Bengaluru: Karnataka seems to be facing a serious agrarian crisis going by the startling revelation by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) that the state stood third in farmer suicides in 2015.
Of the total 12,602 suicide cases reported across the country in 2015, 3,030 farmers ended their lives in Maharashtra, 1,358 in Telangana and 1,197 in Karnataka. This has brought to the fore the alarming situation in Karnataka which has been gripped by a severe drought for the last three and a half years.
“Farmers ending their lives is definitely not a good sign. It shows how the government has turned a blind eye to their problems. Both nature and the government have been unkind to farmers in the last three years,” said Karnataka Sugarcane Growers Association President Kurubur Shanthkumar.
While around 350 farmers committed suicide in 2014, the number jumped to over 1,000 due to failure of the monsoon. Non-clearance of loans borrowed from private money lenders, fund crunch, non-remunerative prices for agriculture produce and other reasons contributed to the sudden increase in farmer suicides. Unfortunately, nature too has been harsh with rainfall declining since 2013.
A holistic approach is needed to prevent farmer suicides by involving all departments directly or indirectly connected with agriculture to boost the morale of the farming community, opined Mr T.N. Prakash, chairman, Karnataka State Agriculture Price Commission. He told Deccan Chronicle that Karnataka was the first state to implement the Land Reforms Act, bio-technology, watershed programmes, decentralisation of power at the grassroot level and welfare measures for the economic empowerment of farmers. But, there seem to be problems in the delivery mechanism. No doubt, Karnataka stands second after Rajasthan in the extent of dry land but this should not be an excuse to neglect the farming sector. Farmers, of late, have lost confidence due to lack of support from the government. Their money management is wrecked if rains fail for a year as banks and private lenders demand repayment of loans. Fearing the insult, farmers end their lives, he explained.
According to Mr Prakash, Karnataka has been overtaken by Kerala in plantations, by Maharashtra in pulses and by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in paddy cultivation. In other states, inter-connectivity among all departments exists but this is not the case in Karnataka where everything is handled by the Department of Agriculture. Farmers can't grow if irrigation potential is not created and marketing of agriculture produce cannot happen if the department concerned functions under some other department.
A perfect coordination among all departments is the need of the hour if the government wants to check farmer suicides. The government should take up construction of godowns, cold storage facilities and ensure a good market and infrastructure development projects to improve the agriculture sector, Mr Prakash added.
