At least 112,000 people working in the agricultural sector have committed suicide in the past decade in India, according to data by the National Crime Record Bureau. In 2022 alone, the latest data available, 11,290 farmers and farm laborers were reported to have taken their own lives.
These figures are widely thought to be low estimates; according to reporting by Neeraja Kulkarni of Fair Observer, a recent analysis of the real number of farmer suicides in the state of Punjab is almost five times the figure published by the NCRB. This underreporting is due partly to fears of stigma surrounding suicide alongside other factors, such as how suicide data is collected. For example, depending on how women who work as homemakers and also as farmers are categorized.
As the following chart shows, suicide numbers rose between 2019 and 2022. While reasons for these are complex and vary on a case by case basis, experts draw attention to patterns of common contributing causes. In one recent study, a link was made between the climate crisis and farmer suicides, showing how these deaths increase in years of rainfall deficit, when yields can be harmed, leading to mounting pressures from economic distress.
Debt is another major factor, as the costs of goods such as fertilizers, pesticides and electricity have risen and workers must resort to borrowing. In 2018, over50 percent of agricultural households in the country were in debt, a survey conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
The Oxford Human Rights Hub explains that these issues are compounded with multiple other factors too, from monsoons to technological inaccessibility and unaffordability, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. However, they note, “the rapid increase in suicide rates amongst farmers is importantly also attributable to poor government policy towards the agricultural sector.”
According to the NCRB, the states with the highest incidence of farmer suicide in 2022 were Maharashtra (4,248), Karnataka (2,392), Andhra Pradesh (917), and Tamil Nadu (728) and Madhya Pradesh (641).
If you or somebody you know are in need of help, you can find a list of suicide crisis lines and website for countries around the world here.
