View source for Farmers' suicides in India

{{Short description|Public issue}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}

'''Farmers' suicides in India''' refers to the event of [[farmers]] dying by [[suicide]] in [[India]] since the 1970s, due to their inability to repay loans mostly taken from private landlords and banks. India being an agrarian country with around 70% of its rural population depending directly or indirectly upon [[agriculture]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sampathkumar |first=Raghavan |title=Unlocking the potential of India's agricultural sector |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/unlocking-the-potential-of-indias-agricultural-sector/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> the sector had a 15% share in the economy of India in 2023,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-12-19 |title=Share of agriculture in India's GDP declined to 15% in FY23: Govt |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/share-of-agriculture-in-indias-gdp-declined-to-15-in-fy23-govt/articleshow/106124466.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2024-04-08 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389}}</ref> and according to [[National Sample Survey Office (India)|NSSO]], around 45.5% of country's labor force was associated with agriculture in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-06 |title=What India's labour force and national income data tell us about jobs shifting from agriculture |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-economics/explained-economics-agriculture-and-employment-8480945/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>  Activists and scholars have offered several conflicting reasons for farmer suicides, such as anti-farmer laws, high debt burdens, poor government policies, corruption in subsidies, crop failure, mental health, personal issues and family problems.

The [[National Crime Records Bureau]] data shows that while 296,438 farmers had died by suicide between 1995 and 2014,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-08 |title=Maharashtra crosses 60,000 farm suicides |url=https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/maharashtra-crosses-60000-farm-suicides/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |archive-date=8 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408175824/https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/maharashtra-crosses-60000-farm-suicides/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> in the nine years between 2014 and 2022, the number stood at 100,474.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-08 |title=Average 30 Farmer Suicides Per Day in Modi Govt Years Points to a Systemic Apathy |url=https://m.thewire.in/article/agriculture/average-30-farmer-suicides-per-day-in-modi-govt-years-points-to-a-systemic-apathy |access-date=2024-04-08 |archive-date=8 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408173634/https://m.thewire.in/article/agriculture/average-30-farmer-suicides-per-day-in-modi-govt-years-points-to-a-systemic-apathy |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> In 2022, a total of 11,290 persons involved in the farming sector (5,207 farmers and 6,083 agricultural labourers) have committed suicide in India, accounting for 6.6% of total suicide victims in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-08 |title=One farmer/farm labourer dies by suicide every hour in India: NCRB data |url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/one-farmer-farm-labourer-dies-by-suicide-every-hour-in-india-ncrb-data-93184 |access-date=2024-04-08 |archive-date=8 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408180626/https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/one-farmer-farm-labourer-dies-by-suicide-every-hour-in-india-ncrb-data-93184 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

Earlier, governments had reported varying figures, from 5,650 farmer suicides in 2014<ref name=ncrb2012>National Crime Reports Bureau, [http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/ADSI/ADSI2014/adsi-2014%20full%20report.pdf ADSI Report Annual – 2014] Government of India, p. 242, table 2.11</ref> to the highest number of farmer suicides in 2004 of 18,241.<ref name="allindiancrb">{{cite news|title=NDA, UPA failed to curb farmer suicides|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=3 August 2014 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/NDA-UPA-failed-to-curb-farmer-suicides/articleshow/39501676.cms}}</ref> The farmer's suicide rate in India had ranged between 1.4 and 1.8 per 1,00,000 population, over a 10-year period through 2005. However, the figures in 2017 and 2018 showed an average of more than 10 suicides daily or 5760 suicides per year.<ref name="ggds"/> There are accusations of states manipulating the data on farmer suicides, hence the real figures could be even higher.<ref>{{cite web|title=P Sainath: How states fudge the data on declining farmer suicides|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/p-sainath-how-states-fudge-the-data-on-farmer-suicides/20140801.htm}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Farmer suicide.png|thumb|400px|Total No of Farmer suicides reported in India per year as NCRBC, India<ref name="allindiancrb"/><ref name="bbc.com"/><ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Profile of suicide victims categorised by profession – 2013 |url=http://ncrb.gov.in/adsi2013/table-2.11.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226020147/http://ncrb.gov.in/adsi2013/table-2.11.pdf |archive-date=26 February 2015  }}</ref><ref name="frequency">{{cite web|title=46 farmers commit suicide every day in India: Research|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081215/main6.htm}}</ref>]]

Historical records relating to frustration, revolts, and high mortality rates among farmers in India, particularly [[cash crop]] farmers, date back to the 19th century.<ref name=catanach>I.J. Catanach (1971), Rural Credit in Western India, 1875-1930, University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520015951}}, pp. 10–55</ref><ref>{{cite journal | jstor=3744291 | title=Colonial Encroachment and Popular Resistance: Land Survey and Settlement Operations in Berar (Central India), 1861-1877 | last1=Satya | first1=Laxman D. | journal=Agricultural History | year=1998 | volume=72 | issue=1 | pages=55–76 }}</ref> However, suicides due to the same were rare.<ref name=dara/> The high land taxes of the 1870s, payable in cash regardless of the effects of frequent famines on farm output or productivity, combined with colonial protection of usury, money lenders, and landowner rights, contributed to widespread penury and frustration among cotton and other farmers, ultimately leading to the [[Deccan Riots]] of 1875–1877.<ref name=dara/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kranton |first1=Rachel E. |last2=Swamy |first2=Anand V. |title=The hazards of piecemeal reform: British civil courts and the credit market in colonial India |journal=Journal of Development Economics |date=February 1999 |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.1016/S0304-3878(98)00100-X}}</ref>

The [[British Raj|colonial government]] enacted the Deccan Agriculturists' Relief Act in 1879, to limit the interest rate charged by money lenders to Deccan cotton farmers, but applied it selectively to areas that served foreign cotton trading interests.<ref name=dara>[https://archive.org/stream/papersproceeding00bomb#page/n1/mode/2up Deccan Agriculturists’ Relief Act, XVII of 1879] Government Central Press, Bombay (1882)</ref><ref>Chaudhary and Swamy (2000), [http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/anand.pdf Protecting the Borrower: An Experiment in Colonial India], Yale University</ref> Rural mortality rates, in predominantly agrarian areas of colonial India, were very high between 1850 and the 1940s.<ref>Mike Davis (2001), Late Victorian Holocausts, El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World, Verso, {{ISBN|1-85984-739-0}}, Chapter 1</ref><ref>BM Bhatia (1963), Famines in India 1850-1945, Asia Publishing House, London, {{ISBN|978-0210338544}}</ref> However, starvation related deaths far exceeded those by suicide, the latter being officially classified under "injuries".<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=2174991 | title=On the Demography of South Asian Famines: Part I | last1=Dyson | first1=Tim | journal=Population Studies | year=1991 | volume=45 | issue=1 | pages=5–25 | doi=10.1080/0032472031000145056 | pmid=11622922 }}</ref> The death rate classified under "injuries", in 1897, was 79 per 100,000 people in [[Central Provinces]] of India and 37 per 100,000 people in [[Bombay Presidency]].<ref>{{cite journal | jstor=2662775 | title=Food Supply and Starvation: A Study of Famines with Reference to the Indian Sub-Continent | last1=Ghose | first1=Ajit Kumar | journal=Oxford Economic Papers | year=1982 | volume=34 | issue=2 | pages=368–389 | doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a041557 | pmid=11620403 }}</ref>

Ganapathi and Venkoba Rao analyzed suicides in parts of [[Tamil Nadu]] in 1966. They recommended that the distribution of agricultural [[organophosphorus compound]]s be restricted.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ganapathi |first1=MN |last2=Rao |first2=AV |title=A study of suicide in Madurai. |journal=Journal of the Indian Medical Association |date=1 January 1966 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=18–23 |pmid=5904560}}</ref> Similarly, Nandi et al. in 1979 noted the role of freely available agricultural [[insecticide]]s in suicides in rural [[West Bengal]] and suggested that their availability be regulated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nandi |first1=D. N. |last2=Mukherjee |first2=S. P. |last3=Banerjee |first3=G. |last4=Ghosh |first4=A. |last5=Boral |first5=G. C. |last6=Chowdhury |first6=A. |last7=Bose |first7=J. |title=Is suicide preventable by restricting the availability of lethal agents? - A rural survey of West Bengal |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=July 1979 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=251–255 |url=https://journals.lww.com/indianjpsychiatry/Abstract/1979/21030/IS_SUICIDE_PREVENTABLE_BY_RESTRICTING_THE.12.aspx}}</ref> Hegde studied rural suicides in villages of northern [[Karnataka]] over 1962 to 1970 and stated the suicide incidence rate to be 5.7 per 100,000 population.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hedge |first1=RS |title=Suicide in rural community |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=October 1980 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=368–70 |pmid=22058501|pmc=3013609 }}</ref> Reddy, in 1993, reviewed high rates of farmer suicides in [[Andhra Pradesh]] and its relationship to farming size and productivity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ratna Reddy |first1=V.  |title=New Technology in Agriculture and Changing Size-Productivity Relationships: A Study of Andhra Pradesh |date=1993 |journal=Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=633–648 |doi=10.22004/ag.econ.274908}}</ref>

