Pradip Kumar Maitra pradipmaitra@hindustantimes.com
NAGPUR:24 FEB.2011There seems no end to the woes of Vidarbha farmers, who continue to live in distress triggered by failed crops and mounting debts.
The prevailing agrarian crisis has driven many farmers of this region to commit suicide.
According to reports on Wednesday, four Vidarbha farmers Anandrao Kher, 55, of Kanholi village (Gondia district), Tukaram Tiwade, 65, of Kasargaon (Chandrapur) village, Atmaram Ratne, 50, of Lingi (Yavatmal) village and Gopal Lomte, 52, of Yeoti village in Washim had committed suicide in the last 48 hours.
The agro-economists of the region are surprised over the disturbing trend. It was the first time when the cotton growers -maximum farmers who have killed themselves belong to that field -got the maximum remunerative price for their produce, raw cotton, at Rs6,000 per quintal. “This is far from fact,“ says Kishore Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti that has been documenting farmer suicide since 2001.
“Only traders and hoarders got these rates. The poor cotton farmers sold their produces in November-December itself when the rate was hardly Rs3,000-Rs3,500 per quintal,“ Tiwari claimed.
The local and state administration now claims that most of the suicides are owing to nonagrarian reasons such as alcoholism, social tensions, marriage and other family problems.
Srinivas Khandewale, a wellknown economist from the region, said: “The farmers are committing suicide when the rate of the produce in its peak.
Why such rate was not given to them in November-December?“ With the death of these four farmers, the toll has risen to 28 this month while the figure was 52 in January.
The prevailing agrarian crisis has driven many farmers of this region to commit suicide.
According to reports on Wednesday, four Vidarbha farmers Anandrao Kher, 55, of Kanholi village (Gondia district), Tukaram Tiwade, 65, of Kasargaon (Chandrapur) village, Atmaram Ratne, 50, of Lingi (Yavatmal) village and Gopal Lomte, 52, of Yeoti village in Washim had committed suicide in the last 48 hours.
The agro-economists of the region are surprised over the disturbing trend. It was the first time when the cotton growers -maximum farmers who have killed themselves belong to that field -got the maximum remunerative price for their produce, raw cotton, at Rs6,000 per quintal. “This is far from fact,“ says Kishore Tiwari, president of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti that has been documenting farmer suicide since 2001.
“Only traders and hoarders got these rates. The poor cotton farmers sold their produces in November-December itself when the rate was hardly Rs3,000-Rs3,500 per quintal,“ Tiwari claimed.
The local and state administration now claims that most of the suicides are owing to nonagrarian reasons such as alcoholism, social tensions, marriage and other family problems.
Srinivas Khandewale, a wellknown economist from the region, said: “The farmers are committing suicide when the rate of the produce in its peak.
Why such rate was not given to them in November-December?“ With the death of these four farmers, the toll has risen to 28 this month while the figure was 52 in January.
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