Farmer suicides continue unabated in Maharashtra and this has been the case for the last decade-and-a-half, despite all-out efforts to extricate farmers from their debt trap and improve the quantity and quality of farm produce. Originally reported from parts of Vidarbha, farmer suicides have now spread to other parts of the state, and age is no barrier. At first, it was on account of drought conditions in the state, but now, it is not just the drought, but freak rains and sudden hailstorms that are pushing many farmers to the brink. Natural calamities, weak markets and failed crops for two successive seasons have only served to exacerbate the problem.
The state legislature had to grapple with this issue and for once, representatives cut across party lines demanding immediate action. But this too has become routine, where the opposition launches a blistering attack on the government, which in turn, trying to protect itself, announces some stopgap measures to wipe out farmers’ debts, without providing any real relief.
Official statistics reveal an alarming rise in farmer suicides, up 40 per cent in the state as compared to last year, on account of this year’s unseasonal rains. The figures show that 975 suicides by farmers were reported between January and July 2014, which shot up to 1,373 between August 2014 and February 2015, because of drought-like conditions prevailing in most parts of the state. Cash crops, as well as traditional crops have been damaged due to rains and hailstorm. The suicides, initially concentrated in Vidarbha’s cotton-growing districts of Yavatmal and Akola have now spread to the backward regions of Marathwada, which has registered an almost 85 per cent rise in suicides in the last seven months.
There is a misconception that only marginal farmers, with small land holdings are prone to crop failure and suicide — in parts of Marathwada and Western Maharashtra, even farmers holding 15 to 20 acres of land have taken their lives on being let down by the monsoon.
The authorities blame climate change for the continuing drought conditions in the state. They point fingers at the late arrival and early withdrawal of the monsoon, the long gaps between periods of rainfall and the freak hailstorms playing havoc with farmers and their crops. Apart from the vagaries of monsoon and the freak rain showers, experts also blame the new economic policy changes by the union, as well as the state government for the pathetic condition of the farmer. Whether the crop in question is cash or foodgrain, the high price of cultivation, the use of fertilisers, pesticides and the rising cost of taking agriculture products to distant markets is making the farming economy very difficult to handle. Farmers neither have any reserves nor institutional support to fall back on in case of crop failure.
Despite the political clout of sugarcane growers and sugar cooperatives in the state, farming experts have been taking strong objection to the massive misuse of water for growing sugar cane on land in irrigation sector. Scarcity of water is leading to several political clashes and one region is set against the other over water-sharing. Sugarcane occupies five per cent of the state’s land, but utilises 60 per cent of its irrigation water. As it is, there is scarcely any scope to increase irrigation facilities in Maharashtra for geological reasons and there is urgent need to redistribute water to arid regions to increase foodgrain output.
There have been numerous allegations of corruption in the irrigation sector, where a few years must pass before projects actually supply water to the farmers and project costs keep rising over the years. The BJP-Shiv Sena had promised voters that it would conduct inquiries and put those responsible for corruption behind bars, but as the new government started reviewing decisions by the previous government, it realised that almost every project was affected and it would be unwise to initiate action without much proof. Since corruption charges seem to swirl around mega projects with mega budgets, the government has decided to focus on smaller projects such as dams, barrages and wells as an alternative to mega irrigation projects, which damage the environment beyond repair.
The project undertaken by Madhya Pradesh to provide three lakh wells to its people, which helped improve that state’s irrigation capacity by 24 per cent seems to have inspired CM Fadnavis. However, in this state, the water table has sunk so deplorably in most parts that a simple measure such as sinking wells is not going to accomplish anything. Unless rain harvesting measures are compulsorily put in place, both in the urban and semi-urban areas of the state, relief is going to be hard to come by.
There has to be proper distribution of the available water resources for drinking purposes, the industrial and farm sectors. The massive construction activity going on in cities and semi-urban areas drink up large quantities of water. Unless special provisions are made for construction purposes, drinking and farming water will always be in short supply.
The state must encourage the use of natural fertilisers to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers to reduce production costs. There are a number of traditional ways of ensuring good crop production. The state also must intervene to ensure proper market conditions for all sorts of agriculture products so that farmers are in sound financial condition. Unless these steps are taken, farmer suicides in the state’s backward regions will continue.
