Farmer suicides on rise in Vidarbha and Marathwada

The Southwest Monsoon in the country this year was deficit by 12%, which puts it in the category of drought (rainfall deficiency of 10% or beyond is drought). The onset of monsoon itself was late and rainfall amount was very poor with the cumulative deficit in June recording 43%. In July too, the deficit was 22%, while in August there was marginal recovery and the deficit was 18%. September was the only month when Southwest Monsoon rain was surplus by 8%, thus helping in bringing down the cumulative deficit.

Punjab, Haryana, West Uttar Pradesh, Marathwada and to a large extent Vidarbha were the worst affected sub-divisions this year. By the end of Southwest Monsoon, the rainfall deficit in Vidarbha was 14% however, the monthly deficit in June was a whopping 62%. In July some recovery was observed and rainfall was surplus by 8%. But the Southwest Monsoon again became deficit in August by 37%. And in September it was surplus by 33 %, which explains the undulating nature of the monsoon rain this year.

Against a total of 954.6 mm of rain, Vidarbha recorded 817.5 mm, thereby denting the farmer community very badly. Poor rains have affected farm produce and the farmers are getting less than what they expected from the harvest. Even the prices of cash crops like soyabean and cotton in the market have nosedived due to which the farmers are not able to recover the costs and are therefore being forced to take extreme steps like committing suicide.

According to an English Daily, 55 farmers from Vidarbha and 65 from Marathwada region have taken their lives in the last one month. In 2013, there were 11, 744 farmer suicides reported out of which nearly 27% (3,146) – highest for any state - was from Maharashtra. On Friday a 75-year-old farmer from drought-hit Vidarbha lit his own pyre in the middle of his soyabean field and killed himself.

Such incidents of farmers’ suicide have become very common in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra. High dependency on Monsoon rain is the biggest factor behind farmers taking this extreme step. The state government along with the Centre have to think seriously in this matter before it aggravates even further.