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New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Fields of despair: Why Maharashtra farmers are paying the ultimate price
Every three hours between January 1 and March 31 this year, a farmer in Maharashtra ended his/her life, with 767 suicides recorded in just 90 days, according to data tabled in the state legislative assembly on July 1. This alarming rate — averaging eight deaths daily — is not a one-off data point. Last year, the government admitted on the floor of the assembly that farmers died by suicide at a similar rate since the last 56 months. It reflects a deepening agrarian crisis that has defied solution in Maharashtra, particularly the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, for over two decades. Despite tall political promises, including by the BJP's 2014 pledge to eradicate farmer suicides, the trend persists, driven by a toxic mix of economic distress, environmental challenges and policy failures. The case of Kailash Arjun Nagare, a 2020 Young Farmer Award recipient, who took his life in March 2025, citing government inaction on irrigation demands, is one indicator of the mounting despair in the farming community. Why is it business as usual when farmer suicides are showing no signs of dropping in Vidarbha and Marathwada? Scale of the crisis Over the past 24 years, the Amravati revenue division in Vidarbha alone recorded 21,219 farmer suicides, including 5,395 in Amravati district, 6,211 in Yavatmal, 4,442 in Buldhana, 3,123 in Akola, and 2,048 in Washim. In January this year, 80 suicides were reported across these districts, with Yavatmal recording the highest at 34. In Marathwada's Hingoli district, 24 suicides occurred in the same three-month period. Vidarbha is represented by BJP heavyweights in the state assembly and Parliament — Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari. They are achievers in various domains but sadly haven't been able to push the envelope on the agrarian crisis. Historical data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and other reports show 37,142 farmer suicides in Maharashtra from 2015 to 2024: 4,291 in 2015, 3,058 in 2016, 3,701 in 2017, 3,594 in 2018, 3,927 in 2019, 4,006 in 2020, 4,064 in 2021, 4,268 in 2022, 2,851 in 2023, and 2,635 in 2024. NCRB's 2022 data shows that 11,290 people in the farming sector (5,207 farmers/ cultivators and 6,083 agricultural labourers) across the country died by suicide, accounting for 6.6% of total suicides (1,70,924) in India. More males than females chose to take the extreme step. Of the 5,207 farmer/cultivator suicides, 4,999 were male and 208 female. And of the 6,083 agricultural labourers who killed themselves, 5,472 were male and 611 female. States and UTs that reported zero suicides in the farming sector included West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Goa, Mizoram, Tripura, Chandigarh, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. As for Maharashtra, 2,708 farmers/cultivators—2,448 landowners and 260 cultivators of leased land—died by suicide in 2022. It constituted over 50% of the national figure of 5,207 in the same category. And over one-fourth of the national suicide toll of agricultural labourers (1,560) came from Maharashtra. These are staggering figures by any comparison. As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi put it, while tagging this newspaper's report, "Think about it... in just 3 months, 767 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra. Is this just a statistic? No. These are 767 destroyed homes. 767 families that will never be able to recover.' He went on to score political points, claiming the government easily waives loans of the rich but not the poor, drawing a caustic rebuttal from the BJP, which reminded him of the 'sins committed by the NCP-Congress government during its tenure in Maharashtra.' Amid all the political sparring, the key question as to why a spate of welfare measures undertaken by the state and Central governments, including putting money in their pockets, haven't been able to give farmers the confidence to face the vagaries of life, remains unanswered. Root causes: A complex web The farmer suicide crisis stems from a combination of economic distress, environmental challenges, and social pressures, worsened by policy gaps. Economic distress and debt: Crushing debt is the primary driver, fueled by rising input costs and inadequate crop prices. Farmer leader and expert Vijay Jawandhia told this newspaper that the input cost for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and diesel have surged, while crops end up being sold below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). For example, in 2024, soybeans were sold at Rs3,800–4,000 per quintal against an MSP of Rs4,892, cotton at Rs5,000–6,000 against Rs7,550, and tur dal at Rs6,000–6,500 against Rs7,500. One report estimates that Maharashtra's soybean farmers lost Rs8,500 crore in 2024 due to sub-MSP sales. The 18% GST on agricultural inputs further erodes margins. Rahul Gandhi in his swipe pointed out that while both governments provide at total of Rs12,000 annually (Rs6,000 each from the central and state governments under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) to the farmers, input taxes for cultivation more than suck the dole out of their pockets. Environmental challenges: Vidarbha and Marathwada, where cotton, soybeans, and pulses dominate, have only 10–12% irrigation coverage, compared