Farmers’ suicides in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra India: a qualitative exploration of their causes

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. 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. 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. It was reported that farmers’ concerns were not taken into account while designing these relief packages.5 The Kasturba Rural Health Training Centre (KRHTC) in Original Article