SEMINAR on FARMERS SUICIDE IN INDIA

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WelCome

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Seminar on Farmers’ suicide in India Displaying a cruel world Ganesh Adiga

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APPROACH

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Killer Agents In Agriculture!

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Who is a Farmer?! The term “farmers” will include landless agricultural laborers, sharecroppers, tenants, small, marginal and sub-marginal cultivators, farmers with larger holdings, fishers, dairy, sheep, poultry and other farmers involved in animal husbandry, pastoralists, plantation workers as well as those rural and tribal families engaged in a wide variety of farming related occupations such as sericulture and vermiculture. The term will include tribal families sometimes engaged in shifting cultivation and in the collection and use of non-timber forest produce. In all cases, both men and women will receive equal attention.

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Agrarian Crisis Farming is means to livelihood for 65% of Indians. Our farm population is increasing annually by 1.84%. The average farm size is becoming smaller each year. Cost-risk-return structure of farming is becoming adverse, with the result that farmers are getting increasingly indebted. Nearly 40% of farmers would like to quit farming, if they have the option to do so (NSSO, 2003).

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“Economic growth has failed to be sufficiently inclusive, particularly after mid-1990s. Agriculture lost its growth momentum from that point on and subsequently entered a near crisis situation, reflected in farmer suicides in some areas” Approach Paper to the XI Five Year Plan December 2006 Continued…

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In the Midwest of the U.S. suicide rates among male farmers are twice that of the general population. In Britain farmers are taking their own lives at a rate of one a week. All over the world the impact of an industrial approach to boosting crop yields has stripped many small farmers of their self-sufficiency and thrown them into despair. The Global Perspective

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Continued... In nearly all countries, rate of suicide of farmers is larger than of the general population. Only exception is . . . .   Large number of suicides in US during the Great Depression.   Today, suicide is still the no. 1 cause of farmer deaths in the US. In UK, several suicides have been attributed to spread of animal diseases like foot & mouth disease. In Australia, strong correlation between droughts and suicides.

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16,632 farmers’ suicides in the country(2007) including 2,369 women. Farmers' suicide constituted 14.4 per cent of the total 1,22,637 suicides in the country in 2007. 46 farmers commit suicide every day in India One Indian farmer committed suicide every 32 minutes between 1997 and 2005. Since 2002, that has become one suicide every 30 minutes Farmer Suicides in India

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NUMBER OF FARMERS AND TOTAL SUICIDES IN INDIA Source: NCRB, 2007

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PER CENT OF FARMERS SUICIDES TO TOTAL SUICIDES IN INDIA Source: NCRB, 2007

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Source: NCRB, 2007 Percentage Distribution of Suicide Victims by Profession - 2007

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Table : Rates of farmer and total suicides, 1997–2005 Source: NCRB, 2007

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The number of farmers who have committed suicide in India between 1997 and 2007: 182,936. Close to two-thirds of these suicides have occurred in five states– Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. 89,362 farmers' suicides between 1997 and 2005. (On average, one farmer for 53 minutes), 11,026 in 2007 THE NUMBER GAME!

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National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a wing of the Ministry of Home Affairs, government of India The number of farmers’ suicides in the five years – 1997-2001 – was 78,737 (or 15,747 a year on average). The same figure for the five years 2002-06 was 87,567 (or 17,513 a year on average). Those who killed themselves were overwhelmingly cash crop farmers – growers of cotton, coffee, sugarcane, groundnut, pepper, vanilla. RELIABILITY OF THE DATA

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Farmer suicides in selected states and all India, 1997–06 Source: NCRB, 2007

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GROUPS OF STATES BASED ON RATE AND NUMBER OF SUICIDAL CASES (Dr. K. Nagaraj , Madras Institute of  Development Studies)

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State wise numbers of farmers suicides in India

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MAHArashtra! 21 of India’s 51 dollar billionaires and over a fourth of the country’s 100,000 dollar millionaires In the state there have been 40,666 farmers’ suicides since 1995, with very little media attention. As many as 4,238 farmers took their lives in the state (38 per cent) in 2007 after one and a half years of farm “relief packages” worth around Rs.5,000 crore. (crossed the 4,000-mark for the third time in four years) All-time high of 4,453 suicides in 2006