Reporting in the popular press about farmers' suicides in India began in the mid-1990s, particularly by [[Palagummi Sainath]].<ref>P., Sainath, Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India's Poorest Districts, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|0-14-025984-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/agriculture/a-long-march-of-the-dispossessed-to-delhi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703133438/https://thewire.in/agriculture/a-long-march-of-the-dispossessed-to-delhi|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 July 2018|title=A Long March of the Dispossessed to Delhi|date=3 July 2018}}</ref> In the 2000s, the issue gained international attention and a variety of Indian government initiatives.<ref>{{cite news |title=Debts and Drought Drive India's Farmers to Despair |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/world/debts-and-drought-drive-india-s-farmers-to-despair.html|date=6 June 2004|work=[[The New York Times]] | first=Amy | last=Waldman | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-acts-over-suicide-crisis-on-farms-45493.html|title=India acts over suicide crisis on farms|last=Huggler|first=Justin|date=2 July 2004|access-date=23 October 2019|work=[[The Independent]]|location=London}}</ref>

The [[National Crime Records Bureau]], an office of the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (India)|Ministry of Home Affairs]], [[Government of India]], which has been collecting and publishing suicide statistics for India since the 1950s (as annual '''''Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India''''' report) has started separately collecting and publishing farmer's suicide statistics from 1995.<ref>J Hardikar, [http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-farmer-suicides-maharastra-continues-to-be-worst-affected-10th-year-in-a-row-1492455 Farmer suicides: Maharastra continues to be worst-affected 10th year in a row] DNA India (9 January 2011)</ref>

==States affected==
[[Maharashtra]] has been the state worst affected by suicides in farming sector with over 60,000 deaths between the period from 1995 to 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-08 |title=Maharashtra crosses 60,000 farm suicides |url=https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/maharashtra-crosses-60000-farm-suicides/ |access-date=2024-04-08 |archive-date=8 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408175824/https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/maharashtra-crosses-60000-farm-suicides/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

According to the [[National Crime Records Bureau]], the states with the highest incidence of farmer suicide in 2022 were Maharashtra (4,248), [[Karnataka]] (2,392),  [[Andhra Pradesh]] (917), and [[Tamil Nadu]] (728) and [[Madhya Pradesh]] (641).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-08 |title=One farmer/farm labourer dies by suicide every hour in India: NCRB data |url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/one-farmer-farm-labourer-dies-by-suicide-every-hour-in-india-ncrb-data-93184 |access-date=2024-04-08 |archive-date=8 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408180626/https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/one-farmer-farm-labourer-dies-by-suicide-every-hour-in-india-ncrb-data-93184 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> Together, these five states recorded about 80 per cent of total suicides in the farming sector and about 85 per cent of farmers’ suicides.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-13 |title=Every Day, 15 Farmers Died By Suicide in India in 2021; Biggest Spike in 5 Years: Govt Data |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/every-day-15-farmers-died-by-suicide-in-india-in-2021-biggest-spike-in-5-years-govt-data-6160171.html |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=News18 |language=en}}</ref>

==Reasons==
Various reasons have been offered to explain why farmers die by suicide in India, including floods, drought, debt, use of genetically modified seeds, public health, and use of lower quantity pesticides due to fewer investments producing a decreased yield. There is no consensus<ref name="Mishra, Srijit 2007">{{cite web|title=Risks, Farmers' Suicides and Agrarian Crisis in India: Is There A Way Out?|author=Mishra, Srijit|publisher=Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR)|year=2007|url=http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/WP-2007-014.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Behere |first1=Pb |last2=Behere |first2=Ap |title=Farmers′ suicide in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state: A myth or reality? |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=2008 |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=124–127 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.42401|pmid=19742218 |pmc=2738339 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Stone | first1 = Glenn Davis | s2cid = 1206064 | year = 2007 | title = Agricultural Deskilling and the Spread of Genetically Modified Cotton in Warangal | journal = Current Anthropology | volume = 48 | pages = 67–103 | doi=10.1086/508689}}</ref> on what the main causes might be but studies show suicide victims are motivated by more than one cause, on average three or more causes for dying by suicide, the primary reason being the inability to repay loans.<ref name=panagariya/> Panagariya, an [[economist]] at the [[World bank]] states, "farm-related reasons get cited only approximately 25 percent of the time as reasons for suicide" and "studies do consistently show greater debt burden and greater reliance on informal sources of credit" among farmers who die by suicide.<ref name=panagariya>{{cite book|last1=Panagariya|first1=Arvind|title=India|url=https://archive.org/details/indiaemerginggia00pana|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195315035|page=[https://archive.org/details/indiaemerginggia00pana/page/n183 153]}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; border: 1px solid #BBB; margin: .46em 0 0 .2em; font-size: 85%;"
| '''Reasons for farmers suicides. (in 2002)<ref name="panagariya" />'''
| '''Percent (of suicides)'''
|-

|-
| Failure of crops
| 16.84
|-
| Other reasons (e.g. chit fund)
| 15.04
|-
| Family problems with spouse, others
| 13.27
|-
| Chronic illness
| 9.73
|-
| Marriage of daughters
| 5.31
|-
| Political affiliation
| 4.42
|-
| Property disputes
| 2.65
|-
| Debt burden
| 2.65
|-
| Price crash
| 2.65
|-
| Borrowing too much (for house construction)
| 2.65
|-
| Losses in non-farm activities
| 1.77
|-
| Failure of bore well
| 0.88
|-
| colspan="2" |<sup>¶</sup>Note: Reasons given by close relatives and friends. Every case 
cited more than one reason.<ref name="panagariya" />
|-
|}

A study conducted in 2014, found that there are three specific characteristics associated with high-risk farmers: "those that grow cash crops such as coffee and cotton; those with 'marginal' farms of less than one hectare; and those with debts of 300 [[Rupee]]s or more." The study also found that the Indian states in which these three characteristics are most common had the highest suicide rates and also accounted for "almost 75% of the variability in state-level suicides."<ref>[http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/new-evidence-of-suicide-epidemic-among-indias-marginalised-farmers#sthash.gxIRfIda.dpuf New evidence] of a suicide epidemic among India's 'marginalised' farmers, © 2014 University of Cambridge.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=Jonathan |last2=King |first2=Lawrence |title=The political economy of farmers' suicides in India: indebted cash-crop farmers with marginal landholdings explain state-level variation in suicide rates |journal=Globalization and Health |date=2014 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=16 |doi=10.1186/1744-8603-10-16|pmid=24669945 |pmc=4230648 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A 2012 study, did a regional survey on farmers' suicide in rural Vidarbha ([[Maharashtra]]) and applied a Smith's Saliency method to qualitatively rank the expressed causes among farming families who had lost someone to suicide.<ref name=dnd>Dongre and Deshmukh, Farmers' suicides in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India: a qualitative exploration of their causes, Journal of Injury and Violence Research, Jan 2012; 4(1): 2–6</ref> The expressed reasons in order of importance behind farmer suicides were – [[debt]], [[alcohol addiction]], environment, low produce prices, stress and family responsibilities, apathy, poor [[irrigation]], increased cost of cultivation, private money lenders, use of [[chemical fertilizer]]s and [[crop failure]].<ref name=dnd/> In other words, debt to stress and family responsibilities were rated as significantly higher than fertilizers and crop failure. In a different study in the same region in 2006, indebtedness (87%) and deterioration in the economic status (74%) were found to be major factors for suicide.<ref name=bnb>Behere and Bhise, Farmers' suicide: Across culture, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 2009 Oct–Dec; 51(4): 242–243</ref>

