Farmers’ suicides increase by 19 % in Andhra Pradesh

Farmer suicides in Andhra Pradesh increased by over 19 per cent in 2021 compared to the previous year, as per the latest National Crime Records Bureau Report.

The state stood in third place in farmer suicides in the country, the third time in a row, data provided by the NCRB showed. A total of 1,065 people working in the farm sector (farmers, tenant farmers and workers) ended their lives in Andhra Pradesh in 2021, while the number was only 889 in 2020 — an increase of 19 per cent.

The report noted that AP with 1,065 suicides, occupied the third place in farmer suicides in 2021 — behind Maharashtra with 4,064 farmer suicides and Karnataka 2,169.

Suicides in Andhra Pradesh increased by 14.5 per cent in 2021 compared to 2020.

A total of 8,067 people committed suicide in 2021 while the number was 7043 in 2020.

The latest NCRB data recorded only the profession of those who have committed suicide and makes no mention of the reasons for them ending their lives. Of the 1,065 farmer suicides in the state in 2021, 958 were of male and 107 female.

The data also showed that 359 suicides were by farmers who cultivated their own farmlands, 122 by those who cultivated lands on lease and 584 were agricultural labourers.

The AP government had launched the YSRCP Rythu Bharosa scheme in October 2019. The scheme provides Rs 13,500 each to the farmers per annum. Over 44.92 lakh landowning farmers and 1.58 lakh tenants benefit through the scheme. However, the scheme failed to minimize farmer desperation in the state.

Representatives of the Human Rights Forum (HRF) and the Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) visited several parts of the state and observed that mounting debts, lack of market price for their agricultural produce and non-release of the benefits of government schemes to the tenant farmers were the major reasons for these suicides.

They advised the government to prepare a proper mechanism to end the farm crisis.