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One suicide in every eight hours. In 2006, 1,448 farmers’ suicides. 1,246 in 2007, 1,139 in 2008 On 1 July 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Vidarbha and promised a package of Rs. 11000 crores and announced 3750-crore package. But the ground situation shows a credit disbursal of less than a thousand crore Home to 3.2 million cotton farmers. Nearly 2.8 million cotton farmers are defaulters Continued…

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Karnataka (2,135), Andhra Pradesh (1,797), Chhattisgarh (1,593), Madhya Pradesh (1,263), Kerala (1,263), West Bengal (1,102) (2007) The number of reported cases of farmer suicides in Karnataka touched 185 in the first half of this financial year (2008-09). As on September 30 Hassan district (23) , tops the list Hassan topped the list in the number of suicides by farmers in 2003-04 (69) and 2004-05 (37). WE ARE NEXT IN THE LIST

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86.5 percent of farmers who took their own lives were financially indebted Their average debt was about $835. 98 percent of the farmers who committed suicide had no irrigation peasant households in debt doubled in the first decade of the neoliberal “economic reforms,” from 26 per cent of farm households to 48.6 per cent. WHY FARMERS’ SUICIDE? Reforms opened Indian farmers to global competition, such as with the United States and UK who receive over $18 billion a year in subsidies For farmers in India such foreign subsidies have driven down the price of crops in the global market, such as cotton

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NEGLECTED AGRICULTURE SECTOR?

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Promises Made in for the Agricultural Sector Declared in May 2004 the NCMP promised the following: ·         Rural credit will be doubled in the next three years. ·         All existing irrigation projects will be completed within three-four years. ·         All dues of farmers will be cleared at the earliest. ·         Public investment in agricultural research and extension, rural infrastructure and irrigation will be stepped up in a significant manner at the earliest. ·         Crop and livestock insurance schemes will be streamlined to make them more effective. ·         Controls that depress farm incomes will be systematically removed. ·         All possible efforts will be made to maintain terms of trade in favour of agriculture.

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Indebtedness of farm households in four states (%) source : Report No. 498(59/33/1), Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers: Indebtedness of Farmer Households, National Sample Survey 59th Round (January-December 2003)

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Indebtedness of Farmer Households(all-India) in Different Size Classes of Land Possessed

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NOT ENOUGH SUBSIDIES Source: Dept. of Agriculture, GOI.

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Table: The average gap in the minimum support price and the cost of cultivation per crop Not a single support price for the last 10 years has met the cost of cultivation, except sugarcane for 2 years minimum SUPPPORT PRICE !!!

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THE WHITE GOLD!

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About 29% understood what minimum support price meant. Only 4% of farmer households had ever insured their crops and 57% did not know that crops could be insured Source: NSSO, 59 th Round Survey FARMERS’ AWARENESS ABOUT MSP AND CROP INSURANCE

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The average American farm family earns $60,000 a year. The average Indian farm family works 80 hours per week, through 40 or more weeks in the year, and earns about $ 3,000 a year. INCOME-IS IT SUFFICIENT? (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html)) (Rajalakshmi, G, 2009)

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Income of farmers [Per annum, per acre] Farmers   : US$ 144.00   Savings in labour  : US$ 320.00 [If no bought-in labour cost is incurred] Gross surplus   : US$ 464.00 [excluding cost of capital] Income for corporations [per annum, per acre] Seeds    : US$ 168.89 Diesel    : US$  84.45 Fertilizers and pesticides : US$ 270.23 Total to corporations  : US$ 523.57 (Source: Arun Shrivastava,Globalresearch.ca, 2006) AGRICULTURE-INCOME TO WHOM?

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Between 1990–91and 95–96 while the prices of wheat as measured by the average of wholesale price indices increased by 58%, that of fertilizer increased by 113%, that of irrigation by 62% and insecticides by 90 percent Monsanto’s partners in India were marketing a bag of 450 grams of Bt cotton seed for between Rs.1,650 and Rs.1,800 Convention cottonseeds cost Rs. 200 / kg. Bt. Cotton seeds cost Rs. 3600 / kg The price fell to around Rs.900 after A.P. Govt. intervention INCREASING COSTS OF CULTIVATION

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HOW MUCH PROFIT?