Studies dated 2004 through 2006, identified several causes for farmers suicide, such as insufficient or risky credit systems, the difficulty of farming semi-arid regions, poor agricultural income, absence of alternative income opportunities, a downturn in the urban economy which forced non-farmers into farming, and the absence of suitable counseling services.<ref name="Mishra, Srijit 2007"/><ref name = "Gruere"/><ref name="Nagraj">{{cite web|author=Nagraj, K.|year=2008|title=Farmers suicide in India: magnitudes, trends and spatial patterns|url=http://www.macroscan.com/anl/mar08/pdf/Farmers_Suicides.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512173317/http://www.macroscan.com/anl/mar08/pdf/Farmers_Suicides.pdf|archive-date=12 May 2011}}</ref> In 2004, in response to a request from the All India Biodynamic and Organic Farming Association, the Mumbai High Court required the [[Tata Institute of Social Sciences|Tata Institute]] to produce a report on farmer suicides in [[Maharashtra]], and the institute submitted its report in March 2005.<ref name=InfoChange>Staff, InfoChange August 2005. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120516012923/http://infochangeindia.org/agriculture/books-a-reports/644-farmer-suicides-in-maharashtra-since-2001-says-tiss-report.html 644 farmer suicides in Maharashtra since 2001, says TISS report]}}</ref><ref name=TataReport>Dandekar A, et al, Tata Institute. [http://www.vnss-mission.gov.in/htmldocs/Farmers_suicide_TISS_report.pdf Causes of Farmer Suicides in Maharashtra: An Enquiry. Final Report Submitted to the Mumbai High Court 15 March 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809074417/http://vnss-mission.gov.in/htmldocs/Farmers_suicide_TISS_report.pdf |date=9 August 2013 }}</ref> The survey cited "government's lack of interest, the absence of a safety net for farmers and lack of access to information related to agriculture, as the chief causes for the desperate condition of farmers in the state."<ref name="InfoChange" />

An Indian study conducted in 2002, indicated an association between victims engaging in entrepreneurial activities (such as venturing into new crops, cash crops, and following market trends) and their failure in meeting expected goals due to a range of constraints.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Panagariya|first1=Arvind|title=India|url=https://archive.org/details/indiaemerginggia00pana|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195315035|page=[https://archive.org/details/indiaemerginggia00pana/page/n184 154]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Deshpande | first1 = R. S. | year = 2002 | title = Financial Development, Economic Growth and Banking Sector Controls:Evidence from India | journal = Economic Journal | volume = 106 | pages = 359–74 }}</ref>

===Government economic policy===
Economists like Utsa Patnaik, Jayati Ghosh, and Prabhat Patnaik suggest that structural changes in the macro-economic policy of the Indian Government that favored privatization, liberalization, and globalization are the root cause of farmer suicides.<ref>{{cite news|author=T.K Rajalakshmi|title=It is a crisis rooted in economic reforms|newspaper=The Hindu|location=Chennai, India|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/enwiki/static/html/fl2113/stories/20040702006302200.htm}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=6 February 2010|title=State must re-engage with peasantry, says Prabhat Patnaik|newspaper=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/State-must-re-engage-with-peasantry-says-Prabhat-Patnaik/article15979268.ece|via=www.thehindu.com}}</ref> Business economists dispute this view.<ref>Ravi Kapoor [http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/the-myth-of-farmer-suicides-113032100614_1.html The myth of farmer suicides] Business Standard (27 March 2013)</ref><ref>Sidhu, M. S. (2010), Globalisation vis-à-vis Agrarian Crisis in India, Agrarian Crisis and Farmer Suicides (Editors: Deshpande and Arora), {{ISBN|978-813210-5121}}, SAGE Publications, Chapter 7</ref>

===GM crops===
A number of social activist groups and studies proposed a link between expensive [[genetically modified crops]] and farmer suicides.<ref name = "Gruere"/> [[Bt cotton]] (''Bacillus thuringiensis'' cotton) was claimed to be responsible for farmer suicides.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/world/asia/19india.html?pagewanted=all On India’s Farms, a Plague of Suicide] New York Times (18 September 2006)</ref> The Bt cotton seeds cost nearly twice as much as ordinary ones. The higher costs forced many farmers into taking ever larger loans, often from private moneylenders charging exorbitant interest rates (60% a year). The moneylenders force farmers to sell their cotton to them at a price lower than it fetches on the market. According to activists and studies, this created a source of debt and economic stress, ultimately suicides, among farmers. Increasing costs in farming associated with decreasing yields even with use of BT cotton seeds are often quoted cause of distress among farmers in central India.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Be here | first1 = P.B. | last2 = Bhise | first2 = M.C. | year = 2010 | title = Farmers' suicides in central rural India: Where are we heading? | journal = Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry | volume = 26 | issue = 1–2| pages = 1–3 }}</ref> A 2015 study in [[Environmental Sciences Europe]] found that farmer suicide rates in India's rainfed areas were "directly related to increases in Bt cotton adoption." Factors leading to suicide included "high costs of BT cotton" and "ecological disruption and crop loss after the introduction of Bt cotton."<ref>{{cite journal |title=Deconstructing Indian cotton: weather, yields, and suicides |journal=Environmental Sciences Europe |year=2015 |last1=Gutierrez |first1=Andrew Paul |last2=Ponti |first2=Luigi |last3=Herren |first3=Hans R |last4=Baumgärtner |first4=Johann |last5=Kenmore |first5=Peter E |volume=27 |issue=12 |doi=10.1186/s12302-015-0043-8 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Other scholars, however, say that this Bt cotton theory made certain assumptions and ignored field reality.<ref name=stone11>{{cite journal | last1 = Glenn | first1 = DAVIS Stone | year = 2011 | title = Field versus Farm in Warangal: Bt Cotton, Higher Yields, and Larger Questions | url = http://artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/research/stone/stone-wd-largerquestions.pdf | journal = World Development | volume = 39 | issue = 3 | pages = 387–398 | doi = 10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.09.008 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120324140414/http://artsci.wustl.edu/~anthro/research/stone/stone-wd-largerquestions.pdf | archive-date = 24 March 2012 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

[[File: Bt Cotton Hectares and Farmer Suicides Time Trend India.png|thumb|390px|Crop coverage of bio-tech cotton (also called Bt cotton) and farmer suicides over time in Madhya Pradesh India, before and after the introduction of Bt cotton in 2002<ref name=ggds>Gruère, G. & Sengupta, D. (2011), ''Bt cotton and farmer suicides in India: an evidence-based assessment'', The Journal of Development Studies, 47(2), pp. 316–337</ref>]]
In 2008, a report published by the [[International Food Policy Research Institute]], an agriculture policy [[think tank]] formed to promote the adoption of innovations in agricultural technology, based in Washington, D.C., noted that there was an absence of data relating to "numbers on the actual share of farmers committing suicide who cultivated cotton, let alone Bt cotton."<ref name = "Gruere">{{cite web|url=http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp00808.pdf|year=2008|title=Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: Reviewing the Evidence|author=Guillaume P. Gruère, Purvi Mehta-Bhatt and Debdatta Sengupta|publisher=International Food Policy Research Institute}}</ref><ref name="Guillaume et al. 2008, p. 26">Guillaume et al. 2008, p. 26.</ref> In order to evaluate the "possible (and hypothetical)"<ref name=" Guillaume et al. 2008, p. 26"/> existence of a connection the study employed a "second-best" assessment of evidence relating to farmer suicides firstly, and to the effects of Bt cotton secondly.<ref name=" Guillaume et al. 2008, p. 26"/> The analysis revealed that there was no "clear general relationship between Bt cotton and farmer suicides"<ref>Guillaume et al. 2008, p. 28.</ref> but also stated that it could not reject the "potential role of Bt cotton varieties in the observed discrete increase in farmer suicides in certain states and years, especially during the peak of 2004 in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra."<ref>Guillaume et al. 2008, p. 29.</ref> The report also noted that farmer suicides predate the official commercial introduction of Bt cotton by [[Monsanto]] Mahyco in 2002 (and its unofficial introduction by Navbharat Seeds in 2001) and that such suicides were a fairly constant portion of the overall national suicide rate since 1997.<ref name="Gruere"/><ref name=Sheridan /> The report noted that while Bt cotton may have been a factor in specific suicides, the contribution was likely marginal compared to [[socio-economic]] factors.<ref name = "Gruere"/><ref name=Sheridan>{{cite journal | title = Doubts surround link between Bt cotton failure and farmer suicide : Article : Nature Biotechnology | journal =Nature Biotechnology | date =January 2009 | volume =27 | issue =1 | pages =9–10 | doi =10.1038/nbt0109-9 | url =http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v27/n1/full/nbt0109-9.html | access-date = 6 May 2013 | last1 =Sheridan | first1 =Cormac | pmid =19131979 | s2cid =82412990 }}</ref> Elsewhere,<ref name=ggds/> Gruere et al. discuss the introduction and increase in use of Bt cotton in the state of Madhya Pradesh since 2002, and the observed drop in total suicides among that state's farmers in 2006. They then question whether the impact of the increase in use of Bt cotton on farmers suicide in Madhya Pradesh has been to improve or worsen the situation.<ref name=ggds/>