to 60% in western Maharashtra's sugarcane belt. Farmers rely on erratic monsoons, worsened by climate extremes—droughts, unseasonal rains and hailstorms. Groundwater depletion forces farmers to drill borewells up to 1,000 feet, escalating costs. In 2015, reservoirs like Manjara had zero live storage. Similar shortages persist elsewhere. Kailash Arjun Nagare's suicide in March 2025, after a 10-day hunger strike for irrigation water from the Khadakpurna reservoir, highlights the desperation caused by water scarcity. Declining yields and market volatility: Crop yields have plummeted, particularly for cotton. Sanjay Patil, a farmer from Dhule, told this newspaper that cotton yields have dipped from 10-12 quintals per acre to 2-3 quintals, with prices falling from Rs10,000-12,000 to Rs5,000-6,000 per quintal. Social and psychological pressures: Rising costs for education, healthcare, and daily needs outpace farmers' stagnant incomes, creating a stark income-expense gap. Jawandhia notes that unlike government employees, who receive inflation-linked dearness allowances and salary hikes, farmers lack such protections. Financial strain, coupled with limited access to mental health services, fuels depression. The suicide of Sachin and Jyoti Jadhav, a farmer couple from Parbhani in April 2025, which orphaned their two daughters, indicates the urgent need to address mental health issues on a war footing. Government response In the Constitutional scheme of things, agriculture is a state subject, but many important decisions in the sector are taken by the Central government, said Jawandhia. 'I raised this issue before MS Swaminathan when he was chairman of the National Commission of Farmers. He laughed and agreed to recommend to the Central government to put agriculture in the Concurrent list. However, the proposal is yet to be accepted at the policy level,' he added. Be that as it may, governments have a stock response to troubling questions on farmer suicides. Sample this in the Rajya Sabha to an unstarred question on May 4 this year: 'Agriculture being a State Subject, the State Governments provide relief. However, Government of India supports the efforts of States through appropriate policy measures, budgetary allocation and various schemes/ programmes. The various schemes/ programmes of the Government of India are meant for the welfare of farmers by increasing production, remunerative returns and income support to farmers. The Government has substantially enhanced the budget allocation of Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) from `21,933.50 crore BE during 2013-14 to `1,22,528.77 crore BE during 2024-25.' The minister goes on to list 28 major schemes to enhance the overall income of farmers. For their part, states put out data on the assistance given to the next of kin of the eligible victims. But empirical evidence of the measures turning the tide of suicides is hard to come by. Welfare measures and issues Compensation: Rs1 lakh for families of deceased farmers, but only 376 of 767 suicide cases between January-March 2025 were approved, with Rs295 lakh sought by eight districts and only Rs18 lakh disbursed MSP: Limited procurement through 562 centres fails to prevent sub-MSP sales Financial support: Rs12,000 annual aid (Rs6,000 each from the Central and state governments under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi) offset by GST and rising input cost Counselling: Psychological support sessions aim to deter suicides but lack scale Sugarcane-centric: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar proposed a law to protect sugarcane farmers. Cotton farmers, predominant in Vidarbha, feel neglected due to the political influence of sugarcane cooperatives. Jawandhia criticises the focus on sugarcane, noting that cotton farmers are treated like 'orphans' in Vidarbha. Voices from the ground Farmers and activists highlight the systemic neglect that has led to the crisis. Sanjay Patil switched from cotton to lemon orchards due to unsustainable losses. Ajit Nawale of Kisan Sabha contrasted India's policies with the US and European subsidies, accusing the government of favouring traders. He said the Union government gives `6,000 to poor and needy farmers under the Kisan Samman Scheme, but in the garb of 18% GST on chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, squeezes out more money from the farmers than the subsidies it provides. 'My appeal to farmers is to get united and fight against the government and its policies,' he suggested. As for Jawandhia, he said, "The Thackeray cousins came together on the issue of Marathi language and opposed the imposition of Hindi in Maharashtra, but why are no politicians coming together for the cause of the state's farmers?" Going forward Addressing the crisis of farm suicides requires structural reforms: MSP regime: Enforcing MSP as a legal right could ensure fair prices, said Jawandia. Besides, no crop should be sold below MSP Irrigation infrastructure: Expanding irrigation in Vidarbha and Marathwada, potentially through projects like Khadakpurna dam, is critical. Lack of irrigation facilities has claimed scores of lives of farmers, with Nagare's suicide one among them Mental health support: Scaling up counseling could address psychological distress Nagare's suicide note demanded action; the Jadhavs' deaths orphaned their daughters. Until debt, water scarcity, and market volatility are addressed, Maharashtra's farms will remain a graveyard for its farmers.
