Debt-Ridden Indian Farmers Committing Suicide

That Indian farmers have been committing suicide at depressingly shocking rates, due most often to high debts incurred when the industrial agriculture techniques and/or GM crop seeds they've been told will make them wealthy don't quite pan out as promised, is a long-running issue at the intersection of environmental and social justice — but this latest news is particularly stark.

The Times of India reports that in the past 48 hours five farmers in just one district of the state of Maharashtra have killed themselves, all over high debts. For the year, just five months and two days old, 332 farmers have chosen to end their lives because of debt.

In other words, in one state in India (albeit a big state) nearly 3 farmers each day are killing themselves because the debts they have incurred.

About this time of year, looking back at 2010 and for the whole of India, the number of farmer suicides divided out to one every 30 minutes (!!!).

Of course, the suicides bring about their own sets of problems: the widow and/or family may not be able to afford a burial; the widow is left alone to support the children; the debt in some cases will be passed on to the widow; what is left of the family may lose their land and/or their homes - the list is endless.

What's going on? Drought reducing crop yields and reducing the amount of water available (and required) for the Bt cotton they've invested in.

"As per official admission of Maharashtra agriculture minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, this year cotton cultivation has jumped to more than 44 lakh hectares in dry land region of Mahrashtra covering Vidarbha, Marathwada, Khandesh and North Maharashtra, but due to drought the yield has dropped to 45 lakh bales in comparison to last year's yield of 86 lakh bales," Tiwari said. "Moreover, cost of cultivation has jumped to almost double, not to mention lack of proper irrigation facilities for rain-sensitive Bt cotton crop," he added.

The latest farmer to kill himself owed Rs300,000 ($5663) — which gives you some additional insight into the precarious financial situation these farmers are in, in the first place.

All of this becomes additionally poignant today, as a new report commissioned by Greenpeace International finds that Bt brinjal (eggplant or aubergine, depending on your nationality)—currently banned from commercial cultivation in India, but there's a push to change that — poses an environmental risk.

The gist of it is this: Much like has been the case with other genetically-modified crops designed to be resistant to a particular pest or to a specific pesticide, but which are also designed so that they won't interbreed with non-GM varieties of the plant, nature always finds a way and manages to bypass the GM tinkering.

The Hindu provides more detail, saying the study finds that:

Brinjal relatives do occur in the regions where cultivation of GE Bt brinjal is proposed, and that GE Bt brinjal may mate with these relatives to spread the GE Bt gene. Spread of the GE Bt gene would have considerable ecological implications, as well as implications for future crop contamination and farmers' rights. Importantly, the spread of the GE Bt gene could result in the brinjal becoming an aggressive and problematic weed, the Greenpeace report suggests, while impressing upon the governments the need to employ the precautionary principle and not permit any authorization of the outdoor cultivation of GE Bt brinjal, including field trials.

Outdoor field trials are currently underway in the Philippines, the report notes.

Indian Farmers Commit Suicide as Drought Continues

Farmer's widow Sugali Nagamma, 41, with her daughter Devi, 18, walk through the fields near the village of Kapiripalli in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Her husband committed suicide three months ago, after the worst drought this region has experienced in two decades. Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos.

Andhra Pradesh is historically called the "Rice Bowl of India". More than 77% of its crop is rice and Andhra Pradesh produced 17,796,000 tons of rice in 2006. However, things are changing.

Andhra Pradesh, India’s fourth largest state is now in the grip of a drought brought about by climate change; and, farmers are literally killing themselves because they cannot grow any crops. Not being able to grow any crops means not only can’t they feed themselves and their families; but, they also have no income to pay off any bills or to buy supplies of any kind.

What was once considered the rice bowl of India is now an area of desolation, drought and death.

India depends on the monsoons or "rainy season" to provide the water necessary to grow their crops. To most of India’s amazement the July monsoons did not arrive as scheduled. When they did arrive – 45 days late – they were woefully inadequate for the crops that had been planted and too late for others to be planted at all.

Descriptions of the so-called monsoon rains from the locals include “scanty”, “maybe just five minutes a day”, “raining on one field; but, not the next”. Not good news for one of the driest states of India. There is no such thing as irrigation so all water needed must come from the rains.

By the end of September, a drought had been officially declared in the state. Food prices were rising – rice (a staple) by 20%, sugar by 45% and most vegetables went even higher. The farming families are some of the poorest people in India and now they are unable to grow crops to feed their families. Without the small income generated by the sale of some of their crops, they are unable to afford to buy food for their families.

The rains have not been kind this year. Early in October, massive storms brought floods that drove nearly half a million people in the state from their homes.

But the rains came to late to help people like Naryamaswamy Naik. His wife, Sugali Nagamma, says of her husband, “I don't know how much he had borrowed. I asked him, but he wouldn't say. I'd tell him: don't worry; we can sell the salt from our table. Everyone has debts."

In July, Mr. Naik took a tin of pesticide from the cupboard, opened it and drank it. His wife, Sugali tells the story. "He'd been unhappy for a month; but, that day he was in a heavy depression. I tried to take the tin away from him but I couldn't. He died in front of us. The head of the family died in front of his wife and children – can you imagine?"

It is a story repeated over and over throughout India – the details change slightly; but, the outcome is always the same. Through no fault of their own, farming families accumulate debt they are unable to pay due to the drought. Drowning in debts stemming from several years of insufficient rain, the head of the household commits suicide in shame over his inability to support his family.

In the villages people talk a lot about suicide. Oxfam’s regional manager, Shaik Anwar, says this is the result of the total desperation felt by people who see no other way out. All other methods of coping have failed; and, thoughts of suicide become constant companions.

"They already have a huge amount of debt, and the delay of four or five weeks in the planting season just finishes people. A shortfall in rain is OK, people are used to drought, but this is different: farmers lost the seed and they lost the crop. Often the social pressures contribute to suicides: marrying a daughter is very tough. The culture is that they have to feed 50 or 100 families at the ceremony, even when they don't have enough grain at home for themselves."

So farmers hire out as labourers earning the magnificent sum of 30 rupees (75¢ USD) a day if they work for a local farmer or 100 rupees ($2.40 USD) if they get on a government scheme designed to help the rural poor. Children drop out of school and work alongside their parent(s). Some families get government-subsidized rice that lasts only one week out of the month; but, is better than the nothing they now have.

Adding to the misery is that the summer temperatures can be 10°C hotter now than in the past. Since they can reach 45°C (113°F), this makes work outdoors near impossible.

Ramesh Naik, a 35-year-old red gram farmer, says, "When I was a child everywhere there was water, and rains. I suppose those were the golden days – now we're always looking to the sky, looking for the rain. It was eight or 10 years ago that things started changing. Every year since has become worse and food problems have got worse. Before, if something was required people would share; now there's no support, no sharing of grain or anything. People can't afford to help any more. Everyone is in crisis."

Via Guardian

Thousands of Indian farmers commit suicide due to crop failures.




Thousands of Indian farmers are committing suicide after growing genetically-modified crops.