A frustrated farmer in Karnataka reportedly immolated himself in his sugarcane field because he was not able to get a good price for the crop.
Linga Gowda, who was distressed at the non-payment of dues by sugar mills and harassment by money lenders, had a loan of Rs. 1, 60,000 on his head.
The 60-year-old farmer had grown a sugarcane crop on his half-an-acre land but he was anxious about paying the wages of his labourers.
Karnataka's Agriculture Minister Krishna Byre Gowda while commenting on the issue said the situation has been deteriorating because the sugar prices have remained below optimum levels and have in fact continued to decline.
"So, this has created a situation where in our state about, from the year 2014-15 crushing seasons, Rs. 21 billion is yet to be paid to the farmers. So, this is definitely causing a lot of hardships on the farmers," Byre Gowda said.
"The government has now issued recovery notices to sugar mills, as a last resort, which have not paid farmers their dues and has started auctioning the ceased sugar," he added.