Abstract
:Background:To explore the various perceived reasons for farmers’ suicides in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, their common factors, and to suggest solutions.Methods:The present formative research was undertaken in the 23 villages surrounding the Anji Primary Health Centre, located in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. A triangulation of free list and pile sort exercises was used. The data was analyzed by Anthropac 4.98.1/X software. This was followed by a semi-structured focus group discussion. To increase the validity of the results, these findings were presented to the participants and later they were circulated to the 26 farmers’ clubs in the villages for comment and discussion during their monthly, village based meetings.Results:Farmers perceived debt, addiction, environmental problems, poor prices for farm produce, stress and family responsibilities, government apathy, poor irrigation, increased cost of cultivation, private money lenders, use of chemical fertilizers and crop failure as the reasons for farmers’ suicides. Participants suggested solutions such as self-reliance and capacity building among farmers, a monitoring and support system for vulnerable farmers, support and counseling services, a village-level, transparent system for the disbursement of relief packages.Conclusions:Farmers’ suicides in Vidarbha are caused by the complex interplay of social, political and environmental constraints. Hence, a comprehensive intervention to ensure self reliance and capacity building among farmers in modern farming techniques , monitoring and support system for vulnerable farmers, a village-level, transparent system for disbursement of relief packages is required to prevent farmer suicides in the near future. Apart from this, there is a need to strengthen the National Mental Health Program at primary health care level to offer support and counseling to vulnerable farmers in rural area.
Highlights
I n India, farmer suicides had been reported from various states, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Punjab Karnataka and Orissa.[1]
Studies in India, Sri Lanka, Canada, England and Australia have identified farming as one of the most high-risk industries when it comes to having a suicide rate higher than in the general population.[2]
In India, national data show that the suicide rate was 9.7/100000 population per year in 1995
Summary
I n India, farmer suicides had been reported from various states, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Punjab Karnataka and Orissa.[1] Maharashtra, one of India’s most prosperous states is currently facing an epidemic of farmer suicides especially in the Vidarbha region. The population of the Vidarbha region is 1 200 000, so the expected number of suicides was 116 per year, but it was found to be 572 in 2005, 1065 in 2006 and 600 in year 2007.3 A report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai identified the reasons for farmer’s suicides: repeated crop failures, inability to meet the rising cost of cultivation, and debt.[4] Even when the government announced relief packages for the affected families and remedial measures, this did not lead to any immediate positive effect on suicide behavior. The data was analyzed by Anthropac 4.98.1/X software This was followed by a semi-structured focus group discussion. To increase the validity of the results, these findings were presented to the participants and later they were circulated to the 26 farmers’ clubs in the villages for comment and discussion during their monthly, village based meetings
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