Some 5,563 agricultural labourers died by suicide in 2021, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The number of suicides increased by nine per cent from 2020 and by around 29 per cent from 2019.

Reasons

• Non sustainable cropping: Most of the suicides have occurred in areas of cash crops like cotton and sugarcane, which is high input, high output gambling, not based on the principle of sustained and resilient high yield.
• Multiple causes: There is no consensus on what the main causes might be but studies show farmer suicide victims are motivated by more than one cause however the primer reasons being the inability to repay loans.
• Combined causes: Major causes reportedly are bankruptcy/indebtedness, problems in the families, crop failure, illness and alcohol/substance abuse.
• Low penetration of irrigation: Irrigation reaches less than half of India’s overall farmland, a picture that has not changed much over the past decade, and more than 60% of our farmers are susceptible to rainfall anomalies.
• Dry land farming: Rain-fed farming yields are typically less than half those of irrigated farmland.
• High input cost: Though India has caught up with global levels of fertilizer use, this is neither efficient nor environmentally sustainable. Both add to the cost of cultivation.
• Slow R&D: Research on high-yielding crops has plateaued after an initial burst during the Green Revolution and farmers have to resort to patented seeds to draw more out of their scanty acres.

Prevention of farmer suicide

• Policies of integrated pest management to prevent pest damage– An all-inclusive approach that integrates biological, chemical, mechanical and physical methodology should be used to prevent crop damage. In this case, seeking inspiration from Vietnam’s no-spray early rule (predatory beetles are sustained for biological pest control, cutting pesticide requirement by 50%) can be a good way to start.
• Lower fertilizer costs– Helping fertiliser industries cut down on costs, through internal funding rather than external borrowing should lower the input costs.
• Leveraging advancements in Science and Technology by ensuring that state seed policies focus on new genotypes, contract farming and sensitization to adverse weather conditions.
• Precision farming techniqueslike SRI (Systematic Rice Intensification) must be encouraged.
• Farm equipment policy must focus on imported equipment to provide for cheaper local manufacture, some incentives like grant of duty credit scrips may be tried.
• Subsidies must be rerouted towards capital generation and entrepreneurial Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs) and the implementation must be ensured in a timely fashion.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)must be encouraged in the agricultural sector, particularly towards capacity-building, skill development and the establishment of CHCs.
• Institutional financingmust also be ensured to be adequate and inclusive rather than catering to the elites within the farming community.
• Cooperative farmingmust be promoted amongst small and marginal farmers to ensure that they are not left lurking while the big farmers reap the benefit at their cost.
• Doubling the farmer incomeby 2022 is a healthy aim, but loan waivers can’t be the answer. Instead, sustainable agriculture that thrives on re-investment & restructuring is the way ahead. The role that the state has been playing is one of emancipation, but what the primary sector and the farmer needs is empowerment.
• Direct interventions:
  • Early-warning signals for unsustainable loans to launch a 2-pronged approach catering to both the burdened farmers as well as stressed banks.
  • Options for restructuring loans must be used wherever possible.
  • Insurance claim settlements must be speedy and just.
  • District wise list of indebted farmers and efforts in de-stressing them through counselling and other alternative mechanisms should be tried.
  • NABARD and local administration must take control of the situation and play a greater role in curbing farmers’ suicides.
• Innovative efforts like Crowdfunding can be employed through the involvement of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
• Efforts like Agro-Climatic zoning, education through DD Kisan, Soil Health Card Scheme, various crop insurance and facilitative schemes like PM Krishi Sinchayi Yojana will go a long way in helping out
• Community-ledawareness must be taken employing a role model approach highlighting progress of farmers who have benefited from sustainable & climate-tailored agricultural practices

Along with subsidies, increased farm profits, the focus should also be on resilience building and problem-solving skills of farming families. In suicide-prone states, agricultural institutes and scientists should start distributing seeds of resilience, tolerance and contentment among farmers, suggested researchers.