The toll on account of farmers' suicides in Andhra Pradesh has mounted to 83 over the past three months. The reason for the spate of suicides is crop failure and the certainty of being dispossessed of their meagre landholdings by rapacious moneylenders. The state suffered a drought last year, followed by a pest attack which wiped out whatever was left of the cotton crop.Unable to pay back the crippling debts taken to plant cotton on their minuscule patches of land, many farmers opted for suicide. That matters have been callously allowed to get out of hand to such an extent is shameful, and is eloquent testimony to the low value put on human life in our society.
Fickle weather in the region is not a new phenomenon. Suicides for precisely the same reason have occurred earlier in the state, and the government seems to have learnt little from the disaster. Bank credit to cotton farmers is obviously in short supply, otherwise farmers would not have risked everything in borrowing at extortionate rates fromlocal moneylenders.
Clearly, credit delivery systems in the region are not up to the mark, and the lead bank in the region should be strengthened.
Moneylenders are also reported to have connived with local pesticide dealers in selling substandard pesticides to the farmers. If so, stringent action is called for. The prime responsibility for alleviating the consequences of the tragedy lies with the state government, and it is a crying shame that the number of suicides has been allowed to reach such a high figure. Relief measures, to be effective, have to be timely, and the state needs to get into action speedily, if necessarily by declaring a moratorium on the repayment of loans taken by cotton farmers. Reports so far indicate that although relief has been declared, it is yet to reach the villagers for which it is intended.
The longer term solution to the problem being mooted is insuring the cotton crop. But the insurance companies' experience of crop insurance has not been particularly helpful.Certainly, improved access to institutional credit for the farmers is essential. But this needs to be supplemented by some sort of hedge against the vagaries of the weather. One way out would be to introduce futures trading for the cotton crop. This would provide a hedge to the farmers, and would be a better option than state-run price support systems.
And lastly, a safety net, in the shape of a food-for-work programme needs to be speedily put in place to provide a safety net for the most distressed families.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