In 2011, a review of the evidence regarding the relationship between Bt cotton and farmers' suicides in India was published in the ''Journal of Development Studies'', also by researchers from IFPRI, which found that "Available data show no evidence of a 'resurgence' of farmer suicides. Moreover, Bt cotton technology has been very effective overall in India."<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Gruère | first1 = G. | last2 = Sengupta | first2 = D. | s2cid = 20145281 | doi = 10.1080/00220388.2010.492863 | title = Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: An Evidence-based Assessment | journal = Journal of Development Studies | volume = 47 | issue = 2 | pages = 316–337 | year = 2011 | pmid =  21506303}}</ref> [[Matin Qaim]] finds that Bt cotton is controversial in India, irrespective of the scholarly evidence. Anti-biotech activist groups in India repeat their claim that there is evidence of a link between Bt cotton and farmer's suicides, a claim that is perpetuated by mass media. This linking of farmer's suicide and the biotech industry has led to negative opinions in the public policy-making process.<ref>Matin Qaim (2014), Handbook on Agriculture, Biotechnology and Development, Editors: Stuart J. Smyth, Peter W.B. Phillips, and David Castle, Chapter 9, {{ISBN|978-0857938343}}{{pageneeded|date=May 2022}}</ref>

Stone<ref name=stone11/> suggests that the arrival and expansion of GM cotton led to a campaign of misinformation, by all sides, exacerbating the farmer's situation; activists have fuelled the persistence of a legend of failure and rejection of Bt cotton with sensational claims of livestock death and farmer suicide, while the other side has been incorrectly pronouncing Bt cotton a major success based on literature that is actually inconclusive. The cotton cash crop farmer's situation is complex and continues to evolve, suggests Stone.<ref name=stone11/> Gilbert, in a 2013 article published in [[Nature (journal)|Nature]], states, "contrary to popular myth, the introduction in 2002 of genetically modified Bt cotton is not associated with a rise in suicide rates among Indian farmers".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gilbert|first1=Natasha|title=A hard look at GM Crops|journal=Nature|date=2 May 2013|volume=497|issue=7447|pages=24–26|doi=10.1038/497024a|pmid=23636378|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In another 2014 review, Ian Plewis states, "the available data does not support the view that farmer suicides have increased following the introduction of Bt cotton. Taking all states together, there is evidence to support the hypothesis that the reverse is true: male farmer suicide rates have actually declined after 2005 having been increasing before then".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Plewis|first1=Ian|title=Hard Evidence: does GM cotton lead to farmer suicide in India?|journal=The Conversation|date=12 March 2014|url=http://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-does-gm-cotton-lead-to-farmer-suicide-in-india-24045}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Plewis|first1=Ian|title=Indian farmer suicides: Is GM cotton to blame?|journal=Significance|date=February 2014|volume=11|issue=1|pages=14–18|doi=10.1111/j.1740-9713.2014.00719.x|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Misdirection of government subsidies and funds===
As per reports by the central government and NCRB, government farming subsidies from 1993 to 2018 mostly went to producers and dealers of seeds and fertilizers, and not to farmers. In 2017, Rs. 35,000 crores of loans and subsidies were given to entities in the cities of New Delhi and Chandigarh, cities that do not have any farmers. Similarly, in Maharashtra, 60% of government loans and subsidies were given to people and entities residing in Mumbai. This has resulted in money being circulated between the government, banks large and small corporations, and politicians, without any of it reaching farmers, aggravating their woes. Most farmer loans were less than Rs. 50,000.<ref>{{cite news |title=Understanding land in the time of farmers suicides |url=https://thewire.in/agriculture/understanding-land-in-the-time-of-farmers-suicides |access-date=25 March 2019 |publisher=The Wire}}</ref>

===Deadly drought===
Due to poor artificial irrigation facilities, as much as 79.5% of India's farmland relies on flooding during [[Monsoon of South Asia|monsoon season]], so inadequate rainfall can cause [[Drought|droughts]], making crop failure more common.<ref>{{cite news|title=The myth of India's 'GM genocide': Genetically modified cotton blamed for wave of farmer suicides|author=Abid, R.|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/the-myth-of-indias-gm-genocide-genetically-modified-cotton-blamed-for-wave-of-farmer-suicides|newspaper=National Post|date=1 January 2013|access-date=28 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=India Losing 2,000 Farmers Every Single Day: A Tale Of A Rapidly Changing Society|author=Ghosh, P.|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/india-losing-2000-farmers-every-single-day-tale-rapidly-changing-society-1232913|newspaper=International Business Times|date=2 May 2013|access-date=28 June 2013}}</ref> [[Climate change]] has increased the frequency and coverage of droughts in India. According to [[United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification|UN Convention to Combat Desertification]], in 2020-2022, nearly two-thirds of India was drought-prone.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Research establishes link between farmer suicides and climate change |url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/research-establishes-link-between-farmer-suicides-and-climate-change-89452 |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=www.downtoearth.org.in |language=en}}</ref> In regions that have experienced droughts, crop yields have declined and food for cattle has become scarcer,  subsequently increasing their suicide rates.<ref name="IGARSS2017">{{cite book |last1=Swain|display-authors=etal|first1=S |title=2017 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)|s2cid=26920225|chapter=Application of SPI, EDI and PNPI using MSWEP precipitation data over Marathwada, India |volume=2017 |pages=5505–5507 |doi=10.1109/IGARSS.2017.8128250 |date=July 2017 |isbn=978-1-5090-4951-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Indian farmers faced with debt and drought turn to suicide, leaving families helpless in the fields|author=The Associated Press|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/indian-farmers-faced-debt-drought-turn-suicide-leaving-families-helpless-fields-article-1.401001|newspaper=Daily News|date=28 August 2009|access-date=28 June 2013|location=New York}}</ref>

===Suicide idea===
Economist Patel found that southern Indian states have ten times higher rates of suicides than some northern states.<ref name=patel2012/> This difference, they say, is not because of misclassification of a person's death. The most common cause of suicide in South India is a combination of social issues, such as interpersonal and family problems, financial difficulties, and pre-existing mental illness. Suicidal ideation is as culturally accepted in south India as in some high-income countries. The high suicide rates in southern states of India may be, suggest Patel el al., in part because of social acceptance of suicide as a method to deal with difficulties.<ref name=patel2012/> Suicide ideation among surviving family members of farmers' suicide victims is another worry. A recent study shows that almost a third of suicide survivors (family members left behind) had suicide ideation in one month prior to assessment.<ref>Bhise MC, Behere PB. A case-control study of psychological distress in survivors of farmers' suicides in Wardha District in central India. Indian J Psychiatry [serial online] 2016 [cited 2016 Jun 17];58:147-51. Available from: http://www.indianjpsychiatry.org/text.asp?2016/58/2/147/183779</ref>

=== Debt ===
Many of the suicides by Indian farmers have been linked to the large amounts of debt and interest that many of these individuals accumulate.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Raghavalu|first=M.V.|date=2013|title=Farmers' Suicide Deaths in India: Can it be Controlled?|journal=Economic Affairs|language=en|volume=58|issue=4|pages=441|doi=10.5958/j.0976-4666.58.4.028|issn=0424-2513}}</ref> According to a 2006 study by [[P. Sainath]], the percentage of farmers who were in debt in [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Karnataka]], and [[Maharashtra]] was 70%, 65%, 61%, and 60%, respectively.<ref name=":0" />

