Suicides due to agrarian distress have expanded from Madhya Pradesh to the neighbouring state of Rajasthan. Five garlic farmers in the Hadauti region of the state committed suicide in the last fortnight due to poor price of their produce.
Hadauti is a region in Rajasthan comprising the districts of Bundi, Baran, Jhalawar and Kota. This region is close to Mandsaur, where six peasants were killed in police firing last month. So far, over 55 farmers in Madhya Pradesh have committed suicide after the June 7 firing.
The farmers who committed suicide in Hadauti are: Sanjay Meena, 30, of Sakrowda village in Baran, committed suicide on June 21; Bagdi Lal Rathore, 65, of Sunel village, Sheikh Hanif, 65, of village Dug of Jhalwar on June 24; Muridhar Meena, 32, of Sripura village in Kota on June 27; and Tuhiram Jat.
The Hadauti region has produced around 10 lakh metric tonnes of garlic this year. However, the price of garlic plummeted as the crop was harvested. This has led to a huge distress among the farmers who had switched to garlic anticipating good price.
Ganesh Patidar, a veteran Patidar community leader of Neemuch-Mandsaur said, “We are facing extreme challenges after demonetisation. Last year, garlic was sold for Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 per quintal. This year, farmers bought garlic seeds for over Rs 15,000, but when the produce was ready, traders said that they cannot buy for more than Rs 2,000 per quintal.”
“Houses of such farmers are piled up with the produce and it has become a big cause of distress. We thought that this crop will get us out of all our woes, but it has proven otherwise,” he added.
Though the Rajasthan government announced that it will buy some 10,000 metric tonnes at a rate of Rs 3,200 per quintal under its Market Intervention Scheme, it is only a small relief. Unlike the Madhya Pradesh government, Rajasthan is not buying all the stocks of farmers' produce at a special price.
In Madhya Pradesh, the government has bought over 80 lakh metric tonnes of onions from farmers at a price of Rs 8 per kilograms. The price of onion, like garlic, has plummeted and farmers were throwing their produce on the roads. However, garlic have better shelf life than onions.
The farmers of the region were suffering for the last two years as the hail storms of 2015 had damaged the standing crops while, in the following year, poor rainfall brought down production drastically. This year, due to better climatic condition and good yields per hectare, farmers produced bumper garlic crop, and they were hoping to repay their loans from the last two years. This year's crop was supposed to be a major relief for farmers, says Patidar. However, poor prices crushed their hopes.
