In a span of three years, Yadgir district, which has two rivers, has witnessed the death of 162 farmers due to distress. The main reason for their decision to take the extreme step of ending their lives is loan burden induced by drought and floods.
As per official data, between April 2023 and February 24, 2024, 39 farmers ended their lives by employing various means. It was 64 farmers during 2021-22 and 59 in 2022-23.
The reasons for farmers taking the extreme step are crop losses due to drought or floods and heavy debt burdens. According to sources, a majority of farmers ended their lives after they became unable to repay loans.
“Obviously, farmers expect a good yield and sufficient return after they spend huge amounts of money on cultivation and other activities. A study has revealed that they take extreme steps when they realize that they won’t get back even half of the amount they invested for cultivating crops,” honorary president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Chamaras Malipatil said.
Mr. Malipatil wants the government to fix minimum support prices (MSP) for farm produce and also implement proper irrigation projects, including the construction of balancing reservoirs and check dams to irrigate dry land, so as to help farmers make farming viable.
Although two major rivers, Krishna and Bhima, flow through Yadgir district. However, only 2.39 lakh hectares of dry land out of the 4.75 lakh hectares of cultivable land has been irrigated and the remaining is rain-fed.
“Despite having two rivers and hundreds of tanks, the government has failed to implement irrigation projects. A majority of tanks has gone dry owing to drought. The government should desilt such tanks properly and fill them with river water to irrigate dry land and improve the groundwater level, which can help recharge dried borewells,” farmers leader Manik Reddy Kurkundi said.
Assistant Commissioner of Yadgir Sub-Division Hampanna Sajjan, who heads the committee that decides on compensation for farmer suicide, said that out of the 39 reported cases during the current fiscal, compensation of ₹5 lakh each has been released in 16. And, the process of releasing compensation in 21 cases is on, while compensation has been rejected in two.
Meanwhile, the State government has declared three taluks as severely drought-hit and the remaining three as moderately drought-hit. The district administration has already made the necessary entries about crop loss in FRUITS software, enabling farmers to get drought compensation.
“The life of every individual is very precious. No farmer should take the extreme step for any reason. The district administration is with the farmers and ready to put in efforts to pass on to them whatever facilities the government provides,” Deputy Commissioner B. Susheela said.
She also said that bankers have been urged to give sufficient time to farmers to repay their loans.
