LONDON: British researchers have said they have found few of the main reasons behind India's farmer suicides.

Investigations by researchers from the Cambridge University's Department of Sociology and University College London's Department of Political Science has found that rates of suicide are highest in areas with the most debt-ridden farmers who are clinging to tiny smallholdings - less than one hectare - and are trying to grow cash crops such as cotton and coffee that are highly susceptible to global price fluctuations.

Farmers at highest risk have three characteristics: those that grow cash crops such as coffee and cotton; those with 'marginal' farms of less than one hectare; and those with debts of Rs 300 or more. States in which these characteristics are most prevalent had the highest suicide rates. These characteristics accounted for almost 75% of the variability in state-level suicides.

The researchers said their study points to a vicious cycle of Indian smallholders forced into debt due to market fluctuations.

The research supports a range of previous case studies that point to a crisis in key areas of India's agriculture sector following the liberalization of the nation's economy during the 1990s. Researchers said that policy intervention to stabilize the price of cash crops and relieve indebted farmers may help stem the tide of suicide that has swept the Indian countryside.

This latest work follows on from a recent Lancet study by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which showed Indian suicide rates to be among the highest in the world - with suicide the second leading cause of death among young adults in India.

"Many believe that the opening of markets and scaling back of state support following the liberalization of the Indian economy led to an 'agrarian crisis' in rural India - which has resulted in these shocking numbers of suicide among Indian agricultural workers," said lead author Jonathan Kennedy.

"Small scale farmers who cultivate capital-intensive cash crops - which are subject to massive price fluctuations - are particularly vulnerable to accruing debts they can't repay. Many male farmers - who are traditionally responsible for a household's economic well-being - resort to suicide because they can't support their families," Kennedy added.

The researchers found that suicide rates tend to be higher in states with greater economic disparity but inequality as a predictor of suicide rates paled in comparison with cash crops and marginalized, indebted farmers.

A case in point is Kerala - one of the most developed in India - has the highest male suicide rate in India. If Kerala were a country, it would have the highest suicide rate in the world.

Areas such as Gujarat where cash crops are mainly cultivated on large-scale farms have low suicide rates. This is because wealthy cash crop farmers have the resources to weather difficult economic periods, without falling into debt and ruin.

Another outlier is West Bengal which has high numbers of smallholders but an average suicide rate. But this was because the CPM - who have an "unrivalled commitment" to improving the condition of poor farmers - had a strong political influence over the past four decades, they said.

"The liberalization of the Indian economy is most often associated with near-double digit growth, the rise of India as an economic powerhouse and the emergence of wealthy urban middle classes. But it is often forgotten that over 833 million people - almost 70% of the Indian population - still live in rural areas," Kennedy said.

"A large proportion of these rural inhabitants have not benefited from the economic growth of the past twenty years. In fact, liberalization has brought about a crisis in the agricultural sector that has pushed many small-scale cash crops farmers into debt and in some cases to suicide," he added.

Researchers analyzed suicide figures of 18 states as well as national crime with census statistics and surveying done by the ministry of agriculture to create data models that investigated whether case studies of "farmer suicide" that concentrate on a few suicide hotspots could be generalized across India.