Number of farmers' suicide decline in 2013 to 11,772: Government

NEW DELHI: The number of farmers' suicide declined to 11,772 in 2013 from 13,754 in the previous year but the incidents still remained high in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka, Parliament was informed today.

"A total of 13,754 and 11,772 suicides were committed by persons self-employed in farming/agriculture during 2012 and 2013, respectively, showing a decreasing trend," Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

He quoted the data from the report on 'Accidental deaths and suicides in India' released by the National Crime Records Bureau ( NCRB).

According to the NCRB report, the instances of farmers' suicide have declined in states such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Tripura, but the number still remains high.

In Maharashtra, 3,146 farmers committed suicides during 2013 as against 3,786 in the previous year. Similarly, farmers' suicides in Andhra Pradesh fell to 2014 from 2,572 in the review period, the report added.

In Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh too, the number of farmers' suicides were 1,403 and 1,090, respectively, in 2013 as against 1,875 and 1,172 in the previous year.

As per the report, around 18 states and union territories reported higher cases of farmers' suicides during last year.

Farmers' suicide cases in Gujarat increased to 582 in 2013 from 564 in the previous year, while such incidents rose in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Haryana, Arunchal Pradesh, Tripura, Sikkim among others in the same period.

The Minister said that even though agriculture is a state subject, the Centre has taken several measures to revitalise the sector and improve condition of farming community on sustainable basis by increasing investment, improving farm practices, rural infrastructure and others.

As per NCRB, causes of farmers' suicide are due to agrarian reasons like indebtedness, crop failure, drought, socio-economic and personal reasons.