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By Sushmita Malaviya and Jinendra Singh A study by the Madras Institute of Development Studies puts the number of farmer suicides in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at well over 2,000 a year. But both state governments are choosing to ignore the facts. In this report, farmers tell their own story
While Maharashtra has been in the news for its horrific farmer suicides, neither the regional nor national media has had much to say about the plight of farmers in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are occasional stories about drought-affected farmers being forced to migrate in search of work, but increasing instances of suicide among farmers in these states has gone almost unnoticed. A study by the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), quoted by The Hindu 's Rural Affairs Editor P Sainath in the November 14, 2007, issue, puts the number of farmer suicides in the two states at well over 2,000 a year from 1997 onwards when the Institute began documenting suicide figures. According to its data, 2,390 farmers committed suicide in the two states in 1997; 2,278 in 1998; 2,654 in 1999; 2,660 in 2000; 2,824 in 2001; 2,578 in 2002; 2,511 in 2003; 3,033 in 2004; and 2,660 in 2005. The author of the study, Professor K Nagaraj, says: “Madhya Pradesh appears to have long been a problem state for farmers, though this has not been acknowledged so far.” The study says that the increase in farm suicides over the nine-year period 1997 to 2005 is not very much, at 11%, but the absolute numbers are very high, much higher than in many other states. Confronted with the findings of the MIDS study, Madhya Pradesh's Director of Agriculture, Shangram Singh Tomar, refused to accept them. There were no farmer suicides in Madhya Pradesh and the department had not received any such reports, he said. The attitude of government officials in the state is that they cannot be held responsible for deaths that occur in families engaged in agricultural activities. With no analysis of what caused the suicides -- or even if they were suicides -- the government can get away by taking this line. There was a similar response from government officials in Chhattisgarh. Gandari Korba Rural Agriculture Extension Officer U S Chauhan, said: “We don't have any record of farmers' suicide cases.” Asked about the MIDS study, he said it was “absolutely absurd and we haven't got their report”. He admitted, though, that the agriculture sector was in poor shape and put it down to the geography of the state which does not support an irrigation system. He claimed that the government was making efforts to better the condition of farmers and of agriculture. Though the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh remain in total denial about farmer suicides in their states, those working with farmers paint a bleak picture. Ran Singh who works with Ekta Parishad, a people's movement involved with the issue of land rights, is certain that badly conceived trade and economic policies, poor implementation of welfare schemes and lack of concern for the poor and unempowered has affected farmers directly. Higher input costs and declining market prices for crops have hit farmers hard, he says. While the government's trade policies allow more and cheaper imports, thus reducing both price and demand for local products, input costs have gone up. The cost of diesel has risen from Rs 13 to Rs 38. Irrigation and power too cost more. In 1999-2000, farmers were selling mustard at Rs 2,200 per quintal. Today they sell it at Rs 1,600 a quintal because of the increase in imports of edible oils. The import of palmolein, for example, has gone up from 4 lakh tonnes in 1999-2000 to 60 lakh tonnes in 2007. “A country that could once produce 80% of its edible oil requirement has now reduced its production to 40%,” Ran Singh says. Production will fall further, he adds, as 1 crore tonnes are expected to be imported, which is nearly 60-70% of the country's requirement. In Madhya Pradesh, in 2001-2002, 15,000 tonnes of gram from Kabul and Pakistan were dumped in the Indore market, in a single day. “A cereal that was sold by Indian farmers at Rs 1,800-Rs 2,000 was forced out of the market,” says Ran Singh. Farmers tell a sorry tale of increasing costs and lack of access to government schemes. Fifty-five-year-old Magan Lal of Kheria Jagir village in Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh, is a scheduled tribe farmer who has less then one acre of land. His land is poorly irrigated, and with decreasing crop yields and declining soil fertility, he has been forced to work as an agricultural labourer. His family of four now survives on an annual income of Rs 12,000 ($ 25 a month). “My financial problems are getting worse day by day and I have not been able to access any government scheme or assistance,” Magan Lal says. In Nipanya Jat village in Phanda block, Bhopal , marginal farmers like Ram Barose, Mohar Singh and Gyasialal Ahirwar, who possess land varying from two to three acres, say that after they sow and tend their land they still have to go out in search of work, mainly as agricultural labourers, in order to make ends meet. Production is extremely low and they cannot live off their earnings, forcing them to take up odd jobs, they say. The village is not some remote inaccessible hamlet but lies on the highway only 25 km from Bhopal , the capital of Madhya Pradesh. It has easy access to transportation and markets, but still these marginal farmers barely survive. The farmers here do not have the strength to ride out the lows in crop prices. “We are totally dependent on the market price. Even if we know that