The farm distress, particularly in cotton growing areas, continues to haunt the country.
Maharashtra topped the list of farm suicides in 2013 with 3,146 farmers ending their lives.
Andhra Pradesh (along with Telangana) stood second in the list with 2,014 deaths. The latest report of the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) has put the total number at 11,772, including 1,283 women, for the year 2013.
The cotton-growing States of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka accounted for more than half of the total number of suicides. Last year, about 70 per cent of all the 14,000 farm suicides took place in the four States, indicating severe distress in the cotton-growing regions. Almost all of the area under cotton in these States is rain-fed.
Though the situation has improved from the previous year’s 4,000 farmer suicides, the number still indicates serious crisis in the sector.
The other States that witnessed high incidence of farmer suicides were Karnataka (1,403), Madhya Pradesh (1,090), Kerala (972) and Gujarat (582). Chhattisgarh and West Bengal reported no farm suicides at all.
Eighty-three farmers committed suicide in Punjab and 150 in Odisha.