8 farmers in Wayanad & Palakkad districts end lives in past three weeks.
After a gap of around five years, suicide among farmers in Kerala is again in the news. At least eight farmers have ended their lives in the past three weeks in northern districts of the state.
Two suicide cases were reported on Monday from Palakkad and Wayanad districts where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. Most suicide cases are reported from the Northern Malabar region and that too from the remote Wayanad district where five farmers ended their lives recently. In the southern districts where rubber is the main crop, the rate of suicide is comparatively low. The high price of rubber for the last 2-3 years has changed the economic status of the growers there, and this might be the reason behind low rate of suicides. The debt ridden farmers commit suicide when they get notices from the banks, co-operative institutions and other financial institutions.
A major chunk of the small and medium farmers is in debt trap in Wayanad district due to repeated crop failure and drop in farm gate prices of agri products like ginger, plantain, paddy and vegetables. In all the recent suicide incidents, farmers got either revenue recovery notices or other legal proceedings against them. Interestingly, the loans they had availed ranges from Rs 50,000 – 500,000 only.
Wayanad is also the tribal district of Kerala where ginger, coffee, plantain and black pepper are widely planted. The high-level of price fluctuation in the case of ginger has hit the growers badly in recent months. The per kg price dropped to Rs 8 from Rs 30 earlier which caused heavy losses. A major chunk of the farmers plant the crop in leased land with financial assistance from banks and co-operatives. Also heavy rainfall during September and October damaged the plantain farms.
According to studies during 2001-2006, 871 farmers had committed suicide in Kerala mainly in agrarian districts like Wayanad, Palakkad, Kasargode, Alappuzha and Idukki. Some social organisations and political parties said the number might cross 1,000 during the period. This had stopped temporarily when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) introduced some initiatives to write off a portion of the debt and the Agriculture Debt re-payment scheme.
More From This Section
The present Oommen Chandy ministry has appointed a high-level official team to inquire into the rising number of farmer suicides. The team noted that agrarian crisis in Wayanad district was severe.
Additional chief secretary K Jayakumar, who heads the panel, said the price fall of crops compounded the ordeal of farmers who are already reeling under the price hike of fertilisers.
“We have found out that the issue is serious and requires urgent government intervention,” said Jayakumar. The panel has submitted its report to the government and accordingly the government ordered a moratorium on the agri loans distributed by the co-operatives for three months.
The government has also asked commercial banks to go slow on recovery and also provide farmers relief through a bailout package.
The chief minister will soon convene a meeting of the state-level heads of commercial banks to provide relief to the farmers.