the market price of soybean is going to increase, we have to sell at the current price because we need the money immediately,” says Ram Barose. With no risk coverage or insurance, if crops fail farmers have no option but to work as agricultural labourers as they are not skilled in any other work. Soybean is the main kharif crop in this area, but farmers also plant maize. Wheat and gram are the popular rabi crops. Chemical fertilisers are widely used because they are easily available; very few farmers know about the cheaper and more effective alternative of vermicomposting. About 12 years ago, Mohar Singh had taken a loan of Rs 15,000 to grow soybean on land he had taken from the government but which was not irrigated. The crop yield was poor and, to date, he has been able to repay only Rs 7,000 of the loan. Many farmers have taken loans from cooperative societies and landlords. Of 15 farmers interviewed in Nipanya Jat, not one was able to repay his loan in full thanks to less-than-expected income from the crop and high interest rates. Soybean was expected to be the saviour of farmers and for many years it did help farmers maintain their families and buy important commodities for the next winter crop, which is mainly wheat. This is not the case today. Uday Singh used to grow gram, maize and jowar on his 22 acres of land. Twenty years ago, he began growing soybean thinking that he would get a good rate “with less investment and less hard work”. But the change in crop has affected the fertility of the soil. Where earlier he would harvest 250-300 quintals of wheat, today he is able to raise only 100-200 quintals. Over the past two decades, soybean has been failing in Madhya Pradesh due to declining soil fertility and pest attacks. Every year, farmers till deeper using agro-chemicals in the form of fertiliser, weed-killers and insecticides, adding to the cost of production and forcing them to take loans that they cannot pay back when the crop fails. Growing a single cash crop often implies that no sustenance crops are grown, so when returns on the cash crop are poor there is no money to buy wheat and gram to feed the family. In drought-hit Shivpuri, Ranjit Singh, Mahesh Singh Parihar and others have land ranging from less than a quarter of an acre to a little more than two acres. Seven years of drought has caused even the wells to dry up. Farmers here used to grow maize and tilli as kharif crops, and wheat, gram and mustard during the rabi season. All the farmers use chemical fertilisers. In Chhattisgarh, 45-year-old Kalu Ram, a scheduled tribe farmer in Bhanvarkhol village, Kartala block, Korba district, has 2.5 acres of non-irrigated land and is wholly dependent on the rains. If the rains fail, he works as an agricultural labourer in the nearby village. He earns around Rs 30,000 a year. He has to sell the rice he cultivates to the rice mill owner who fixes the price. There is no money to educate his sons and no hope of getting a loan. He and his wife often end up working as labourers for eight months of the year. Government officials in Chhattisgarh shrug off all responsibility by pointing to the many farmers' welfare schemes like purchase of hybrid seeds, certified seed distribution, drip irrigation and farmers' training schemes. But there is no record or evidence of the success of these schemes. Farmers in both states are very clear about what support they need: immediate action to solve the irrigation problem, income-generating programmes and more agriculture-related schemes. Ran Singh of Ekta Parishad says that when farmers protested about increasing imports of palmolein from Malaysia , the government raised the tax on imported palmolein. However the Malaysian government, which provides ample indirect subsidies to its farmers, paid the high taxes and got their goods into India. Ran Singh highlights irrational trade and financial policies that go against farmers. Pointing to the racks of wheat that are being distributed as part payment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), he says they have been imported from the US and the UK . “Against the Rs 600 that Indian farmers are demanding, this wheat is available for Rs 500. The Indian farmers do not stand a chance.” If a farmer seeks a bank loan for a bullock cart, he is often left waiting. However, if he were to apply for a tractor, he will get the loan the same day. “When the farmer is unable to repay the loan for the much more expensive tractor, his land and belongings are auctioned,” says Ran Singh. The government and the people have very different perceptions about what the government is doing to help. Amitabh Kumar Tiwari, Deputy Director Agriculture, Satna, says to tackle the drought-like situation prevailing in Shivpuri, quick-yielding seeds have been selected and farmers have been advised not to plant wheat but to grow pulses, oilseeds, etc, that need less water. And to use sprinklers to save water. Ask the farmers and they say they have not heard from the government. Senior Agricultural Development Officer (SADO) , agricultural department, Bhopal , S K Sharma believes that the entry of big industry in agriculture will benefit the farmers. There will be more competition and better quality, and companies will buy the produce directly from the farmers and in bulk. There is no explanation, however, about how the farmers will undertake such intensive farming when there is no water. Cases of farmer suicide may not have gained currency in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, but in the given scenario both states may just be experiencing the lull before the storm. InfoChange News & Features, January 2008
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