956 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka in past 3 years: Govt

BANGALORE: As many as 956 farmers committed suicide in Karnataka in the past 44 months, the government informed the Legislative Council today.

"It has been reported that during the last three years (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 (up to 30.11.2011) 956 farmers have committed suicide", Agriculture Minister Umesh V Katti told Veeranna Mathikatti ( Congress) in reply to an unstarred question.

He said the Government has implemented several initiatives to ensure that farmers got proper prices for their produce and regular income. These include minimum support price, as declared by Government of India and additional support by the State government, availability of credit at one per cent interest and subsidies for inputs like fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, implements and micro irrigation.