Five more vidarbha farmers in 48 hours that include the farm widow

Five more vidarbha farmers in 48 hours that include the farm widow

NAGPUR: Oct 21, 2010.

‘It was very sad day for the villagers of Pimpalkhuti in suicide hit district of Yavatmal to take part in funeral of Bebitai Pongade farm widow whose husband Nilkanthrao Pongade died in debt a year before a last was 627^th victim of on going agrarian crisis in the yaear 2010 claimed another five more farm suicides in last 48 hours as per reports reaching here and the deceased include

1.Pundpundlik Kakad of Village Mangrul in Akola

2.Santosh Belsare of Viallge Adegoan in Amaravati

3.Sanjay Suryawanshi of Village Wadegoan In Bhandara

4.Ramesh Jadhav of Viallge Marsul in Yavatmal including

5.Bebitai Pomgade of Pimpalkhutti in Yavatmal

According to Kishor Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) which has been documenting farmers' suicide in Vidarbha, attributed the extreme step taken by the farmers to the heavy crop loss and 'failure' of Bt cotton in over six million acres. vidarbha suicide spiral is slow spreading towards paddy growing region of vidarbha from cotton growing west vidarbha as now more suicide s are paying reported from east vidarbha too .Tiwari added.

The cause for the farmers' despondency is the crisis arising out of the delay in cotton procurement and forceful loan recoveries by banks and private micro finance agencies operated illegally as Govt. owned banks failed to provide fresh credit to dying distressed farmers even after intervention of administration, Tiwari alleged.

‘The news of a bumper cotton crop and skyrocketing prices was far different from the ground reality as the Central government was under pressure from textile lobby to bring down the raw cotton prices whereas the high international rates and hence was not opening cotton procurement centers in Vidarbha is adding fuel in the hardshipd of farming community of vidarbha as on an average, a cotton farmer spends about Rs 30,000 per acre and may get a maximum yield of about four quintal that doesn't even puts him in a position to break even and hence the farmers are under perennial economic strain’ Tiwari said

“Cotton farmers are demanding that C.C.I (Coton Croprn. of India) should start procurement at the rate of Rs.5000/- per quintal Open market prices are already ruling over Rs 5000 a quintal. While there are clear indications that prices may firm up in international market mainly because crops in China and Pakistan have been ruined by floods, the Indian farmer could take advantage of the situation and export to the countries like China, Bangladesh, where there is high demand for short staple cotton that we produce” said Kishore Tiwari of the VJAS