Amidst an outrage over a series of farmer suicides in Odisha, Union Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Kumar Patnaik today said no such case has so far been "conclusively proved" to be due to agriculture issues.
"We have engaged experts to analyse the cause of farmer suicide cases. The government may take some measures after getting the report from experts," Patnaik told reporters here.
Asked about the possible reasons behind farmer suicides, he said those could be due to different factors like domestic problems or personal causes.
"There is no evidence that the farmers commits suicide only due to agri issues," he said.
Noting that farmers suicides were a "big challenge" before the country, Patnaik, who was here to attend a function in the city, said there was a need for a change at the policy level.
He, however, said the farmers in India were passing through a transition period as peasants were shifting from traditional agriculture to the commercial farming.
"Since most of the farmers are small and marginal categories, they incur loans to sustain commercial farming," Patnaik said.
Besides, the Union agriculture secretary said the small and marginal farmers often take agricultural loans at higher rates. When they fail to repay the loans, they get disturbed, he said.
Patnaik also lauded the Odisha government's work in agriculture sector, saying the state's agricultural productivity was almost coming in line with the national average and Odisha had won Krushi Karman award four times in six years.
The Union agriculture secretary suggested that the farmers of the state should involved in cultivation of high- valued horticulture crops.
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