Human Sperit

An Emerging Crisis

By: Nitya

“Suicide has become so common that no one takes it seriously anymore…” (Giridhar Patel, 2008)

India’s new social epidemic revolves around a vicious cycle that traps farmers in debt, seemingly without any possible solutions to their problems. Between 2002 and 2006, at least 87,567 farmers have committed suicide due to growing threats of starvation and the extreme strain on India’s agricultural sector. Although causes of these suicides can be attributed to several factors, perhaps a couple of the leading issues stem from the production and use of genetically modified organisms as well as a lax governmental role in money lending. Farmers dealing with extreme pressures, piling debts, and failing crops often leave their families to fend for themselves in the same situation after committing suicide. This result takes a toll on the largely based agrarian culture (a population of over a billion that needs to benefit from the farmers’ labor) and on millions of people who suffer as a result of this disease.

Quality of life is terrible for those suffering in this situation. With large families in small households with barely enough food to survive, repeated crop failures are devastating. Poor farmers are forced to rely on private moneylenders because they do not have access to institutional credit. Although there are many rural finance institutions in India, not only small farmers, but the poor rural on the whole are often excluded from these as a result of gaping holes in the framework. When little to no help comes from the government small farmers rely on the often corrupt private moneylenders which leads to exploitation sending the farmers into a deeper spiral of debt. This is further explained with an example of this type of situation. Essentially every cotton farmer in areas where farmer suicide is most prevalent (Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnatika, Punjab, and Maharashtra) is dependent upon a moneylender such as Yakub, who charges a 30-40% interest on a four month loan. When it comes time to collect his dues, he also takes an extra type of payment which forces farmers to sell him their product at a lesser price than it sells for on the market. This profit is now Yakub’s who successfully made a great deal off of a farmer whose economic future is uncertain what with droughts, extreme climate changes, and more draining loans. As if the deal is not already extremely damaging to the farmer, he must also sign a collateral which gives the lender the permission to obtain the farmers’ property at any time. Another moneylender, Mr. Chandrakat Agarwal, who employs similar tactics with his clients, commented that, “Many moneylenders have made a whole lot of money…Farmers, many of them, are ruined…”.

Loan sharks are common in these parts. Sometimes farmers need to mortgage their houses to the lenders simply to obtain money when a health expense, marriage, crop failure or other event occurs. Although the farmers’ debt may technically have appeared to be paid off, the deals initially made, such as the mortgage, continue to restrict the farmers as they continue to fall into more and more debt. Driven by these factors, this situation often grows much worse to the point that farmers are thousands of dollars in debt. With this extent of a financial crisis along with more failing crops (which are their sustenance), farmers take the only way out as they see it, leaving their families behind to cope with the same hopeless situations.

Another aspect of the farmers’ struggles arises with GMs or GMOs, genetically modified organisms. A product, BT cotton, genetically modified seeding produced by Monsanto, was supposed to increase crop yields by 50%. This seeding would help combat the infestation of bollworms, which is very destructive to cotton farming. In reality, the effect was exactly the opposite. The expensive seeding which was supposed to relieve some of the reliance on pesticides only resulted in a lower monetary return for those who used the product versus those who used conventional methods. In addition, the cycle of debt continues when farmers take out more loans from money lenders in order to buy the seeding, which in actuality, harms their agricultural success.

The Joads as well, in Grapes of Wrath, face extreme situations in which the helpless and frustration threatens to override their moral instincts. Deprived of their family’s land, which has sustained them well in the past, the Joads are disconcerted when they embark on their journey for a better future. They soon learn that the golden opportunities of which they had heard are not options for them or any of the other “Okies” for that matter. Their seemingly endless struggles tie parallels with the suffering farmers in India, who feel as if there is no end to their problems.

Today, a multitude of farmers consume the very pesticides that they bought to rid their own fields of pests. Hopefully with more financial assistance for the farmers from the government and with an increased involvement in a support system for these suffering families, this grave problem can be alleviated in the near future.

Bibliography:

” India: Priorities for Agriculture and Rural Development .” Agriculture in South Asia. The World Bank. 29 Mar 2008 .

Motlagh, Jason . “India’s Debt-Ridden Farmers Committing Suicide.” San Francisco Chronicle 23 Mar 2008 24 Mar 2008 .

Mukherjee, Krittivas . “Moneylenders only hope for India’s poor farmers.” 2008 25 Mar 2008 .

Satheesh, PV. “Finally I Have Seen BT Cotton.” Seedling Jan 2003 .

Sengupta, Somini. “On India’s Farms, a Plague of Suicide .” New York Times 19 Sep 2006 23 Mar 2008 .