Sujit Deshmukh Manish Gidwani Student at Department of

Socio- Economic state of Farmers in the state of Maharashtra

Ashutosh Kolte Assistant Professor, Department of management Sciences,

Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune

Sujit Deshmukh Student at Department of management Sciences,


Manish Gidwani Student at Department of management Sciences,


Abstract:

Background: This report talks about the various issues faced by farmers in context of

both psychological and socioeconomic variables, which affects the stability of farmers

cerebrally and somatically. Furthermore, how these issues affect the livelihood of

farmers in turn drifting them to take extreme measures by forcing them to end their

own lives is also being discussed.

Research Problem: The problem being discussed and researched upon in this report is:

What are the major factors that affect the farmers suicide in Maharashtra?

Methods: In this report we have used various online portals to briefly study and analyse

the topic so as to emphasize on current findings and gain a detailed perspective of

various factors affecting farmers.

Result: With light shed upon the recent finding and the study of various factors

associated with the farmers suicide case, we observed that the socio-economic status is

more linked to have an effect on the psychological well being of the farmers thus

resulting in abrupt measures taken by the vulnerable farmers. Decrease in yield of the

produce, loss of employment, decrease in income of farmers, along with the social

impacts and environmental impacts all these causes are interrelated and tend to

intensify together.

Conclusion: Indebtedness and various other factors are majorly associated in the

degrading socio-economic status of the farmers and are identified as major risk factors.

Furthermore, we have also tried to register some of the future measures which can help

improve the socio-economic status of farmers.

Key words: farmers; suicide; agriculture; psychological; socioeconomic; indebtedness.

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Volome 8, Issue 8, August 2019 309

1. Introduction:

Agriculture can be defined as an activity carried out by people in order to satiate their basic

need of food. There are various modes of fulfilling this activity out of which farming still

remains the most popular and widely used practice today. Farming is an act of sowing the

seeds and reaping the benefits of growing food with the supplementation of water. A farmer

is the person who carries out farming and depends his whole livelihood on this activity. India

is widely known as an “Agricultural Economy” due to its rich and diverse flora, that acts as a

major revenue generation source for a plethora of country‟s population. In Maharashtra

approximately 64% of the entire state population is dependent on farming. (Udmale,

Ichikawa, Manandhar, Ishidaira, & Kiem, 2014)

Farmers in a developing economy like India do not have access to costly equipment and

manufacturing activities thus resort to cheap and traditional methods which involves a lot of

manual labour and effort. These practices thus result in a poorer yield as compared to the

other methods, thus driving the gap between the expected deliverables pertaining to the

monetary gains of farmers. Farmers when faced with such distress do not bore any other

options but they sway towards ending their life as the only option. (Merriott, 2017)

Suicidal behaviour is a major problem faced across the world. Over a million people commit

suicide across the globe.WHO report found that suicidal behaviour did not occur among

specific age group but, it is more among the age group of 15-29 globally.In India the number

of suicidal deaths by farmers have been major social and economic concern to the

Government of India. The large number of farmers committed suicides in various parts of

country is most disturbing phenomenon observed over past two decades in India. An

important observation regarding farmers' suicides is that suicide rates are high only in states

where cotton is an important crop.

According to the 2013 National Crime records Bureau statistics the estimated suicide rate for

general people is 11.2 out of 1,00,000 while that of farmers is approximately 50% more and

close to 15.2 in 1,00,000 farmer population. This indicates the farmers suicide is not

occurring due to organic reasons such as mental health issues but rather a different reason

such as socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstance. (Merriott, 2017)

Primarily the objectives of this study are to assess the various issues faced by farmers and

understand the reason behind them in a brief manner yet provide a comprehensive review of

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all the various reasons. This will help paint a complete and concise picture as to the reasons

(Psychological and Socioeconomical) behind the suicide of farmers. (S.T., 2016)

2. Review of Literature: In the paper titled “Critical Study of Farmers Suicide in

Maharashtra- Causes and Remedies.” The author has used various information sources such

as government website, research articles, magazines, journals national and vernacular

newspapers with NCRB reports etc. and they have provided an extensive survey of the causes

and remedies of farmers suicide in Maharashtra. The paper suggests various reasons for the

suicide of farmers primarily, crop failure (65%) and Indebtedness are the major influencing

factors for driving their decision. The factor provides a complete overview of the both

organic and inorganic causes such as Illiteracy, traditions, culture, lack of safe drinking water

and other facilities such as proper healthcare, food, clothing and shelter. As for the remedies

to prevent the farmers suicide there are numerous ways to do so with direct or indirect

intervention. These remedies range from an individual range to more wide range. Wealth

management systems, providing special provisions and subsidies, water irrigation facilities

and education can help prevent such occurrences. (S.T., 2016)

