The Indian peasantry, the largest surviving body of small farmers in the world, is currently facing an epidemic of suicide. For thousands of years farmers have depended on the Earth to sustain their families. Now, in the twenty-first century, their livelihood, prosperity, and the well-being of their families for generations to come are being threatened by globalisation and the shift in the linkage of agriculture from the Earth to a few profit-driven multinational corporations. Globalisation and the Extinction of FarmersIn 1997 India experienced its first bout of farmers suicides and since then over 25,000 farmers have taken their own lives. The crisis has stemmed from a number of hardships which have led to the irreversible indebtedness of small and marginal farmers from even the most historically productive regions of the country. India’s agriculture has turned into a negative economy due largely to three main factors: rising costs of cultivation, plummeting prices of farm commodities, and lack of credit availability for small farmers. Most of these factors can be attributed to corporate globalisation and unjust free trade policies implemented by the World Trade Organisation. In 1998, the World Bank’s structural adjustment policies forced India to open its seed sector to global agribusinesses such as Monsanto, Cargill, and Syngenta. As a result of this adjustment, traditional farm saved seeds have been replaced with genetically engineered seeds which are non-renewable, thus requiring repurchase for each growing season. What was once a self-renewing resource and gift from the Earth has now become a corporate commodity and a costly investment which farmers must make every season. In most cases this has lead to poverty and severe indebtedness. In futile attempts to relieve themselves of debt, some farmers have even sold their own organs. When these attempts fail to rectify their financial situations, many farmers find no way out but to take their own lives. Along with social maladies, the planting of GM seeds poses a significant threat to India’s biodiversity and will throw off the balance of its agro-ecosystems. While each farming region once grew a variety of seeds, many are now limited to the production of crop monocultures. This will lead to the extinction of millions of plant species which will, in turn, increase risks of crop failure. Combined with the pressure of high production costs, WTO free trade policies have created a drastic drop in global produce market prices. For some produce, prices have been cut in half in as little as six years. These price cuts cannot be attributed to increased productivity but, rather, are a function of increased subsidies and increased monopolisation of global seed markets by just a few multinational corporations. For example, when US farmers are given subsidies by the US government, commodity prices are lowered artificially. The South’s small farmers cannot compete with the rock bottom prices of imported produce. India’s farmers are losing an estimated $26 billion per year, a burden that their current state of poverty could never allow them to bear. Indebtedness and the Lack of Credit Availability Although India has been a frontline crusader in the global battle to protect the livelihoods of small farmers, its government’s response on a domestic level has unfortunately been a different story. The government of Karnataka, a southern state, has refused to recognise the link between economic causes (i.e. indebtedness) and farmers suicides. Thus, instead of changing agricultural policies, officials have made unhelpful recommendations suggesting that farmers boost their self-reliance and self-respect. What government officials have seemed to overlook is that self-reliance is an ideal that cannot be achieved under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act that limits farmers’ rights to landholding and leasing. Instead of addressing the root of the problem, the government attributes the cause of farmers suicides to peripheral problems such as adultery and alcoholism. Ignoring the facts will only result in failure to prevent a wave of suicides next growing season. In order for development to be sustainable, it will have to begin in rural areas and, more specifically, in agricultural communities. Compared to international standards, Indian agriculture has experienced slow annual growth. Additionally, non-farmers receive six times more the GDP increase than farmers do. In rural areas where almost a third of the working population is in the agriculture sector, farmers’ earnings are so low that they sometimes cannot even meet minimum needs for their families. Agricultural workers also face difficulty in acquiring bank loans due to high interest rates and the poor financial states of cooperative banks. Without help from state governments and cooperation from commercial and regional banks, farmers are facing a decrease in income share in their regions. In Andhra Pradesh where 18 per cent of bank loans were to go to farmers, their actual share of loans has never exceeded 11 percent. This dearth of credit forces farmers to take loans from rural lenders who charge interest at exorbitant rates (anywhere between 36 and 50%) that would cause the demise of even the largest of corporations. And, while banks complain about bad loans that had been given to farmers, they have yet to recover Rs 1 lakh crore from the corporate sector. Conversely, farmers only owe about Rs 15,000 crore. In Andhra Pradesh, six to 10 farmers commit suicide each day. Research presents a direct relationship between credit availability and agricultural productivity: the accessibility of credit is the most crucial factor in agricultural development. Similarly, agricultural development is an important factor relating to food security, and should be especially important in the country where a third of the world’s 800 million malnourished people go to bed hungry every night. Prosperity Perishing: Deaths in India’s Most Historically Productive Regions Farmers suicides are no longer limited to the drought and poverty stricken areas of the country, though this is the picture the media has managed paint. Now farmers in the most productive agricultural regions such as Karnataka, Punjab, and West Bengal are ending their lives because of their massive indebtedness. In Karnataka 49 suicidal deaths occurred between