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
A death that spotlights irrigation problems
On March 13, 2025, Kailash Arjun Nagare, a 2020 Young Farmer Award recipient, from Maharashtra, died by suicide, citing unaddressed irrigation demands. While India reports the highest water usage in agriculture globally, access to water for irrigation remains a contentious issue. Nagare's death points towards the inequity in distribution, with social inequalities, water governance mechanisms, and policies determining the contours of allocation. The problem of water scarcity in India is thus multifaceted, indicating the co-existence of actual physical shortage with economic scarcity due to inequitable access and management. Untenable expansion The agricultural sector accounts for almost 80% of the water withdrawal in India. Every year, 688 billion cubic metres of water is consumed by the farm sector, the highest in the world. Irrigation is an inevitable input for increasing agricultural production. However, its expansion has been highly untenable. The majority of the area under water-guzzling crops such as rice, wheat, and sugarcane is currently in the water-scarce north-west and sub-tropical belts of the country. According to a study published in Nature Water (2024), India alone accounted for 36% of global unsustainable irrigation expansion that happened between 2000 and 2015, with environmental and socio-economic implications. Even as irrigation has been proven to drive economic prosperity, various studies have reported that uneven progress has reinforced existing inequalities, between and within States. Considering that ground water is the dominant water source for irrigation in India, property rights, energy pricing policy, and the existence of well-functioning water markets have remained critical in determining water access to farms. Accordingly, while inequity has declined in canal, tank, and well irrigated systems, it has increased in the tube well irrigated system. Marginalised groups, especially women, are also disproportionately affected by increasing deprivation and decline of water tables with climate change intensifying disparities. The environmental and financial consequences of aggressive groundwater extraction have also been profound. Due to over extraction, almost 17% of India's groundwater assessment units are deemed 'over-exploited' while 3.9% are in a 'critical' state. Intensive pumping has also resulted in massive energy consumption resulting in excessive carbon emissions. As per the latest data, 45.3–62.3 MMT of annual carbon emissions is attributed to groundwater irrigation, which constitutes 8-11% of India's total carbon emissions. The operating efficiency and water use efficiency has also remained sub-optimal in Indian agriculture. While irrigation systems in India report an operating efficiency of 38%, in developed countries it is 55%. Coupled with misaligned cropping patterns and inefficient water use practices, irrigation water productivity (IWP) has also remained low in the major irrigation belts of the country. For example, Punjab, which claims the highest land productivity in rice, has one of the lowest IWPs for the crop. Similarly, in sugar cane, Tamil Nadu records the highest land productivity with IWP being dismally low. Besides water wastage, the adoption of non-optimal water management practices have been causing other negative externalities such as high GHG emissions as well. For example, with continuous flooding of rice as the major water management practice, paddy rice is the biggest contributor to global cropland emissions. Considering the over-exploitation of ground water resources, impending water scarcity and environmental externalities, further attempts to improve the irrigation system of the country should be built on efficient water-saving technologies, improved irrigation efficiency, and alternative sources of irrigation. The way forward While change in cropping patterns and ground water usage regulations through policy decisions should also be aimed at in the medium and long term, advancing irrigation technologies and practices based on sustainable intensification should be prioritised. Better irrigation efficiency may be aimed through the improvement of conveyance and application efficiency of irrigation systems. In geographies where water withdrawals and GHG emissions have been highest, alternative water management technologies such as alternate wetting and drying, which can result in significant water saving and reduced emissions, may be popularised. Similarly, micro-irrigation systems such as drip irrigation, with minimal application losses, may be popularised in crops such as sugar cane. Promoting solar-powered irrigation and/or bundling solar pumps with micro-irrigation systems is another promising option. However, with the marginal cost of pumping being zero, this should not result in increased groundwater depletion and should be regulated through initiatives such as assured grid connection offering economic incentives for efficient utilisation. Rain water harvesting structures and tail water storage pits may be popularised as supplementary irrigation sources. Since traditional supply-based mechanisms do not necessarily promote equitable distribution of irrigation water, initiating demand-driven allocation systems run by participatory irrigation management structures should be widely promoted. Lisa Mariam Varkey, Senior specialist, Socio-Economics, International Rice Research Institute