===Maharashtra's government field surveys===
The Government of Maharashtra, concerned about the highest total number of farmer suicides among its rural populations, commissioned its own study into reasons. At its behest, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai<ref>Srijit Mishra, [http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/FinalReport_SFM_IGIDR_26Jan06.pdf Suicide of Farmers in Maharashtra] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229105214/http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/FinalReport_SFM_IGIDR_26Jan06.pdf |date=29 December 2009 }} IGIDR, Mumbai (January 2006)</ref> did field research and found the top causes of farmers suicides to be: debt, low income, and crop failure, family issues such as illness and inability to pay celebration expenses for daughter's marriage, lack of secondary income occupations and lack of value-added opportunities.<ref name=gomspecial>[http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/special_pack_farmer.pdf State Govt Package] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908052259/http://mdmu.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/special_pack_farmer.pdf |date=8 September 2008 }} Maharashtra Government</ref>

==Statistics of farmer suicide==
[[File:Total and farmers suicide rate per 100000 in India, time trend.png|thumb|390px|Farmers and total suicide rates per 100,000 people in India<ref name="ggds"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=v43rAqABmKsC&pg=PR1 Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: Reviewing the Evidence] Gruere et al, IFPRI (2008)</ref>]]
The National Crime Records Bureau of India reported in its 2012 annual report, that 135,445 people died by suicide in India, of which 13,755 were farmers (11.2%).<ref>National Crime Reports Bureau, [http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI-2012/ADSI2012.pdf ADSI Report Annual – 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810222918/http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI-2012/ADSI2012.pdf |date=10 August 2013 }} Government of India, pp. xx and 242</ref> Of these, 5 out of 29 states accounted for 10,486 farmers suicides (76%) – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and [[Kerala]].<ref name=ncrb2012/>

In 2011, a total of 135,585 people died by suicide, of which 14,027 were farmers.<ref name=ncrb2011>National Crime Reports Bureau, [http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI2011/ADSI-2011%20REPORT.pdf ADSI Report Annual – 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129172522/http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI2011/ADSI-2011%20REPORT.pdf |date=29 January 2013 }} Government of India</ref> In 2010, 15,963 farmers in India died by suicide, while total suicides were 134,599.<ref name=ncrb2010>National Crime Reports Bureau, [http://ncrb.nic.in/ADSI2010/ADSI2010-full-report.pdf ADSI Report Annual – 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202211400/http://ncrb.nic.in/ADSI2010/ADSI2010-full-report.pdf |date=2 February 2015 }} Government of India</ref> From 1995 to 2013, a total of 296,438 Indian farmers died by suicide.<ref name="bbc.com">{{cite news|title=Have India's farm suicides really declined?|work=BBC News|date=14 July 2014|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-28205741}}</ref> During the same period, about 9.5 million people died per year in India from other causes including malnutrition, diseases and suicides that were non-farming related, or about 171 million deaths from 1995 to 2013.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Jha | first1 = P | display-authors = etal   | year = 2006 | title = Prospective study of one million deaths in India: rationale, design, and validation results | journal = PLOS Med | volume = 3 | issue = 2| page = e18 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030018 | pmid = 16354108 | pmc=1316066 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

In 2012, the state of [[Maharashtra]], with 3,786 farmers' suicides, accounted for about a quarter of the all India's farmer suicides total (13,754).<ref name=ncrb2012/> From 2009 to 2016, a total of 25,613 farmers died by suicide in the state.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://numerical.co.in/numerons/collection/56467728134fa10c1f184886 | title = Farmer suicides in Maharashtra over the years | date = 23 June 2017 | publisher = Numerical }}</ref>

Farmer suicides rates in [[Bihar]] and [[Uttar Pradesh]] – two large states of India by size and population – have been about 10 times lower than Maharashtra, Kerala and Pondicherry.<ref>Nagaraj (2008), Farmers' Suicides in India: Magnitudes, Trends, and Spatial Patterns, Bharathi Puthakalayam, {{ISBN|978-81-89909-57-4}}, pp. 16–25</ref><ref>Mudit Kapoor and Shamika Ravi (2007), [http://www.isb.edu/faculty/shamika/suicide%2025oct.pdf Farmer Suicide Contagion], Indian School of Business, Hyderabad; Shamika Ravi, [http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/suicides-through-the-glass-darkly/246629/0 Suicides through the glass darkly] The Indian Express (4 December 2007)</ref> In 2012, there were 745 farmer suicides in Uttar Pradesh, a state with an estimated population of 205.43 million.<ref>National Crime Reports Bureau, [http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI-2012/ADSI2012.pdf ADSI Report Annual – 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810222918/http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI-2012/ADSI2012.pdf |date=10 August 2013 }} Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (June 2013)</ref> In 2014, there were eight farmer suicides in Uttar Pradesh.<ref>Mohammed Ali for The Hindi. 1 November 2014 [http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/distressed-farmer-commits-suicide-in-ups-bijnore-district/article6555602.ece Distressed farmer commits suicide in Uttar Pradesh]</ref>

According to an IFPRI study, the number of suicides from 2005 to 2009 were 387, 905, 75, and 26, in [[Gujarat]], Kerala, Punjab, and [[Tamil Nadu]], respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Politics/RFnm2MYXARAc5vldy8PBHL/Farmers8217-suicides-in-India-not-due-to-Bt-cotton-IFFRI.html|title=Farmers' suicides in India not due to Bt cotton|date=11 November 2008|website=LiveMint|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref> While 1802 farmers died by suicide in [[Chhattisgarh]] in 2009 and 1126 in 2010, its farmers suicide dropped to zero in 2011, leading to accusations of data manipulation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chhattisgarh eliminates farmer suicides by fudging death data|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chhattisgarh-eliminates-farmer-suicides-by-fudging-death-data/articleshow/15796221.cms |date=27 August 2012 |work=[[The Times of India]] | location=Mumbai | access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref>

According to the 2012 statistics, from the [[National Crime Records Bureau]], the farmer suicides statistics are as follows (''Note'': The NCRB lists suicides in the different employment categories, but it is not necessary that farming or crop-failure is the cause of the suicides listed in the "farmer" category):<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstpost.com/politics/farmer-suicides-what-do-the-gujarat-numbers-really-mean-1453851.html | title = Farmer suicides: What do the Gujarat numbers really mean | date = 27 March 2014 | publisher = Firstpost }}</ref>

As per [[National Crime Records Bureau]], the number of suicides by farmers and farm labourers increased to 12,360 in 2014, against 11,772 in 2013.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/farmer-suicides-went-up-to-12-360-in-2014-report-115071800758_1.html|title=Farmer suicides went up to 12,360 in 2014: Report|newspaper=Business Standard India|date=18 July 2015}}</ref> Of these suicides, 5,650 were farmers suicides.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maharashtra-records-half-of-countrys-farmer-suicide-cases/articleshow/48129249.cms|title=Maharashtra records half of country's farmer suicide cases|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=19 July 2015 }}</ref>

As of 2018, the Indian government has not published data on farmer suicides since 2015. National Crime Records Bureau director Ish Kumar said that the data is under scrutiny and the report for 2016 is likely to be published later.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/881265/india-has-not-published-data-on-farmer-suicides-for-the-last-two-years|title=India has not published data on farmer suicides for the last two years|last=Dey|first=Abhishek|work=Scroll.in|access-date=21 August 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

