Bengaluru, December 27

As many as 3,515 farmers in Karnataka committed suicide between April 2013 and November 2017. Out of these, 2,525 suicides were due to drought and crop failure, statistics provided by the State Agriculture Department said.

“3,515 farmers were reported to have committed suicide from April 2013 to November 2017; and from April 2008 to April 2012, 1,125 farmers were reported to have committed suicide,” it said.

Out of the 3,515 reported cases of suicide, the Agriculture Department accepted that 2,525 were due to drought and crop failure. From April 2015 to April 2017, 2,514 suicide cases were reported, of which 1,929 were accepted, it added.

From April 2017 to November 2017, when the state received sufficient rainfall, 624 suicide cases were reported. Of these, 416 were accepted, it said. Agriculture Director BY Srinivas said 112 suicide cases had been pending for want of ratification by a state government panel since 2013. “There are 105 pending cases this year (till November), and seven cases pertain to previous year,” he said. The highest number of suicides (1,483) were reported during 2015-16 and lowest (106) during 2013-14, Srinivas said.

“The maximum cases of suicide have been from among sugarcane growers, followed by cotton and paddy cultivators,” he said. The government has taken relief measures asking banks not to force farmers to repay their dues and turn their short and medium-term crop loans into long-term loans with waiver of interest, he added. Agriculture Officer Kumaraswamy said the government had registered cases against private moneylenders giving loans at exorbitant interest rates (ranging from 30 to 40 per cent).

“1,332 cases have been registered against moneylenders, of which 585 were arrested in last three years,” he said. — PTI

Cane growers most hit