Delayed rains claims six vidarbha farmers' suicides in last 72  hours

NAGPUR: 1^st July 1 2012

When cotton farmers Vijay  Pimpalshende a small dry land farmer holding 3 acre land aged 42 in village Sonurli when went to see the condition of seed after sowing it second week of June  and complete failure of seed sowing forced him consumed pesticide  and reported dead in Govt. medical college Yavatmal   .the fate of another cotton farmer near by in konghara village farmers Ambadas Hatgoankar(37) who is also dry land small farmer holding 3 acre of land and who has also opted rain sensitive Bt.cotton crop  which failed due delayed rain and worst climatic condition  become similar when he too consumed pesticide and also declared dead in Govt. medical college Yavatmal .the complete June month is over and only 15% seed sowing is done and farmers who believed  on Indian metrological forecast of normal monsoon and at right time opted pre monsoon lost complete seed sowing and farmers who are in deep distress   and debt trapped are committing suicides like Vijay and Amadas  did as in last 72 hours in vidarbha another six farmers suicides reported including Vijay  Pimpalshende and Ambadas Hatgoankar  and they are identified as

1.Dhyaneshwar Tayde og village Telhra  dist..Akola

2.Rajendra Wadhai of village Supalipar in distt. Gondi

3.Ramdas Hingwe of village Nara in wardha

4.Babulal Rathode of village deurwadi in Yavatmal

and

5. Vijay  Pimpalshende of Sonurli in Yavatmal

6. Ambadas Hatgoankar of Konghara in Yavatmal

This takes tally of farmers suicides in vidarbha  to 422 in year 2012 ,Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jaandolan Samiti (VJAS) informed in press release today

“Vidarbha agrarian crisis has entered seven year now and vidarbha farmers suicides are being reported since June 2005 @ 8 hourly  and as per official Govt. record more that 9000 dry land farmers have killed themselves due distress and despair accumulated due to crop failure and economic losses due cotton prices collapses due wrong policies of Indian Govt. regarding export  . now one side monsoon rain are getting delayed other side banks are not giving fresh crop loan to farmers and input cost of as Bt.cotton seed ,fertilizers and pesticides have been  has been almost double in same cases triple which is also adding fuel to the crisis as last year too in maharashtra alone Bt.cotton failed in 42 lakh hector and maharashtra has officially paid more than Rs.4000 crore as compensation to the dying cotton farmers of region  hence furrows on farmers' brows are getting deeper as they desperately wait for rains,.with the monsoon playing truant, water level in reservoirs of large and medium dams is fast depleting At least now the government should intervene to see that farmers take up less rain-sensitive food crops like jawar and bajra instead of cotton and soya so as to sustain food needs for the year ahead," said Tiwari.

‘Ground reality in  complete maharashtra in too gloomy to explain ground water level has reached to very alarming level and uncontrolled water mining is adding fuel to crisis and the promotion of very rain sensitive crop like Bt.cotton by the maharashtra state is making situation more difficult as farmers who want shift from Bt.cotton they are not getting good quality seed of food crop and pluses  more over very low minimum support price and productivity ,farmers are being forced to opt Bt.cotton seed  hence we demand urgent Govt. intervention to provide direct aid and quality seed for the dry land farmers who are demanding seed of pulses ,ground nu ,jawar ,bajar maize ’ Tiwari urged to the Govt.