, loan waivers have resulted in the decline of farming as an occupation and it has also caused an increase in farmer suicide rates. This shows how the state has failed to concentrate on an important occupation like farming. Lower levels of the farmers welfare and prosperity shows the failure of a welfare state. Misconception of technology contributing to increased outputs has also been a factor. Over emphasis on technology has made no change. This shows the poor understanding of farmers issue by the policy makers and the government. Technology helped in increasing the output in earlier years but technology’s contribution in recent years has not been great.
Important reasons causing the decline in farmers and increased suicide rates of farmers are low produce price, indebtedness, ineffectiveness of loan waivers, inefficient policies, lack of profits, mental disorder, drug use, physical illness etc. Indebtedness and deterioration in economic status were stated as the major reasons in recent studies. The reasons are context specific. The agrarian crisis has had a huge impact on landless farmers and small farmers. The output from farming related activities has also decreased. The beginning of controlling seed supply has also been a reason. Seed monopoly robs farmers of life. The shift from farm saved seeds to corporate monopolies of seed supply is also a shift from biodiversity to monocultures in agriculture. This increases the risk of crop failure.
Various attempts by the Government to understand the issue and implement policies have been ineffective. These policies have focused on credit and loan rather than improving the livelihood of farmers. Farmers not only borrow for meeting the cost of production but also for meeting the cost of living. They borrow from both formal and informal sources. Victim farmers have borrowed mostly from informal sources such as money lenders, land lords, relatives etc. Studies reveal that victim farmers were pressurized by both formal and informal sources. Farmers avoid banks due to lengthy procedure.
Farmers have lost faith in the government due to its failure to make policies that support the poor. Policies implemented by the government have failed to reach farmers in many cases. The public investment on agriculture has decreased from thirty seven percent in first plan to seventeen percent in tenth plan in India. Economic reforms have failed to fulfill their motives. Farmers have struggled to avail loans despite government’s action to increase credit to farmers and decreasing interest rate to nine percent from fourteen percent. Many farmers are not aware of availability of credit. Banks and cooperatives have also failed in lending money to farmers. Banks have decreased interest rates for car and home loans and have kept it high for agriculture. Despite government’s measures to increase rural credit, farmers borrow money from money lenders. Rural investment has also declined over the years. There is a requirement of for a strong and flexible structure of rural banks still exists.
The burden of indebtedness is high in India. The situation has not changed much even after structural changes in credit institutions. Minimum Support Prices have increased steadily on par with the inflation rate in recent years. But the prevailing market structure has several inadequacies and various interlocking process leaving a majority of farmers selling the agricultural produce at a lower price than expected.
The agriculturalist to total population ratio has declined from twenty three percent to seventeen percent from 1951 to 1991. Farmers are selling their lands to other farmers as the occupation is becoming unviable. The implementation of policies has been pathetic. This indicates the need for innovative agricultural development policies to solve this issue. Loan waivers have been identified as the worst solution for decreasing farmer suicides.
RBI recently said that loan waivers can also effect credit culture. Loans and loan waivers in no way increase the income of farmers. The first loan waiver was announced in 1990. Loan waivers prove to be a burden on banks and economy. Loan waivers are announced with the motive of eliminating indebtedness and helping farmers. It is announced to help farmers cope up with the situation due to lack of monsoon rains. It is also seen as an initiative to retain the farmers. Loan waivers affect the discipline of the financial system. Farmers begin to expect loan waivers due to continuous announcements of loan waivers. Loan waiver also affects the tax payers. Loan waivers do not solve the fundamental problems causing farmer suicides. Lack of accountability and transparency affects the effectiveness of loan waivers.It is being used as a mere political strategy than a proper measure.
Recent studies have raised doubts over National Policy on Farmers 2007 and four percent agricultural growth solution. These policies aim to increase the net income of farmers and improve their economic status. The combined budgetary allocation for agriculture was 20,874 crores in 1990 and it has become 4,35,689crores in 2015-16. These policies have failed to reach the poor. The policies focus on urban farmers than rural farmers. Imposing price controls during price rise and its withdrawal during price stability is an example to this.
Agriculture became a burden due to poverty. Liberalization of the economy shifted the focus to industrial development from agricultural development. The government increased agricultural imports, reduced rural credit and stopped subsidies contributing to poverty. Agricultural sector is being neglected by the policy makers. Policies are framed without consulting farmers. There are no farmers present in the policy making committee. It was found that the state governments in states like Kerala had adopted neo liberal policies. These policies had decreased institutional credit, reduced public investment on agriculture, avoided irrigation facilities, commercialized agricultural inputs and increased the non-institutional credit.
Farmers are not able to recover their investments due to low produce price. “The WPI (wholesale price index) of food articles was lower than that of agricultural inputs for most years, indicating that farmers received lower market prices for agricultural commodities than the prices paid for the inputs,” according to the report, based on analysts of data from 1981-82. This is a result of increase in input costs like irrigation, electricity, pesticides and fertilizers. The rates of food articles have increased at a faster rate since 2008-09. This explains why farmers are making less money.
Loan waivers introduced by government regularly have failed to reach the needy. Reports reveal that actual sufferers have not benefitted from these waivers. Majority of farmers borrow from informal sources even today. These loan waivers are of no use to farmers who have borrowed from informal sources. Large land owners benefit from subsidies. Minimum prices have caused over-supply. Despite perks like loan waivers, low interest loans, high taxes to block food imports, seeds, fertilizers etc farming as an occupation has declined. Agriculture’s contribution to the GDP has reduced. It is mainly because of low produce prices. The tax exemption is not useful as many farmers earn less than the taxable income.
Agricultural development in economic theory has been regarded as a prerequisite for rapid economic transformation of the capitalist economy. Seventy percent of the population of the country is involved in agriculture. So, the per capita income of the country will increase significantly only when net income of farmers increases. Agricultural sector contributes about 17-18% to the GDP. It provides employment oppurtunities to 60% of the population.
Agricultural sector is the source of raw materials for many large scale industries. Many small scale industries depend on this sector for raw materials. Agriculture contributes significantly to the country’s exports. So, agricultural development is vital for a country like India’s development.
The government should frame effective policies to support agriculture. It should make provisions for easy availability of loans. It should recommend proper fertilizers according to the nature of soil. It should ensure just prices for produces that gives profits for farmers. Introduction of technology and awareness about modern farming can also help farmers.
Suicide of farmers has become an alarming and sensitive issue. Agriculture plays a major role in economic development. For a sector which provides sixty percent job opportunities and contributes significantly to the GDP proper government attention is necessary. Proper policy measures should be taken to curb this issue. Policies should aim to solve fundamental issues. Infrastructure and technology in rural areas should be developed. This projects shows the failure of implantation of policies. It also shows how improper policies fail to solve the core problem. Many suicides are due to indebtedness, low produce prices and lack of profits. Reliance on non formal sources for credit is also an issue that needs to be addressed. Efforts should be taken to increase the net income of farmers. Improper policy making and poor implementation is also a concern.
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