IN VIDARBHA - 6 cotton farmers commit suicide-Hindustan Times

IN VIDARBHA - 6 cotton farmers commit suicide NAGPUR:5 july 2011 Pradip Kumar Maitra pradipmaitra@hindustantimes.com

In the last three days, six cotton growers in Vidarbha committed suicide after the errant monsoon damaged their crops. According to reports, the victims hailed from Yavatmal district.In the last three days, six cotton growers in Vidarbha have committed suicide after the errant monsoon damaged their crops. According to sources, on Monday, three victims were from Yavatmal district -the epicentre of farmer suicides. They have been identified as Madhukar Choudhary, 55, from Kalamb village, Mahadeo Shamsunder, 50, from Rohi village and Jairam Todsam, 54, from Chikhaldoh village. The other three victims 2 have been identified as 5 Suvash Kharode, 52, from Rondala village in Akola district, Rajendra Kore, 32, from Tadas village in Bhandara district and Punjabrao Bhimrao Mudre, 48, from Umbarkhed village in Amravati district. While Kore committed suicide by jumping into a well, Shamsunder died by hanging himself. The other four victims died by swallowing pesticide, the reports said. With these deaths, the toll of farmers' casualties has risen to eight this month while the figure was 38 last month. This year, the early onset of the monsoon raised hopes of a good harvest and the region's three million farmers spent a huge sum of money on buying Bt cotton seeds. However, the ensuing dry spell damaged cotton seeds sown on at least 10 lakh hectares in Vidarbha. The situation is worse in the cotton-soyabean belt in Amravati, western Vidarbha, where no sowing has been undertaken in three districts -Buldhana, Washim and Nagpur -because of the poor monsoon. Since January this year, 331 Vidarbha farmers have ended their lives due to the agrarian crisis, claims Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, which has been documenting farmers suicide in the region since 2001. He added that, on an average, two farmers commit suicide every day in Vidarbha, and that the figure could rise if the state government fails to take preventive measures. Shravan Hardikar, the district collector of Yavatmal district said, “I have sought details of the latest suicides from the concerned officer. Whether all these suicides were a result of the agrarian crisis is yet to be ascertained.“ T