April and October 2003 in in the drought-prone region of Hassan. Over the same period of time, 22 suicides occurred in Mandya, the state’s ‘sugar bowl,’ 18 occurred in Shimoga, a heavy rainfall district, and 14 occurred in Heveri, a district that receives average rainfall. While comparing regional suicide statistics might seem callous, such comparisons reveal that suicide is not only occurring in areas where low production is caused by drought. Small farmers in all of these regions owe lakhs of rupees because institutional loans, which have fixed interest ceilings of no more than 14 percent, only provide for about 10 percent of their credit needs. The other 90 percent of small to marginal farmers loans comes from private moneylenders who are infamous for constantly harassing their ‘clients’ in order to enjoy heavy profits of the 24-60 percent interest that they charge on their loans. When their crops fail time after time regardless of the money the farmers have invested in fertilizers, pesticides, and bore wells, there is no profit to be seen and no conceivable way to repay their lenders. When the harassment persists many farmers become emotionally fatigued and end their lives in solemn hope that the meagre relief package provided by the government will give their family hope of a better future. In Punjab, the nutrients of the soil are being destroyed by the over-use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers needed to successfully grow the genetically modified seeds. The use of these chemicals gives farmers the false notion that costly inputs will ensure a higher output; when in actuality it only leads to further devastation of the land. This repeated degradation will result in the loss of land productivity thus putting future generations of farmers at even greater risks of poverty and famine. Over 500 farmers in the state have committed suicide by jumping in front of trains, setting themselves on fire, or poisoning themselves. Also, the disintegration of the joint family in Punjab has negatively affected landholding which will lead to decreased earnings and increases in indebtedness. While statistics may show Punjab to be India’s ‘breadbasket,’ claiming that its soils are rich and its five rivers supply abundant water throughout the state, the reality of this image of prosperity is revealed by the increasing number of suicidal deaths among Punjabi farmers. While Punjab was intended to be the paragon of the Green Revolution success story, farmers of the region face an estimated debt of Rs 10,000 crores. Additionally, it is the farmers who have croplands of less than an acre who are facing these inconceivably high debts which range from Rs 1 to 11 lakhs. Though the small farmers constitute the majority of Punjab’s farming community, they only receive 27.02 percent of total agricultural credit. Punjabi farmers accuse State Chief Minister Captain Amrinder Singh of going back on his poll promise to provide Rs. 30 per quintel on crops in three instalments. These payments, which usually amounted to only five to 10 rupees and only occurred in certain areas of the state, have done little to relieve the debts. Promising the peasants help in rectifying their debts had given them hope and backing out of that promise has left them feeling even more helpless than before. In Burdwan, the region of West Bengal commonly called the “rice bowl of the East,” 1,000 farmers ended their lives in 2003. The leading cause of these suicides was the inability of farmers to repay heavy debts while trying to compete with the cheap imports of Southeast Asia. Land reform acts instituted by the Communist Party of India in the late seventies had successfully brought Bengal’s poverty level down from 73 percent in 1973 to 31 percent in 1993. These rural reforms are now suffering because of trade liberalisation policies, putting the region right back in a state of economic distress. Whereas land reform policies served to confiscate surplus land from the rich class and distribute it among the poor, thus giving quasi-landholding rights to sharecroppers; peasants are now so desperate to relieve themselves of debt that they are selling and leasing their land to the rich class. Recently a new rich class of farmers known as the waterlords has emerged as a result of DVC water scarcity and the falling water table. Small farmers have no choice but to purchase overpriced water from the waterlords and, when they cannot afford the price, they are forced to lease them their land. Bengal’s agricultural sector is being slowly penetrated by a capitalist mode of production. Several transnational corporations engaged in food processing are already bidding to purchase vast plots of fecund cropland in the state and, with the state’s current policies, it will be difficult to keep these companies from entering the sector. In the future, small and marginal farmers will be pitted against these TNCs in price competitions that will finish the farmers off. The Suicides of Andhra Pradesh The tragedy of farmers suicides in Andhra Pradesh has been occurring regularly since 1998, hardly a sudden phenomenon. In the past few months, however, farmers of the region have been ending their lives at an alarming rate (six to 10 suicides per day), even after the inauguration of the new State Chief Minister, YSR Reddy, with promises of prosperity and free power for the agricultural sector. Many of the farmers who felt they had no choice but to shift to the intensive attractively marketed GM seeds now face debts caused by unaffordable, spurious inputs such as futile seeds, pesticides, and fertilisers, and dry borewells. Production costs of paddy, groundnut, and cotton in the state are much higher than those of other states, making its farmers uncompetitive in the national market. Although it is commonly agreed that the cost of the seed should never exceed 10 percent of total cost of cultivation, the average groundnut seed costs the farmer almost 40 percent of total cultivation. With little relief from provided government subsidies, this kind of high production cost leaves the average annual income of a farming family in AP at a mere Rs 10,000. Because farmers cannot procure seeds, social unrest has been on the rise. Reports of violence against agricultural officials surfaced this past June because of a poor groundnut seed supply in the region of Rayalseema. The