India is primarily an agricultural nation, with approximately 60% of its population dependent on agriculture. The agricultural sector in India heavily relies on monsoons for precipitation, making it a risky endeavor. When monsoons fail, droughts occur, leading to low prices and exploitation by middlemen. These challenges have sadly resulted in numerous farmer suicides across the country. Furthermore, the relief package offered did not consider the demands of the farmers.
Civil society organisations, local government bodies, and panchayats were not consulted during the formulation of the relief packages. The packages mostly consisted of existing schemes, with little new being offered aside from the farmer helpline and direct financial assistance. This approach of pumping extra funds into additional schemes demonstrates a lack of fresh ideas to address a situation where existing measures had already proven unsuccessful. The farmer helpline, except in Karnataka, did not provide substantial help to farmers. The selection criteria for beneficiaries under the assistance scheme were not clearly defined, leading to issues such as farmers receiving unsuitable assistance. Additionally, there was limited awareness about the package. Research conducted by various investigators identified several causes for these problems, including Raj Patel, Nagraj, Meeta, and Rajivlochan.
India was undergoing rapid transformation into an urban, industrial society, where industry served as the primary source of income. The government and society showed little concern for the state of the countryside. Furthermore, a decline in the urban economy forced many distressed non-farmers to venture into cultivation. The farming community also faced a Scissors Crisis. Due to a lack of guidance from either the government or society, numerous farmers were unaware of how to sustain themselves in the evolving economy.
Many individuals facing extreme stress have felt so overwhelmed that suicide became their only option [23]. Research has also indicated that specific types of technological advancements have played a significant role in this issue. In one study conducted in the Punjab, it was observed that agricultural chemicals were being misused in farmer households without proper guidance on their correct usage, leading to a rise in farm suicides in areas where these chemicals were widely used [24]. Furthermore, important research carried out in Andhra Pradesh revealed that the rapid change in seed and pesticide products had resulted in a loss of skills in the cotton sector. Addressing this problem requires reducing agriculture’s reliance on nature and implementing effective water management during periods of abundant rainfall. The government needs to prioritize preventing crop failure, as often the scarcity of water is not the issue, but rather the lack of proper management on the government’s part.
Another important solution to save farmers from debt traps of money lenders is to make institutional finance available to every farmer. It is crucial to ensure that institutional finance is easily accessible to the poorest farmers by removing elaborate formalities and procedures for obtaining loans. The causes of farmers’ suicides are both economic and social.
The economic causes include growing expenditure, especially on bought inputs, low productivity, inadequate prices of agricultural produce, difficulties in marketing and marketing hazards, natural hazards caused by drought, absence of proper crop planning, unsatisfactory agriculture credit, and the accumulated burden of debt.
Amongst the social causes are the drinking habit which atrophies the productivity of the farmer, extravagant expenditure on marriages, bad health and illness, and inability to meet the necessary expenditure on medicine and health services.
