.gif)
FARMER SUICIDES IN INDIA
FARMER SUICIDES IN INDIA
Introduction :- It is very unfortunate that in a country like India, where nearly 70% of the total population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture, cases of farmer suicides are increasing day by day. 11.2% of the total suicides in the country belong to the farmers who are committing suicide. There are many reasons for the suicides of farmers in India. However, the government has taken a lot of measures to control this problem. Some of the solutions given here can help reduce the cases of farmers suicide in India.
Reasons for Farmer Suicides in India :-
There are a lot of reasons as to why farmer suicides happen in our country. All these reasons come together to make this worrying issue prevalent. One of the main reasons is droughts. When the crops do not get sufficient rainfall they do not yield much produce. This, in turn, poses as a great loss to the farmers as their money gets wasted and they go in debt. Areas that have frequent droughts have higher cases of farmer suicides. Similarly, floods are also as dangerous as droughts. The crops of the farmers erode away and they do not get any product from those crops. Furthermore, the high debt which the farmers have to pay for the land is another major factor. As they take heavy loans for growing crops and fail to do so, they kill themselves as they do not have money to pay their debt back. In addition, family pressure is too high for farmers. They fail to make ends meet and thus commit suicide because of this failure. Moreover, capitalization is a very big reason for farmer suicides. Nowadays, people most favor privatization and capitalization. These big firms capitalize on the crops and sell them using marketing strategies. People do not prefer going to a farmer’s market but rather to a supermarket or mall for their vegetables and food. This causes a loss to these farmers moreover these capitalist agencies buy the farmer’s produce at lower rates and they go in loss.
Methods To Prevent Farmers Suicide In India
There are many aspects that need to be improved for the prevention of farmer’s suicide in the nation. The change cannot be observed by improving any one of the conditions but every aspect has been looked equally for improving the condition of the farmers. More focus must be given to the long-term measures. Some of the methods for preventing farmer suicide cases in India have been mentioned below:
Proper Water Management :- The crop failure is majorly noticed because of the less rainfall or flooding of areas. The majority of the farmers in the nation depend upon natural resources for agriculture. This must be reduced and an alternative to this must be arranged by the government. The motive of the government must be that there must be no crop failure. Proper water management can be effective in providing water to the area facing drought conditions. In the same way, the stored water is distributed to the areas having a requirement of water will prevent the chance of flooding several regions.
Knowledge Of Cultivation Methods :- The government needs to advise and explain to all the farmers regarding the economic procedure of cultivation. The use of new tools, techniques, seeds, etc must also be explained to them in an easy format. They must be informed about the crops that grow well in adverse conditions. In this way, they will not have to suffer a loss during the flood or drought conditions.
Finance Facilities Available To Farmers :- The farmers must be given the facility of getting loans from institutional finance. This will prevent the farmers from taking loans from the money lenders. Institutional finance must be easily available to the poor farmers. Many times the poor farmers are just used for loan purposes but the reason behind that is something else. Therefore post monitoring must be done so that no misuse of money could be done.
Skill Development Training To The Farmers :- There are many farmers that have a small landholding and thus income is also very small. The government must arrange for the training centers so that farmers can acquire skills. This will help them in generating extra income along with farming. The attaining of skills will be more beneficial for the farmers who are at loss because of frequent floods and drought in that region.
Relief Packages For The Farmers :- There must be the provision of relief packages for the farmers suffering from the loss because of crop failure due to the occurrence of flood or drought conditions. This will help them to compensate for the loss. It must be ensured that every needy farmer gets the benefit of the relief packages.
Conclusion :- Farmer’s suicides can be prevented by collective effort. The government must teach modern techniques to farmers. Furthermore, they must be given proper irrigation facilities. It should also launch genuine crop insurance policies to cover their losses.
cover topics-
No comments