Farmers' body for bringing down suicide rate

Farmers from Medak district have submitted a proposal to the state government to bring down the suicide rate among farmers. This will be discussed in the ongoing Assembly session.

Over the last 15 years, since 1997, more than 15,000 farmers have committed suicide in the state, including 10,000 alone in the Telangana region. Some 1,400 farmers had committed suicide since 1997 in the Medak district alone, Pakala Srihari Rao, board member, Horticulture Development Agency (AP State Horticulture Mission) and state convener of Kisan-Keth Mazdoor Congress, said. The state has recorded more than 80 suicides per annum in the last four years.

 

In last two decades, the rain-fed area cultivation had become uneconomical due to lopsided government policies, resulting in growing suicide rates, Rao said addressing the media here.

More than 65 per cent of the state population depend on farming, and also most of them depend on borewells for irrigating their crops. The Telangana region alone uses 75 per cent of the borewells, he said.