Nagesh Prabhu/The Hindu
Bangalore, Oct 30: The number of reported cases of farmer suicides in Karnataka touched 185 in the first half of this financial year (2008-09).
The State’s agricultural sector has been facing a plethora of problems. Apart from the erratic monsoon this year, the shortage of fertilizers disrupted kharif sowing, leading to a delay in sowing operations in several districts.
The global economic slowdown is likely to depress the prices of cotton, while sugarcane growers are threatening an agitation seeking higher support price for their produce. Sugarcane growers are unhappy with the procurement price (Rs. 811 a tonne) offered by the government.
The State has not been able meet the sowing target set for the kharif season (2008). Sowing took place on 65.36 lakh hectares of land against the target of 74.4 lakh hectares, achieving 87 per cent of the target. As on September 30, the highest number of suicide cases was reported from Hassan district (23). A large tract of potato crop was destroyed in Hassan district owing to incessant rain during the kharif season. The loss has been estimated at over Rs. 300 crore. Hassan topped the list in the number of suicides by farmers in 2003-04 (69) and 2004-05 (37). In Bidar district, 20 farmers committed suicide followed by 15 in Belgaum, 13 in Chikmagalur, 12 in Mandya, and 10 each in Bijapur and Chitradurga. The number of cases reported from other districts are: Haveri — 2; Uttara Kannada — 6; Dharwad — 8; Koppal, Ramanagaram and Raichur — 3 each; Tumkur, Gulbarga, Gadag and Mysore — 7 each; Shimoga — 8; Kodagu — 4; Davangere — 6; and Dakshina Kannada — 1, according to government sources. Not a single case of suicide by farmers has been reported from six districts.
The two drought-prone districts of Kolar and Chikkaballapur, and Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Chamarajnagar and Udupi districts reported no suicide cases between April and September 2008. The number of farmers committing suicide has seen a decline from 2000-01, when 2,360 farmers ended their lives. As many as 708 suicide cases were reported in 2003-04, 271 in 2004-05, 163 in 2005-06, 343 cases in 2006-07, and 340 in 2007-08.