It’s official: Farmers’ suicide doubled in a year in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: For the last two summers, the Odisha Government has been refuting farmer suicides caused by agrarian distress in the State. As hundreds of farmers threaten to gherao the Assembly, official figures now show that the number of suicides in farm sector has reported a jump in Odisha - from 50 in 2015 to 121 in 2016.The provisional Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) Report 2016 by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals that suicides in the agriculture sector have nationally shown a marginal fall but in Odisha, it has actually gone up.

The provisional report of ADSI 2016, yet to be published, was cited by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare while submitting a reply in the Rajya Sabha.The report shows that the number of suicides in farm sector declined from 12,602 in 2015 to 11,370 in 2016. As many as 6,351 farmers ended their lives in India in 2016 while the number of suicides by agricultural labourers was 5,019. Compared to 2015, more number of farm labourers ended their lives in 2016 though the overall suicide figure showed a decline.

Odisha also followed a similar pattern as the provisional ADSI 2016 report shows that as many as 101 farm labourers ended their lives which is close to four times jump compared to the 27 suicidal deaths reported in 2015. The number of suicides by farmers, though fell from 27 to 20 in 2016. The ADSI Report 2014 had put the farmer suicide number in the State at just five.

As farmers take to the streets in the State capital demanding adequate support price, prestige and pension, the Government has been in a state of denial since 2016 when the first major spate of suicides was reported.

In the last two years, no suicide by farmers has been officially attributed to indebtedness or bankruptcy caused by crop failure or distress sale though both the factors have been palpably present.Last year, drought conditions, a chronic pest attack and unseasonal rains led to loss of crop over 8.5 lakh hectare land across 29 districts. At least six districts were affected by all three disasters while 17 districts faced two. Brunda Sahu, a maize farmer of Bargarh who consumed pesticides after torching his pest-infested paddy field, set off a spate of suicides in the region.