farmers of Rayalseema have been dependant on groundnut crops since the 80s when the government had restricted edible oil imports and subsidised the seeds. Now that import restrictions have been lifted, groundnut prices have crashed and although the government has attempted to supply farmers with enough seeds, there remains a deficit. Also, the government only subsidises 38 percent of seed cost and most indebted farmers cannot even afford the remaining majority. Farmers are left with no choice but to buy the seeds from private traders and large farmers on credit, paying exorbitant interest rates. While subsidies may provide limited assistance to some farmers, growers of cotton and chilli do not enjoy any government subsidies. These farmers buy highly priced seeds and pesticides from private suppliers and, if the seeds fail to germinate, they rarely get compensation. Though YSR Reddy’s administration has attempted to reverse the damage caused by Chandrababu Naidu’s negligent and anti-poor economic reforms, the state’s suicide crisis will only worsen as long as government officials refuse to recognise the harm caused by the industrial farming models which have penetrated the state. These intensive agricultural methods and their focus on GM cash crops has played a severely detrimental role on the sustainable livelihoods of AP’s farmers. Andhra Pradesh’s Vision 2020 document has identified the state’s intention to reduce its number of farmers to 40 percent of the population with no plan of rehabilitating the remaining 30 percent. This decision to exterminate the state’s farmer population is highly lucrative for the government based on the finances that will be handed over by the profit-driven international agribusiness corporations. It is important that the state’s government provides more stable financial support to the farmers. Agriculture can be profitable and ensure food security but it takes scientific, political, and economic dedication. Last Resorts Farmers in all states have been under such extreme distress that they are finding anything they possibly can to sell and make some money. Kidney sales have been a common occurrence among indebted farmers. In Andhra Pradesh, 26 farmers sold their kidneys in 2000. Most of the cases occurred in the Palanadu region where cotton and chilli crops had failed due to heavy droughts and adulterated inputs (sand in the fertilizer, kerosene in the pesticide, and spurious seeds) that were sold to unknowing farmers. One farmer resorted to selling his kidney in 2000 when his chilli crop yield was low and the market price was unprofitable. He travelled to Delhi and, after some medical tests, sold his kidney for 50,000 rupees. Since he needed the money desperately to pay his debts and cover the marriage costs of his two daughters, he didn’t consider the health risks involved with the organ removal. Since he now endures chronic back pains and is unable to lift heavy objects, his wife has become the breadwinner of the family. The farmer can no longer lease land for farming and is paid 30 rupees per day as an agricultural worker when he can find employment. His debts remain at Rs 15,000, not including the 24-30 percent interest rate on his loans. This farmer’s case is common in the region, where the state government and banks have done little to assist those in need. In 2000, State Chief Minister YSR Reddy had stated that suicidal deaths and kidney sales by farmers “clearly show that there is no place left for farmers in the state.” Since YSR’s inauguration on May 14, 2004 over 300 farmers have committed suicide, proving his economic gimmicks to be futile. Suggestions to Stop the Suicides Globalisation, WTO trade policies, and domestic negligence have had a devastating effect on India’s farmers. While nature’s unpredictability has been additionally detrimental to the welfare of farmers in some regions, these are challenges that farmers have been able to use their prowess to overcome in the past. GM crops have converted a once innovative and knowledgeable community into a community that can no longer work with the earth which they know, but is dependent on costly, unnatural inputs with which they are unfamiliar. It is possible for the government to modify its policies in order to conserve the legacy of India’s farmers and put a stop to farmers suicides. Many states currently offer financial relief packages only to the families of deceased farmers who were unable to manage payments on their bank loans. However, it remains that loans taken from private moneylenders are the most difficult for farmers to pay. Since this is the case, over half of the victims’ families who need these relief packages do not qualify for receipt by government standards. The reality of the families’ situations must be examined more closely and compensation should be given accordingly. While some states have attempted to ban exorbitant interest rates implemented by private moneylenders, their effectiveness has been questionable. Usury will continue as long as farmers continue to depend on private loans where there are no written agreements regarding interest ceilings. Farmers must be provided with substantial institutional credit and given an alternative in order to extinguish their tendency to fall prey to the convenience of private moneylenders. In addition, a Crop Insurance Scheme must be carefully implemented so that farmers who are affected by crop failure will be relieved of the subsequent financial burden. Specific attention must be given to cover the lost profits of cash crops such as cotton, sugarcane, and edible oils. A very beneficial biproduct of efforts to aid farmers will be the renewal of the land’s biodiversity. This renewal is crucial because if ecosystems lack natural infrastructures we will soon find ourselves at a resource deficit. Methods of organic farming and integrated pest management should be introduced to eliminate dependency on commodities such as chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and GM seeds. Organic farming methods will also serve to eliminate emerging monocultures and promote strong, diverse agro-ecosystems.Most importantly, agriculture must return to a “farmers first” policy rather than its current bias towards corporations. It is only when this ideal is achieved that farmers will regain control of their own lives: financially and mentally. Denyse Baham