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An estimated 27% of farmers did not like farming because it was not profitable. In all, 40% felt that, given a choice, they would take up some other career. FARMING-NOT PROFITABLE? (NSSO, 2003) An estimated 27% of farmers did not like farming because it was not profitable. In all, 40% felt that, given a choice, they would take up some other career. FARMING-NOT PROFITABLE? (NSSO, 2003)

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Over half (51%) of rural households with the smallest landholdings (less than 0.01 hectares) do not possess ration cards. the average poor family has about 100 kg less today than it did just ten years ago ( Source:Utsa Patnaik, 2006) WE FEED THE NATION

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“Rates of growth of agriculture in the last decade have been poor and are a major cause of rural distress. Farming is increasingly becoming an unviable activity.” -Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, 2007 OUR PRIME MINISTER KNOWS ONLY THE REASON!

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Crop failure due to a variety of reasons Drought, lack of irrigation infrastructure   Decreasing procurement prices Global influence on crop prices   Introduction of GM crops, which increases costs. The drive toward corporate farming. predatory commercialization of the countryside Major causes attributed

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The economic causes growing expenditure, specially on bought inputs low productivity inadequate prices of agriculture produce difficulties in marketing and marketing hazards natural hazards caused by drought absence of proper crop planning unsatisfactory agriculture credit accumulated burden of debt. social causes  (i) the drinking habit which atrophies the productivity of the farmer  (ii) extravagant expenditure on marriages  (iii) bad health and illness and inability to meet the necessary expenditure on medicine and health services

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Financial Stress -constant financial pressure related to the “Farm Crisis "and ongoing drought and flood which add to the economic problems Loss of independence and control: many of the issues are not within the farmer’s control –disease, weather, government policy, but the debts are personal. Sense of Loss: repeated sense of hopelessness, loss of crops, loss of land, loss of income, loss of community, loss of family farm, loss of a way of life. Untreated Mental Illness: Lack of access to mental health services in rural areas and the stigma attached to treatment. Depression arising from exposure to agricultural chemicals/pesticides may increase the risk for mood disorders and ultimately suicide.

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“Suicides cannot be just attributed to mental depression, as depression does not descend from the sky. Various socio-economic factors together contribute for mental depression” Vidyasagar and Suman Chandra, 2004

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Indebtedness –93 % Economic downfall – 74 % Conflict in Family – 55 % Crop failure – 41% Dent in Social Status- 36% Daughter’s/Sister’s marriage – 34 % Addiction- 28% Health problems – 21 % Most of the suicides were because of combination of more than one factor (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai) Study Findings- Reasons for Agrarian Distress and Suicides

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Cotton Farmers are hardest hit by global competition and poor yield “The cotton belt is where the suicides are taking place on a very, very large scale. It is the suicide belt of India.” - Vandana Shiva, Agricultural Economist, 2006 COTTON-THE CULPRIT?

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ITS COTTON BECAUSE… Across the country, the average cost of cultivation in cotton is a little more than Rs 16,000 per ha. With an average productivity of 460 kg per ha, it costs between Rs 35 to Rs 48 per kg to grow cotton. In Vidarbha, the cost of cultivation could go well beyond Rs 20,000 per ha and if marketing cost is added, it crosses Rs 22,000. But the productivity is only 146 kg per ha. In other words, the cost per kg is almost double -well over Rs 70 per kg. The hybrid cotton covers about 73% of the cotton area in Vidarbha. Area under Bt cotton has risen from a mere 0.4% in 2002-03 to 15% in 2005-06 Only 3% cotton land falls under assured irrigation.

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COMPARISION BETWEEN Bt and Desi COTTON

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Bt Cotton- Income to the Corporate?

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In Vidarbha, which has the highest suicides, the area under Bt-cotton has increased from 0.200 million ha in 2004 to 2.880 million ha in 2007. Costs of pesticides for farmers has increased from Rs. 921 million to Rs. 13,264 billion in the same period, which is a 13 fold increase. “ The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has recently released a discussion paper “Bt-cotton and Farmers’ Suicides in India: Reviewing the Evidence”. The report is manipulative of the truth about farmers suicides and Bt-cotton at every level.

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Bt is not the Reason? Bt is not the Reason?

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Organic farmers in Vidarbha are earning Rs. 6287 per acre on average, compared to Bt-cotton farmers who are earning Rs. 714 per acre on average. Many Bt-cotton farmers have a negative income, hence the suicides. In specific regions and years, where Bt-cotton may have indirectly contributed to farmer indebtedness (via crop failure) leading to suicides, its failure was mainly the result of the context or environment in which it was introduced or planted; Bt-cotton as a technology is not to blame”.

