Framed Farmers

We look at grand buildings in cities and congratulate ourselves on the ‘development’ of the country, seldom seeing the exploitation and suffering of the poor and the marginalized. Since my childhood days I have been reading that India lives in villages. In fact some people call it Bharat – an undeveloped India. Nearly 70% of India is Bharat by this definition. We also know that most of this Bharat lives in darkness. Interestingly in Sanskrit, Bharat means "devoted to light as against darkness”.

All these people who live in villages are not farmers. According to 2011 census approximately 55% people of India are dependent on agriculture. There are nearly 10 crore farmers and 15 crore agricultural labourers. One interesting fact is that the number of farmers has been declining and in fact there are 90 lakh farmers less than 2001 census count. According to police records nearly 2,00,000 farmers have committed suicide since 2001. Remaining did not commit suicide but became landless labourers. This is also reflected in the census data. Total agricultural labourers have increased significantly. An effect of MNREGA cannot be denied.

Many of us would have seen the popular movie Peepli Live which employs a comic tone to tell a serious story. Subhash K. Jha, film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood, describes Peepli Live as "a work of damning ramifications." He further states that, "To most of us out here sitting in the auditorium, farmers' suicide is just a headline. Read, regretted and then put to bed. Peeply Live is that savagely raw and hurtful wake-up call for the conscience which does not mince words." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama argues that "the concept (farmers' suicides) would instinctively translate into a serious, thought-provoking film. But Peepli Live takes a grim and solemn issue, turns it into a satire, garnishes it with populist sentiment and makes a far greater impact than a mere documentary, had it tackled the burning issue.”

An interesting fact is that the suicide rate for farmers throughout the world is higher than for the non-farming population. In the Midwest of the U.S. suicide rates among male farmers are twice that of the general population. In Britain farmers are taking their own lives at a rate of one a week. In India, one farmer committed suicide every 32 minutes between 1997 and 2005. All over the world the impact of an industrial approach to boosting crop yields has stripped many small farmers of their self-sufficiency and thrown them into despair. Nearly 90% of farmers in India who took their own lives were financially indebted. Their average debt was about Rs. 50000. . For the farmers, facing an agrarian crisis and complete government apathy, there are but two options – either to commit suicide or leave farming and sell their labour for cheap in the city.

Farmer’s suicide has been reported in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The cotton belt of Vidarbha in Maharshtra can be called the suicide belt of India.

What happens to the families after a farmer commits suicide? Off course they are ‘framed’ and homage is paid to them by media, politicians and friends. But their farms are confiscated due to inability to pay back high interest loans. There is harassment of the family by corrupt moneylenders. Widows are burdened with the new responsibility as the sole breadwinner. Children sometimes lose both parents to suicide. Forcing their education to a halt, especially if they have to work in order to provide for their needs

While the prices of crops have been pushed down - often even below the cost of production - the prices of inputs such as seed, fertilizers and pesticides have gone up. With limited resources, farmers depend on borrowed money to purchase seeds and other inputs and to farm their land. A drop in their farm income could quickly lead to farmers owing more than they own.

Most of the small and medium farmers live in financial stress. There is a constant financial pressure related to the ongoing drought and flood. Due to the financial stress there is loss of independence and control. There are other issues also which are not within the farmer’s control – disease, weather, government policy. Farmers also suffer from depression arising from exposure to agricultural chemicals and pesticides. The overuse of chemical fertilizers has also caused the soil to become infertile. Many farmers have committed suicide by drinking the very pesticides that no longer work on their crops.

In order to compete with global market many farmers turned to high-cost seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, believing in easier returns. Modified seeds cost nearly twice as much as ordinary ones, necessitating larger loans. There has been minimal financial support from the government for small farmers. Many small farmers don’t qualify for bank credit, forcing farmers to turn to moneylenders, who charge up to 20% interest on a four-month loan. As collateral, farmers often sign away the title to their land.

A crop failure, an unexpected health expense or the marriage of a daughter are perilous to the livelihood of these farmers. The only way to reduce farmers’ suicide is to provide social support at the time of stress. The greater the support from friends, family, local communities, national policies and society as a whole, the less impact stress will have on individuals and families. Many of the schemes launched by our current Prime Minister Narendra Modi tries to address these issues. Unless implemented with vigour and commitment, these schemes would not bring ‘achche din’ to these farmers and their families. It is crucial for state governments and NGOs to work together, on a local, national and global level, to address and solve this critical issue.