Similarly, in a report titled “Farmers suicide and debt waiver an action plan for agricultural

development of Maharashtra” by Dr Narendra Jadhav the then Vice-Chancellor of University

of Pune they have discussed a similar finding and reported the causes and action plan for

future reference for the farmers suicide issue. Maharashtra has always been regarded as one

of the progressive states in India, but faces backlash when considered the higher suicide rates

of farmers when compared with rest of states independently. Owing to this there was a debt-

waiver scheme implemented by the Government of India in order to reduce the debt burden

on farmers and Hon‟ble Shri. Chidambaram had sanctioned a sum of Rs. 60,000 Crore for the

same in the annual budget of 2008-09. Three months post the budget period a scheme by the

title “Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008” was announced which helped

relieve the financial load of the farmers. (Jadhav, 2008)

In the paper titled “Farmers‟ suicide in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state: A myth or

reality?” the psychological autopsy of the farmers is studied in greater detail and provided in

an unpretentious manner while keeping the intricacies of their issues intact. In brief the report

provides context of the conclusions of the various studies undertaken previously regarding

the farmers suicides. Some of the conclusions are as follows; farmers demands are not taken

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into consideration while preparing the relief package and also there was no consultation

between the various bodies of Government and the personnel (40%). Also, the basis on which

the beneficiaries were selected was not properly defined which means that there was

indecorous distribution of resources for example, a farmer needing pump set was given

bullocks and vice versa thus it failed as a system to recognize and provide a valuable solution

to the issues faced by these farmers. (Behere & Behere, 2009)

A literature search was undertaken and mentioned in a paper released by Dominic Meriott.

The search term was „India and Farm and (suicide or death)‟. He found that a total 67 factors

were isolated which had relevance in concern with suicide of farmers in India.Indebtedness -

The most important factor which has been proven by many of researchers working on this

field. In Maharashtra, especially in Vidarbha region indebtednesshas taken most of lives of

farmers. Later on, comes the environmental changes, price given for the crops and others.

(Merriott, 2017)

Kale found that in a sample from Vidarbha that 95% of farmer suicide victim are due to

rising debt of every year. While in another survey he found that 197 out of 200 victims

(98.5%) were due to debt. The trend of farmers to move from food crop to cash crops has

generally increased in past few decades. As the cash crop require more investment as

compared to food crop, the failure of crop in this case increases the burden of debt on

farmers. Another reason for increasing debt is farmers rely more on private moneylenders for

credit. Banking facilities in this sector has not been that successful. Through norms set up by

the Government of India, domestic commercial bank has to give 40 % of deposits to priority

sector in which 18% to be lent to agriculture sector. While, foreign banks have a low target of

32% to the targeted sector with no compulsion of lending loans to Agri-sector. The less

compulsion on banks to lend credits to farmers is the major reason to rely on private

moneylenders for quick credits. Various studies have mentioned that the percentage of

farmers suicide relying on private money lenders has been more then compared to bank

loans.(Kale, Khonde, & Mankar, 2014)

Changing climatic conditions has become a serious concern worldwide. According to

National Rainfed Authority of India almost 60% cultivated area relies on natural rainfall and

changing pattern of rainfall is a significant threat to the Agrarian Economy of India. In

Maharashtra, repeated droughts in the drought prone areas of state has led many farmers to

commit suicide. As 64% population of state is engaged in Agriculture. The outcome of

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drought is decreased yield of crops, livestock production, unemployment and finally drastic

decrease in income of farmers. The environmental impact of drought has been increasing in

atmospheric temperature, increase in water salinity, shrinking of forest covered areas,

disturbing wild life cycle and depletion of ground water has affected farmers on large

extent.(Udmale et al., 2014)

In an all exhaustive and all extensive research carried out in the paper titled “Development

&standardization of a scale to measure socio-economicstatus in urban & rural communities in

India” the author has tried to create a new 10-point scale to assess the socioeconomic status

of the over seven material indicators (house, possession, education, occupation, income, land,

social participation and understanding). The reliability of scale was as high as 0.998 and thus

can be used excellently and proficiently.(Tiwari, Kumar, & Kumar, 2005)

3. Research Methodology:

The research mentioned in this report is qualitative and uses data available from secondary

data sources (online and offline platforms). The data was referred from reputable sources

such as Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health, International Journal of Disaster Risk

Reduction (Elsevier), Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Economic and Political weekly (JSTOR)

and Government of Maharashtra reports. The sources have been appropriately mentioned in

the report.

3.1 Research Questions:

a. What are the factors responsible for farmers suicide in Maharashtra?

b. What are the preventive measures taken by the Government of India & Government

ofMaharashtra for farmers?

c. What can be done help to increase the socio-economic status of farmers?