{{Hidden
| Farmer suicides in the Indian states (2012)
| headerstyle = background: #ccccff; font-size: 110%;
|
{{Bar chart
| title       = Farmer suicides in the Indian states (2012)<ref name="ADSI Report Annual – 2012">National Crime Reports Bureau, [http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI-2012/ADSI2012.pdf ADSI Report Annual – 2012] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810222918/http://ncrb.nic.in/CD-ADSI-2012/ADSI2012.pdf |date=10 August 2013 }} Government of India</ref>{{rp|272}}
| label_type  = State
| data_type   = Total farmer suicides (Not normalised for different populations of different states)
| bar_width   = 70
| width_units = em
| data_max    = 3800
| label1 = Maharashtra   | data1 = 3786
| label2 = Andhra Pradesh  | data2 = 2572
| label3 = Karnataka   | data3 = 1875
| label4 = Madhya Pradesh   | data4 = 1172
| label5 = Kerala   | data5 = 1081
| label6 = Uttar Pradesh | data6 = 745
| label7 = Gujarat | data7 = 564
| label8 = Tamil Nadu  | data8 = 499
| label9 = Assam  | data9 = 344
| label10 = Haryana   | data10 = 276
| label11 = Rajasthan  | data11 = 270
| label12 = Odisha   | data12 = 146
| label13 = Jharkhand   | data13 = 119
| label14 = Punjab  | data14 = 75
| label15 = Bihar | data15 = 68
| label16 = Himachal Pradesh   | data16 = 29
| label17 = Sikkim   | data17 = 19
| label18 = Tripura   | data18 = 18
| label19 = Uttarakhand  | data19 = 14
| label20 = Arunachal Pradesh  | data20 = 11
| label21 = Meghalaya   | data21 = 10
| label22 = Mizoram | data22 = 10
| label23 = Jammu & Kashmir  | data23 = 10
| label24 = Chhattisgarh  | data24 = 4
| label25 = Goa   | data25 = 1
| label26 = Manipur   | data26 = 0
}}}}
{{hidden
| Farmer suicides rate per 100,000 people in the state (2012)
| headerstyle = background: #ccccff; font-size: 110%;
|
{{Bar chart
| title       = Farmer suicides rate per 100,000 people in the state (2012)<ref name="ADSI Report Annual – 2012"/>{{rp|?}} {{Dubious|Talk:Farmers'_suicides_in_India#suicide_statistics_are_badly_off|date=December 2014}}
| label_type  = State
| data_type   = Farmer suicides rate per 100,000 people (Top 25 states)
| bar_width   = 70
| width_units = em
| data_max    = 4
| label1 = Maharashtra   | data1 = 3.3
| label2 = Karnataka   | data2 = 3.12
| label3 = Kerala   | data3 = 3.09
| label4 = Sikkim   | data4 = 3.05
| label5 = Andhra Pradesh  | data5 = 3.0
| label6 = West Bengal | data6 = 5.02
| label7 = Madhya Pradesh   | data7 = 1.59
| label8 = '''INDIA AVERAGE''' | data8 = 1.36
| label9 = Assam  | data9 = 1.11
| label10 = Haryana   | data10 = 1.06
| label11 = Mizoram | data11 = 0.98
| label12 = Gujarat | data12 = 0.94
| label13 = Arunachal Pradesh  | data13 = 0.87
| label14 = Tamil Nadu  | data14 = 0.73
| label15 = Tripura   | data15 = 0.49
| label16 = Himachal Pradesh   | data16 = 0.42
| label17 = Rajasthan  | data17 = 0.39
| label18 = Nagaland | data18 = 0.39
| label19 = Meghalaya   | data19 = 0.38
| label20 = Uttar Pradesh | data20 = 0.37
| label21 = Jharkhand   | data21 = 0.37
| label22 = Odisha   | data22 = 0.35
| label23 = Punjab  | data23 = 0.27
| label24 = Uttarakhand  | data24 = 0.14
| label25 = Jammu & Kashmir  | data25 = 0.1
| label26 = Bihar | data26 = .072
| label27 = Goa   | data27 = 0.1
| label28 = Chhattisgarh  | data28 = 0.02
| label29 = Manipur   | data29 = 0.00
}}}}
{{hidden
| Farmer suicides as a % of total suicides in the state (2012)
| headerstyle = background: #ccccff; font-size: 110%;
|
{{Bar chart
| title       = Farmer suicides as a % of total suicides in the state (2012)<ref name="ADSI Report Annual – 2012"/>{{rp|272}}
| label_type  = State
| data_type   = Farmer suicides as a % of total suicides
| bar_width   = 70
| width_units = em
| data_max    = 24
| label1 = Maharashtra   | data1 = 23.50
| label2 = Andhra Pradesh  | data2 = 18.10
| label3 = Uttar Pradesh | data3 = 16.80
| label4 = Karnataka   | data4 = 14.70
| label5 = Kerala   | data5 = 12.70
| label6 = Madhya Pradesh   | data6 = 12.00
| label7 = Assam  | data7 = 10.50
| label8 = Sikkim   | data8 = 10.50
| label9 = Haryana   | data9 = 9.80
| label10 = Jharkhand   | data10 = 9.00
| label11 = Bihar | data11 = 9.00
| label12 = Arunachal Pradesh  | data12 = 8.50
| label13 = Gujarat | data13 = 7.90
| label14 = Meghalaya   | data14 = 7.80
| label15 = Punjab  | data15 = 7.30
| label16 = Mizoram | data16 = 5.80
| label17 = Rajasthan  | data17 = 5.60
| label18 = Himachal Pradesh   | data18 = 5.50
| label19 = Uttarakhand  | data19 = 3.30
| label20 = Tamil Nadu  | data20 = 2.90
| label21 = Odisha   | data21 = 2.90
| label22 = Jammu & Kashmir  | data22 = 2.40
| label23 = Tripura   | data23 = 2.10
| label24 = Goa   | data24 = 0.30
| label25 = Chhattisgarh  | data25 = 0.10
| label26 = Manipur   | data26 = 0.00
}}
}}

{{Hidden
| All India figures for Farmer suicides from 1995 to 2022
| headerstyle = background: #ccccff; font-size: 110%;
|
{{Bar chart
| title       = All India figures for Farmer suicides as per [[National Crime Records Bureau|NCRB]]<ref name="allindiancrb"/><ref name="bbc.com"/><ref name="auto"/><ref name="frequency"/>
| label_type  = Year
| data_type   = Total farmer suicides (Not normalised for different populations of different states)
| bar_width   = 70
| width_units = em
| data_max    = 19000
| label1 = 1995   | data1 = 10720	
| label2 = 1996  | data2 = 13729	
| label3 = 1997   | data3 = 13622	
| label4 = 1998 | data4 = 16015	
| label5 = 1999   | data5 = 16082	
| label6 = 2000 | data6 = 16603
| label7 = 2001 | data7 = 16415
| label8 = 2002  | data8 = 17971
| label9 = 2003| data9 = 17164
| label10 = 2004| data10 = 18241
| label11 = 2005| data11 = 17131
| label12 = 2006| data12 = 17060
| label13 = 2007| data13 = 16632
| label14 = 2008| data14 = 16796
| label15 = 2009| data15 = 17368
| label16 = 2010  | data16 = 15964
| label17 = 2011| data17 = 14027
| label18 = 2012| data18 = 13754
| label19 = 2013| data19 = 11772
| label20 = 2014| data20 = 12360
| label21 = 2015| data21 = 12602
| label22 = 2016| data22 = 11379
| label23 = 2017| data23 = 10655
| label24 = 2018| data24 = 10349
| label25 = 2019| data25 = 10281
| label26 = 2020| data26 = 10677
| label27 = 2021| data27 = 10881
| label28 = 2022| data28 = 11290
}}}}

===Farmers versus other professions===
Patel et al., using a representative survey sample-based statistical study from 2001 and 2003, extrapolated likely suicide patterns in 2010 for India. They say suicide deaths in India among unemployed individuals and individuals in professions other than agricultural work were, collectively, about three times more frequent than they were in agricultural labourers and landowning cultivators.<ref name=patel2012/> Even across professions in rural areas, Patel et al. find suicide among agricultural workers (including farmers) in India is not more frequent than any other profession.<ref name=patel2012>{{cite journal |last=Patel |first=Vikram |display-authors=etal |date=23 June 2012 |title=Suicide mortality in India: a nationally representative survey |url= |journal=The Lancet |volume=379 |issue= 9834|pages=2343–2351 |pmid=22726517 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60606-0 |pmc=4247159}}</ref>

