Bad rains, family problems, alcoholism, gambling – the government continues to find different reasons for the farmers’ suicides rather than address the crisis. Everyday, a few farmers kill themselves in Vidarbha, western Maharashtra. The globalisation of penury intensifies.
DIONNE BUNSHA
in Yavatmal, Maharashtra
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Sugarcane has fuelled the corruption of political power in some states of India – the world’s largest sugar producer. But, as Dionne Bunsha reveals, it’s the small farmers who pay the price.
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Corruption, mismanagement, political fiefdoms – these are the words usually associated with sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra. Here’s one that’s different.
Dionne Bunsha
In Walva, Maharashtra.
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The arrival of imported cane-harvesting machines in sugarcane fields may push migrant cane cutters deeper in bondage.
DIONNE BUNSHA
“This town rips the bones from your back
Its a death trap, its a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we’re young
‘Cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run.”
— Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run.
The Maharashtra government has refused to pay the full cotton procurement price immediately. This has left farmers at the mercy of trader-moneylenders. In a region where farmers suicides are frequent, the state is withdrawing support, pushing farmers closer to the edge.
DIONNE BUNSHA
in Vidarbha, Maharashtra
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Many farmers in Gujarat didn’t know they were sold pirated Bt cotton seeds. Now, the government threatens to burn their crop.
DIONNE BUNSHA
In Gandhinagar district, Gujarat.
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While farmers in developed countries, constituting less than three per cent of the population, enjoy huge subsidies, India actually taxes its farmers. With substantive cuts in subsidies for power and fertilizer, and a fall in the selling price of agricultural produce due to dumping by developed countries, farmers face a crisis that needs to be addressed immediately.
DIONNE BUNSHA
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Bitter Harvest 4
DIONNE BUNSHA
YAVATMAL:
Litres of pesticide did not save his crop, but a few gulps of the lethal chemical ended his life.
Vithal Krishnarao Kamble (26) committed suicide in May, unable to pay back the loans he had taken from the local moneylenders. He did not live to see his son, born a few weeks later.
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