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Key: N.A. Not Available @ Excluding 3 Talukas of Mumbai & Mumbai suburban Districts ^ Command area created by Water Resources Dept.

4. Analysis and Discussion

4.1 Overview of Maharashtra as a state:

(Source: Chief Auditor, Water and Irrigation, Aurangabad under Water Resources

Department)

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Following are the recent statistics sourced from Government of Maharashtra Economic

survey report published in the year 2018 and accessed on 25th

March 2019. This paints an

overall picture of gradual changes over the years in the socio-economic portfolio of people

living in Maharashtra.

4.2 Agro-Climatic Conditions of Maharashtra

Maharashtra has typical monsoon climate with tropical conditions prevailing all over the

State with three distinct seasons of which rainy season comprises of June to September.

There are large variations in the quantity of rainfall within different parts of the State. The

State has nine agro-climatic zones based on rainfall, soil type and the vegetation.

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4.3 Farmers Suicide (Ten Year data)

(Source: (Bank, 2018; Maharashtra, 2016a; S.T., 2017))

Owing to the findings we can analyse the suicide trend of farmers in Maharashtra on the

following parameters:

4.3.a. Gender: Suicide rates of farmers in Maharashtra can be distinguished on the basis of

gender and other parameters as well. Gender of the victim is the easiest determination feature

of the mortality rates and severity of the case. Majority of the population committing self-

harm are the sole wage earners of the family and thus take extreme measures during times of

distress. Males when burdened with the choices of unfathomable implications tend to harm

themselves. On the other hand, females too are not varied of the practice but comparatively

do tend to exhibit much more resilience than their counterparts.

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4.3.b. Age: Suicide phenomenon is a social one and is very much likely to be dependent on

age. The rates of suicide are different for both the genders in terms of age as a criterion,

assuming all other factors are less relevant. The number of suicides of male farmers (9903 in

the year 2004) has always been a higher one as compared to females (4826 in the year 2004).

When considering the age group as the choice model the highest amount of mortality rates

can be found in people with age of approximately 30 – 44 years and 45 – 59 years. This can

be interpreted in numerous ways, logically; the sense of responsibilities and the peer pressure

is highest during these times as the victim is exposed to all the forces (natural and artificial)

during this time.

4.3.c. Education and Marital status: Education wise and marital status wise average suicidal

mortality rates by gender in the state are highest in the middle school completed and

matriculates in both males and females. Similarly, in the marital status category the death rate

due to divorce or separation of the couple is highest in both sexes. This can be interpreted in

the way which explains the social implications on the psyche of the farmers due to the

subconscious effect. Social acceptance and Image projection is crucial to humans as being

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part of a social animal culture which affects the cognitive abilities of humans to think and act

rationally and can be hampered due to external unavoidable circumstances.

4.3.d. Occupation wise: People employed in agriculture showed highest rates of suicide

amongst the population employed in other activities than agriculture. Whereas in case of

females the highest rate of mortality was exhibited among the housewife category yet, the

second highest rate was observed among the females employed in agriculture.

To sum up all the findings, there were various causes for suicide of farmers in Maharashtra

prime of which were associated directly to their socio-economic status and exhibited high

amount of co-relation with their mental and physical well-being. This affects various

parameters in their daily activities and ultimately also has an effect on decision making

abilities thus resulting in unfortunate case of suicide.

4.4 Various schemes instilled for farmers:

Agriculture & allied activities play an important role in GDP of country and state, so the

respective ruling government has always been promoting and getting innovative technologies

to increase the share of Agriculture in GDP. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also

mentions promotion of sustainable Agriculture and ensuring availability and sustainable

management of water. In Maharashtra, farmers are mostly dependent on monsoon for

irrigation. There have been varied schemes implemented by the Government of India.

Recently GOI implemented few schemes such as:

4.4.a. Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana:

Started in 2016, covers 15 kharif and 8 rabi crops. The objective of this scheme is to provide

insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the

notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases. In 2016-17, farmers who

registered under this scheme was 118.01 lakh, while total compensation paid was 1,919.97 cr

to 27.85lakh.(G. of India, 2019)

4.4.b. Soil Health Management (SHM) & Soil Health Cards (SHC):

The Soil Health Mission was launched feb 2015. Objective of this scheme was to maintain

soil health and improve soil fertility. In the State, fives testing lab were established in

Amravati, Aurangabad, Nashik, Pune & Kolhapur. In 2015-17, 129.77 lakh SHCs were

distributed amongst the farmers. During 2017-18 till December, 18.89 lakh SHCs were

distributed.( ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare government of India, 2019b)

4.4.c. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY):

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Started in march 2016, Organic farming is being implemented for improvement of soil health

and to minimise the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in order to maintain

sustainability in agricultural production and productivity. This scheme is initiated to

encourage small & marginal farmers for the use of organic components. Under this

programme, funds of 140.72 crore are sanctioned by Government of India for three years

(from 2016-17 to 2018-19) for organic farming.( ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare

government of India, 2019a)

Also, initiatives were taken by the state government to give benefits to farmers so they could

improve their socio-economic status & prevent them from taking extreme decisions such as

suicide.