The suicide incidence rate in India, on a 100,000 farmers basis, is unclear. All estimates are speculative because the actual total number of farmers by state or India in each year is not available. Farm suicides per 100,000 farmers can be reliably calculated for 2001 because accurate data on the number of farmers in the country and states are available for 2001 from the Census of India. The farm suicide rate was 12.9 suicides per 100,000 farmers, which was higher than the general suicide rate at 10.6 for 2001 in India.<ref name=srate>A Das, Farmers’ Suicide in India: Implications for Public Mental Health, Int Journal Soc Psychiatry, January 2011, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 21–29</ref> By gender, the suicide rate was 16.2 male farmer suicides per 100,000 male farmers compared to 12.5 male suicides per 100,000 for the general population. Among women, the suicide rate was 6.2 female farmer suicides per 100,000 female farmers compared to 8.5 female suicides per 100,000 for the general population.<ref name=srate/>

===Total number of farmers===
Annual farmers' suicide incidence rate data on a 100,000 farmers basis, depending on the estimated total number of farmers for that year. Estimates for the total number of farmers in India vary widely.<ref name=psalveht>Prachi Salve, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140812033123/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/how-many-farmers-does-india-really-have/article1-1250762.aspx How many farmers does India really have?] The Hindustan Times (11 August 2014)</ref><ref name=nagaraj1012>Nagaraj (2008), Farmers' Suicides in India: Magnitudes, Trends, and Spatial Patterns, Bharathi Puthakalayam, {{ISBN|978-81-89909-57-4}}, pp. 10–12</ref> Some count the total number of cultivators, some include cultivators and agricultural laborers in their definition of total farmers, while others include anyone engaged in any form of farming and agriculture activity.<ref name=nagaraj1012/> Estimates for a total number of farmers in India, for 2011, accordingly range from 95.8 million (8%) to 263 million (22%) to 450 million (38%), out of a total population of over 1.2 billion.<ref name=psalveht/> Others<ref>K. Basu, The Oxford Companion to Economics in India, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|9780195693522}}, p. 320</ref> estimate the total number of farmers in India to be about 600 million (50% of the total population). With about 14,000 suicides in 2011 by those engaged in farming and agricultural activities,<ref>[http://ncrb.gov.in/CD-ADSI2011/table-2.11.pdf Table 2.11] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207191931/http://ncrb.gov.in/CD-ADSI2011/table-2.11.pdf |date=7 December 2014 }} p. 242, Profile of Suicide Victims by Profession During 2011, Government of India</ref><ref>Nitin Sethi, [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/14000-farmers-ended-life-in-2011/articleshow/14571583.cms 14,000 farmers ended life in 2011] The Times of India (2 July 2012)</ref> the different estimates of total farmers has led to different suicide incidence rate estimates on per 100,000 farmers basis. Additionally, the reliability of official statistics has been questioned. K. Nagaraj suggests that official data may be overestimating the number of total farmers in India, and undercounting the total number of farmer suicides every year.<ref name=nagaraj1012/> Tom Brass, in contrast, suggests that official census and surveys in India systematically underestimate the total number of people engaged in agriculture in India.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brass|first1=Tom|title=New Farmers' Movements in India|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0714641348|page=144|year=1995}}</ref>

==Responses to farmers' suicides==
The government appointed several inquiries to look into the causes of farmers' suicide and farm-related distress in general. Krishak Ayog (National Farmer Commission) visited all suicide-prone farming regions of India, then in 2006 published three reports with its recommendations.<ref>[http://krishakayog.gov.in/3rdrep.pdf Serving Farmers And Saving Farming 2006: Year of Agricultural Renewal Third Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030200/http://krishakayog.gov.in/3rdrep.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }} National Commission on Farmers, Government of India</ref> Subsequently, former prime minister [[Manmohan Singh]] visited Vidarbha in 2006 and promised a package of ₹110 billion (about $2.4 billion). The families of farmers who had died by suicide were also offered an ''ex gratia'' grant of {{INRConvert|100000}} by the government, though this amount was changed several times.<ref>{{cite web|author=M Rajivlochan|title=Farmers and firefighters|work=Indian Express|date=28 August 2007|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/story/213066.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120810/http://www.indianexpress.com/story/213066.html|archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref>

===2006 relief package===
In 2006, the Government of India identified 31 districts in the four states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala with a high relative incidence of farmer suicides.<ref name=goi2006/> A special rehabilitation package was launched to mitigate the distress of these farmers. The package provided debt relief to farmers, improved the supply of institutional credit, improved irrigation facilities, employed experts and social service personnel to provide farming support services, and introduced subsidiary income opportunities through horticulture, livestock, dairy, and fisheries. The Government of India also announced ex-gratia cash assistance from Prime Ministers National Relief Fund to the farmers. Additionally, among other things, the Government of India announced:<ref name=goi2006>Press Information Bureau, [http://www.pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=18666 Govt. to launch special rehabilitation package to mitigate the distress of farmers in 31 Districts in 4 States] Govt of India</ref>

* In the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, which had received considerable mass media news coverage on farmer suicides, all farmer families of Vidarbha in six affected districts of Maharashtra were given a cash sum of {{INRConvert|05|m}} each, to help pay off the debt principal.
* {{INRConvert|7.12|b}} in interest owed, as of 30 June 2006, was waived. The burden of payment was shared equally between the Central and the State government.
* The Government created a special credit vehicle for Vidarbha farmers, to the tune of {{INRConvert|12.75|b}}. Special teams comprising NABARD and banks were deputed to ensure fresh credit starts flowing to all farmers of the region.
* An allocation of {{INRConvert|21.77|b}} was made to improve the irrigation infrastructure so that the farmers of the Vidarbha region had assured irrigation facilities in the future.

===Agricultural debt waiver and debt relief scheme, 2008===
The Government of India next implemented the Agricultural debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme in 2008 to benefit over 36 million farmers at a cost of {{INRConvert|653|b}}. This spending was aimed at the writing part of the loan principal as well as the interest owed by the farmers. Direct agricultural loan by stressed farmers under the so-called Kisan Credit Card was also to be covered under this Scheme.<ref>[http://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=4190 Agricultural debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714202127/http://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=4190 |date=14 July 2014 }}, Government of India</ref>

===Regional initiatives===
Various state governments in India have launched their own initiatives to help prevent farmer suicides. The government of Maharashtra set up a dedicated group to deal with farm distress in 2006 known as the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission, based in [[Amravati]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://vnss-mission.gov.in/ |title=Vasant Rao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission, Amravati |access-date=6 December 2014 |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129030100/http://vnss-mission.gov.in/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>  A group to study the Farmers Suicides was also constituted by the Government of Karnataka under the chairmanship of Dr. Veeresh, former vice-chancellor of Agricultural University and Prof Deshpande as a member.<ref>Deshpande (2002)</ref>{{full citation needed|date=December 2014}}

====Maharashtra Bill to regulate farmer loan terms, 2008====
The State government of Maharashtra, one of the most farmer suicide-affected states, passed the Money Lending (Regulation) Act, 2008 to regulate all private money lending to farmers. The bill set maximum not legally allowed interest rates on any loans to farmers, setting it to be slightly above the money lending rate by Reserve Bank of India, and it also covered pending loans.<ref>[http://pibmumbai.gov.in/scripts/detail.asp?releaseId=E2009PR220 Maharashtra Money-Lending (Regulation) Ordinance, 2008 with Central Government for President’s approval] Mumbai (February 2009), Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs</ref>

====Maharashtra Relief Package, 2010====
The State Government of Maharashtra made it illegal, in 2010, for non-licensed moneylenders from seeking loan repayment. The State Government also announced<ref name=gomspecial/> that it will form Village Farmer Self Help Groups to disburse government-financed loans, a low rate Crop Insurance program whose premium will be paid 50% by the farmer and 50% by the government, and the launch of alternate income opportunities such as poultry, dairy, and sericulture for farmers in suicide-prone districts. The government further announced that it will finance a marriage fund under its ''Samudaik Lagna'' with {{INRConvert|10|m}} per year per district, for community marriage celebrations, where many couples get married at the same time to help minimize the cost of marriage celebrations – a cause of suicides among farmers as identified by its own study.<ref name=gomspecial/>

====Kerala Farmers' Debt Relief Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2012====
Kerala, in 2012, amended the Kerala Farmers' Debt Relief Commission Act, 2006 to extend benefits to all distressed farmers with loans through 2011. It cited continuing farmer suicides as a motivation.<ref>[http://www.egazette.kerala.gov.in/pdf/2012/15/Part_2/farmers.pdf The Kerala Farmers' Debt Relief Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2012] Bill 72, Gazette of Enacted Bills, Govt of Kerala</ref>