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HOW THE COMPLEXITY LOOKS LIKE?

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CHARACTERISTICS OF SUICIDE FARMERS

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91-94 % of suicides are by family heads 91-97 % of those who committed suicide are males 84 to 89 percent are married Suicides are neutral to literacy levels Most of them grew single crop in a year 98 percent had no access to irrigation More or less spread among all caste groups Spread in all per capita holding size Common features in majority of suicides

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KIND OF RISKS FAVORING THE SUICIDES

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LOANS -TO PROMOTE SUICIDES?!

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BAD SEASONS

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What happens to the families after a farmer commits suicide? Farms are confiscated due to inability to pay back high interest loans. Harassment of the family by corrupt moneylenders. Widows burdened with the new responsibility as the sole breadwinner. Children sometimes lose both parents to suicide. Forcing their education to a halt, especially if they have to work in order to provide for their needs AFTER THE SUICIDE

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THE STORY IN KARNATAKA

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DISTRICT SCENARIO

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Continued…

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COMPENSATION Monetary compensation laws only provide more economic incentive for suicide. “suicide by one farmer is inviting others to do the same."

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August, 2001, the Government of Karnataka commissioned an Expert Committee to conduct a scientific study of farmer’s suicides in the state. The Commission completed and presented its report in April, 2002. Recommendations of the Committee include a range of measures to instil self-reliance and self-respect among farmers, such as the creation of a farmers’ welfare fund, a nodal department for welfare of farmers, social security measures, diversification of farm activities, rationalization of credit, regular supply of electricity for agriculture purposes, enhancing irrigation facilities, amendments to the land reforms act, facilities for health care and creating awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol. Prof. Veeresh advocated the setting up of a farmers' welfare fund with a corpus of Rs. 100 crore to assist farmers in distress. Since the attempt to commit suicide is a cognisable offence, Prof. Veeresh frowned upon the Government indiscriminately sanctioning compensation to the kin of the deceased.

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CAUSES FOR THE CRISIS IN KARNATAKA-VEERESH COMMITTEE Crop failures resulting from drought, scant or no rainfall, and pest attacks; Increasing prices of chemical fertilizers and other essential inputs; Poor quality of seeds, fertilisers and pesticides; Failed bore-wells and all-around scarcity of water for agriculture and household use; Poor or non-existent power supply; Collapse of prices of agriculture commodities, accompanied by inadequate or non-existent crop insurance; Mounting household expenses related to health, marriages and deaths of family members; Heavy debt burdens, including debt to money lenders and banks; Loss of lands and/or distress sale of lands resulting from an inability to repay debts and meet financial obligations; Unequal distribution of risk between share-croppers and marginal farmers o­n o­ne hand, and wealthier land owners and seed companies o­n the other hand; Lack of comprehensive agricultural policy in the state and in the country.

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Making the Era of Farmers’ Suicides History In the agrarian distress hotspots, there is need for a paradigm shift from “Suicide Relief” to “Life-saving Support” for suicide prevention. This is the pathway to providing every farm and landless labour family with an opportunity for a productive and healthy life. The Farmer suicide tragedy has several dimensions – economic distress and despair, breakdown of social and State support systems and psychological nightmare. The response to this situation has also to be multi-dimensional, with priority going to mitigating economic distress

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Five Point Strategic Approach  Saving the Living Ending the “debt death loan and interest waiver.  Reform of farm credit with regard to rate of interest, adopting credit cycle approach of 4-5 years and including health and consumption needs Revamp the agricultural insurance system and make it effective and affordable Strengthening Livelihood and Income Security Proper and timely advice on land use planning and choice of technologies Steps to provide crop life saving irrigation Strengthen the coping capacity to withstand the shock of crop failure or collapse of prices Integrated on-farm and non-farm livelihood strategy Assured and Remunerative Market Life Saving Social Support and Security Hope Generation Teams Reinforcing the Psychological Strength

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CONCLUSION Mahatma Gandhi preferred to be known as a farmer, while signing the Visitors’ Book of the NDRI, Bangalore in 1927. Let us prove worthy of his trust that India will care for its farmers EVERYTHING ELSE CAN WAIT, BUT NOT AGRICULTURE -JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

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THANK YOU