4.4.1 UnnatSheti-SamruddhaShetkari Campaign:

Government of Maharshtra launched this scheme in 2017 with a very impressive objective to

almost double the income of farmers by 2022. The campaign is mainly to increase the income

of farmers through increasing the productivity of major crops and maximum participation of

farmers in the crop insurance schemes to protect them from the losses incurred due to natural

calamity.

4.4.2 MagelTyalaShet Tale Yojana:

Government of Maharashtra started this scheme in 2016, it is a very ambitious scheme to

make small ponds for farmers to conserve water for their farms, basically priority was given

to small and marginal farmers. An individual farmer holding min 0.60 ha of farm were

eligible for the subsidy under the scheme. Legislative assembly of Maharashtra assigned

amount of 10,000cr for this scheme. Till date 60,496 farm ponds were created and target of

1,12,311 is to be achieved.(Maharashtra, 2016b)

Thus, the initiatives taken by both Government of India and state government has been

fruitful. Recent years had favourable climatic conditions so in year 2016-17, major crop

production resulted in growth of 22.5% in Agriculture and allied activities. While, food crops

production increased remarkably by 106.9% than the year 2015-16. Production of oilseeds

and cotton increased by nearly 135.9% and 174.8%. Still there have to be improvement to

benefit farmers, even though the production has gone up still the number have suicides has

not yet decreased.

4.5 Measures that can be taken to improve socio-economic status of farmers:

In this dilemma which encapsulates the hardships faced by farmers although there are many

schemes which support the farmers in the tough times yet they lack effectivity and are error

prone to reach out to the farmers in need. It is usually the Maharashtra state agricultural board

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that is entrusted with activities of development and promotional activities of the agricultural

produce in state. Now in order to develop the socio-economic status of farmers the most

important parameter is to increase the earnings per capita of the farmers by reducing the

production rates and in turn having a higher margin on the merchandise they offer. One of the

many ways to do this is to have a “Minimum Support Price Scheme”. Under this scheme the

various procurement committees in Maharashtra come together and work in coalition so as to

procure the produce in fair price and offer the consumers at a fixed price so as to benefit the

farmers thus resulting in growth in socio-economic status of farmers.

Another way to do this is the various state departments and municipal corporations make the

land available for weekly markets to the farmers to start an abhiyaan called “Farm-to-Fork”

in this market the farmers, farmers‟ co-operative societies, farmers production companies,

consumer cooperative societies and producers co-operative societies can sell their produce to

the consumers directly at a fixed rate directly. This eliminates the middlemen and distributors

which eat away the profits and thus result in slow and degrading condition of farmer.

5. Findings & Conclusion

A country with population of 1.3 billion and more than 50% of workforce engaged in

Agriculture, it is very difficult to determine a single cause for farmers suicide. In

Maharashtra, drought is been a recurring phenomenon. The condition of drought along with

other reasons have jeopardized the agrarian economy of state. This has led threat to farming

communities socially and economically. Reasons for farmers suicide we came across were

indebtedness, continuous failure of crop, low income then expenditure, tension of wedding of

daughter and stress for repayments of loans from banks & moneylenders etc. There also has

been observation that almost 74% of farmers who committed suicide belong to age category

between 20 – 50 years. The most farmers committing suicide belong to Vidarbha region of

Maharashtra, there almost 3.4 million cotton farmers out of them 95% of them are under

pressure of debts. Yavatmal seems to be the epicentre of the state of farmers suicide with

32% of suicide in the Vidarbha division of Maharashtra. This suicide is majorly concentrated

in drought suffering regions. Monsoon season and especially the month pf July and august

have a greater number of suicides in state. Around ¾ of the total suicide are committed by

using pesticide. In this major reason are drought, extreme rainfall in few conditions & failures

in crops due to some insect resistant strains. Indebtedness being the largest reason i.e. 66%

followed by crop failure 25%, in case of single risk factor agrarian crisis eventually leads to

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economic crisis which have major social impact in this cascade of events alcohol addiction is

major step. Family history of suicide should be noted to this conclusion the extent of suicides

rises with increase in family responsibilities which increases after having children of age

more than 10-15. Level of education cannot be directly related to suicide while small and

medium land holders constitute major share of suicides.

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Documents

Sujit Deshmukh Manish Gidwani Student at Department of