===2013 diversify income sources package===
In 2013, the Government of India launched a ''Special Livestock Sector and Fisheries Package'' for farmers in suicide-prone regions of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. The package was aimed to diversify the income sources of farmers. The total welfare package consisted of {{INRConvert|912|m}}.<ref>[http://www.dahd.nic.in/dahd/WriteReadData/Annual%20Report%202012-13%20EFG.pdf Annual Report 2012-2013] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228143136/http://www.dahd.nic.in/dahd/WriteReadData/Annual%20Report%202012-13%20EFG.pdf |date=28 December 2013 }} Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries – Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi</ref>

===Effectiveness of government response===
The government's response and relief packages have generally been ineffective, misdirected, and flawed, states Surinder Sud.<ref name=ssud>Surinder Sud (2009), The Changing Profile of Indian Agriculture, Business Standard Books, {{ISBN|978-8190573559}}, pp. 107–109</ref> It has focused on credit and loan, rather than income, productivity, and farmer prosperity. Due to Anti Farmer laws, there is no scope for farmers to do the business or sell or lease farm or farm products. Assistance in paying off outstanding principal and interest helps the money lenders but has failed to create reliable and good sources of income for the farmer going forward. The usurious moneylenders continue to offer loans at interest rates between 24 and 50 percent, while the income-generating potential of the land the farmer works on has remained low and subject to weather conditions.<ref name=ssud/> Sud states that the government has failed to understand that debt relief just postpones the problem and a more lasting answer to farmer distress can only come from reliable income sources, higher crop yields per hectare, irrigation and other infrastructure security.<ref name=ssud/> Golait, in a [[Reserve Bank of India]] paper,<ref name=golait>Ramesh Golait, "Current Issues in Agriculture Credit in India: An Assessment", Reserve Bank of India Occasional Papers, Vol. 28, No. 1, Summer 2007, pp. 79–98</ref> acknowledged the positive role of crop diversification initiative announced in government's response to reports of farmer suicides. Golait added, "Indian agriculture still suffers from: i) poor productivity, ii) falling water levels, iii) expensive credit, iv) a distorted market, v) many middlemen and intermediaries who increase cost but do not add much value, vi) laws that stifle private investment, vii) controlled prices, viii) poor infrastructure and ix) inappropriate research. Thus the approach with a mere emphasis on credit in isolation from the above factors will not help agriculture".<ref name=golait/> Furthermore, recommended Golait, a more pro-active role in creating and maintaining reliable irrigation and other agriculture infrastructure is necessary to address farmer distress in India.<ref name=golait/>

==International comparison==
Farmer's suicide is a global phenomenon. Outside India, studies in Sri Lanka, the United States, Canada, and Australia have identified farming as a high-stress profession that is associated with a higher suicide rate than the general population. This is particularly true among small-scale farmers and after periods of economic distress.<ref name=bnb/> Fraser et al., similarly, after a review of 52 scholarly publications, conclude that farming populations in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States have the highest rates of suicide of any industry and there is growing evidence that those involved in farming are at higher risk of developing mental health problems. Their review claims a wide range of reasons behind farmers suicide globally including mental health issues, physical environment, family problems, economic stress, and uncertainties.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1177/0020764005060844| volume = 51| issue = 4| last1 = Fraser| first1 = C.E.| last2 = Smith| first2 = K.B.| last3 = Judd| first3 = F.| last4 = Humphreys| first4 = J.S.| last5 = Fragar| first5 = L. J.| last6 = Henderson| first6 = A.| title = Farming and Mental Health Problems and Mental Illness| journal = International Journal of Social Psychiatry| access-date = 2024-01-03| date = 2005| pages = 340–349| pmid = 16400909| s2cid = 20151740| url = https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764005060844}}</ref> Significantly higher suicide rate among farmers than the general population has been reported in developed countries such as the UK and the US.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hounsome |first1=Barry |last2=Edwards |first2=Rhiannon T. |last3=Hounsome |first3=Natalia |last4=Edwards-Jones |first4=Gareth |title=Psychological Morbidity of Farmers and Non-farming Population: Results from a UK Survey |journal=Community Mental Health Journal |date=August 2012 |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=503–510 |doi=10.1007/s10597-011-9415-8|pmid=21556782 |s2cid=23295347 }}</ref><ref>Joel Dyer (1998), Harvest of Rage, Westview Press, {{ISBN|978-0813332932}}, p. 33</ref><ref>Augustine J. Kposowa and Aikaterini Glyniadaki (2012), Mental Health and Suicide: An Ecological Hierarchical Analysis of U.S. Counties and States, Opportunities and Challenges for Applied Demography in the 21st Century, Applied Demography Series Volume 2, {{ISBN|978-94-007-2296-5}}, Springer, Netherlands, pp. 289–308</ref>

==In popular culture==
One of the most popular work is ''Nero's Guest'', a first camera documentary which covers the journey of [[Palagummi Sainath|P. Sainath]], Editor (Rural affairs), [[The Hindu]], in reporting the farmer suicide cases in the Vidharbha and Marathwada region of Maharashtra, which drew the immediate attention of the government, and following which the prime minister also visited the affected region. The 2008 film ''[[Summer 2007]]'' by producer Atul Pandey, focused on the issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra's [[Vidarbha]] region, as did the 2010s Bollywood films ''[[Kissan (2009 film)|Kissan]]'' and ''[[Peepli Live]], [[Jawan (film)|Jawan]] (2023)'' and the 2014 Tamil film ''[[Kaththi]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sify.com/movies/has-bollywood-shut-its-eyes-to-movies-on-farmers-news-bollywood-ji3kObjgigfsi.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023202125/https://www.sify.com/movies/has-bollywood-shut-its-eyes-to-movies-on-farmers-news-bollywood-ji3kObjgigfsi.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 October 2019|title=Has Bollywood shut its eyes to movies on farmers?|date=29 August 2009|work=Sify movies|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref> Prior to this ''[[List of Wide Angle episodes#Season 6: 2007|The Dying Fields]]'', a documentary directed by Fred de Sam Lazaro was aired in August 2007 on [[Wide Angle (TV series)|''Wide Angle'']] (TV series). The 2010 award-winning film ''[[Jhing Chik Jhing]]'' is based around the emotive issue of farmer suicides in Maharashtra. It looks at how the farmer has very little in his control and looks at the impact of indebtedness on his family. ''[[Mitti: Back to the Roots]]'', a movie by Anshul Sinha released in 2018 showcased the agrarian crisis and its possible solutions.<ref name="The Hindu">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/anshul-sinhas-mitti-the-call-of-the-soil/article19709402.ece|title=Anshul Sinha's Mitti: The call of the soil|first1=Srivathsan|last1=Nadadhur|work=The Hindu|date=18 September 2017|access-date=14 August 2019}}</ref>

In 2009, the [[International Museum of Women]] included an examination of the impact of farmers' suicides on the lives of the farmers' wives and children in their exhibition [[Economica: Women and the Global Economy]]. Their slideshow "''Growing Debt''" and accompanying essay by curator Masum Momaya entitled "''Money of Her Own''" showed how many widows were left with the burden of their husbands' debts, and were forced to work as indentured servants to repay the debt. The widows were also unlikely to remarry because other men in the community were unwilling to take on the widows' debts for themselves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://exhibitions.globalfundforwomen.org/economica/marriage-and-money|title=Marriage and Money {{!}} International Museum of Women|website=exhibitions.globalfundforwomen.org|access-date=2019-10-23}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Agriculture and Agronomy|India}}  
* [[Agricultural insurance in India]]
* [[Debt bondage in India]]
* [[Farmers' suicides in Canada]]
* [[Farmers' suicides in the United States]]
* [[Farmers' suicides in western Odisha]]
* [[Navdanya]]
* [[Suicide in India]] 
* [[Health effects of pesticides]]  
* [[Pesticide poisoning]]  
* [[List of countries by employment in agriculture]] 
* [[2017 Tamil Nadu farmers' protest]]  
* [[2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Social issues in India}}
{{Suicide navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmers Suicides In India}}
[[Category:Farmers who died by suicide in India| ]]
[[Category: Suicides in India]]
[[Category: Society of Maharashtra]]
[[Category: Vidarbha]]
[[Category: Manmohan Singh administration]]