Farmers Suicide in India Versus Sustainable Organic Agriculture Development

Statement of the problem 7 1. Objectives of the Study 8 1. General Objective 8 1. Specific Objectives 8 1. Research Questions 8 1. Farmer’s Suicide in India 14 2. Farming practices at Tamil Nadu 17 2. Farmers’ Suicide in Tamil Nadu 18 2. Reducing Farmers’ Suicide with Organic Farming 19 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 21 3. Introduction 21 3. Figure 2. Total number of suicide reported in India from 1995 to 2015…………………………15 Figure 2. Reasons for farmers’ suicide in India………………………………………………. Figure 2. The map of Tamil Nadu………………………………………………………………19 Figure 4. The findings have been presented in various forms such as tables and bar charts for easy understanding and presentation. The research has concluded by recommending various methods which can be put in practice to reduce the cases of farmer’s suicide in India as well as all over the world. The research has also recommended various ways the government can use to improve the issue of organic farming.

Keywords: Farmers’ Suicide, Organic farming, sustainability in farming CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction Agriculture has been proved to be the largest sector in the world economy and has also been playing a very important role in the economic development of many nations. Background of the study A farm can be denoted as the land which is used for growing crops and also for keeping animals. A farmer is the person engages himself or herself in agriculture, cultivating living organisms for raw materials or for food. Many people have been engaging themselves in agriculture as the way of life. Since India is an agriculturist nation, a large population are engaged in farming and animal keeping activities. A research done on 2011 shows that 53% of the population in India are engaging themselves in farm and farming activities.

This has been due to problems they are facing in the agricultural sector. Improving the organic agriculture in India can reduce these cases of farmer’s suicide. According to research, it is clear that poor organic agricultural practices have a powerful correlation to the farmer’s suicide. Therefore, the question to this research paper is that; “is there a correlation between the organic agricultural practices and the farmer’s suicide?” This question is promoted to analyze various farmer’s suicide and compare them with the available agricultural practices during the suicide. In order to reduce the issue of farmer’s suicide, the must be sustainable organic agricultural development. Is there any relationship between the farmer’s suicide and poor agricultural practices in India? ii.

How many cases of farmer’s suicide related to organic agricultural practices have been reported in India? iii. What are different methods which can be applied to ensure sustainable organic agricultural development in India? 1. Hypothesis H0: There exists a relationship between farmer’s suicide and poor agricultural practices in India H1: The number of farmer’s suicide in India has been increasing H2: Organic farming can reduce the cases of farmers’ suicide and ensure sustainable organic agricultural development in India 1. Significance of the study The research on the analysis of farmer’s suicide in India and Sustainable organic agricultural development is very important as it adds to the body of literature. Organic Farming Concept and Principles Organic farming is a system which avoids the use of chemicals in the farms as an improving farming methods such as, hormones, fertilizers, feed additives, pesticides, among others, but rely largely on natural methods such as; animal manure, crop residues, crop rotation, off-farm organic waste, use of biological system of plant protection and nutritional mobilization.

Organic farming is, therefore, a unique method of farming which promotes agro-ecosystem health such as; soil biological activity, biological cycle, and biodiversity (Charyulu & Biswas, 2010). This can be achieved through the use of on-farm agronomic, mechanical and biological methods excluding of all synthetic off-farm inputs. The principles which base organic farming include the following; 2. Principle of ecology Organic agriculture must follow the principle of ecology whereby it should be based on living ecological cycles and systems, emulating them and also helping in sustain them. As Kim (2011) asserts, governments have promoted and adopted organic farming since the last decade as a way of maintaining a sustainable agriculture since this particular farming method is less dependent on external factors. In the contrary, farmers commonly practice conventional farming to improve productivity and meet the increasing demand for agricultural products.

Kim (2011) notes that conventional farming has been an integral part of the agriculture sector since it ensures that it flourishes. For this reason, there is a great and urgent need to address the options present so that the agricultural sector not only in India but also in other countries across the globe can be improved. Średnicka-Tober, Obiedzińska, Kazimierczak, & Rembiałkowska (2016) compares environmental impacts of organic vs conventional farming methods. million. Therefore, India is found to be the largest organic agricultural producer in the world. Additionally, India is the most producers certified through the participatory guarantee system (PGS) followed by Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. These nations show that there is a possibility of enhancing and promoting organic agriculture as a method of ensuring sustainable agriculture.

Organic farming in India has been there since the ancient time. As indicated earlier, organic farming is associated with benefits like promotion of soil fertility and biodiversity conservation. On an additional note, central to organic agriculture is the avoidance of chemical inputs. Therefore, as Kilcher (2007) highlights, cultivating a diverse range of crops using organic farming approaches does not only stabilize the delicate ecosystems but also reduces drought sensitivity as well as pest infestation. In brief, organic farming is capable of contributing to sustainable development since it reduces the risk of yield failure and stabilizes returns, let alone improving the quality of life of small farmers’ families. Farmer’s Suicide in India The farmer’s suicides are also known as an agrarian crisis, which tendency of committing suicide among the Indian farmers.

Figure 2. shows the total number of suicide reported in India from 1995 to 2015. Figure 2. Total number of suicide reported in India from 1995 to 2015 (National Crime Records Bureau, 2015) Scholars and activists in India have offered a number of reasons as to this phenomenon of farmer’s suicide. These include the following; high debt burden, monsoon failure, public mental health, personal issues, family problems, and government policies. Political affiliation 4. Property disputes 2. Debt burden 2. Price crash 2. Borrowing too much (e. The number of farmer’s suicide in India was high 2004 when 18, 241 farmers died due to suicidal actions. Figure 2. Reasons for farmers’ suicide in India (National Crime Records Bureau, 2015) Historical records relating to high mortality rates, revolts and frustration among the Indian farmers, mostly the cash crop farmers, dates back to 19th century.

The high rate of tax payable to cash crop regardless of famine or drought in that particular year. In Tamil Nadu, the rate of farmer’s suicide increases in numbers in 2017. Additionally, the researchers have established that the large population of farmer’s suicide in Tamil Nadu range between ages of 20-40 years. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also established that the leading causes of premature deaths in Tamil Nadu and other states of India are suicide. In 2016 alone, about 25% of the total number of premature deaths in Tamil Nadu were as a result of suicide. The largest number of these deaths were young people aged between 15 to 39 years. Furthermore, the research established that the largest number of this death rate in Tamil Nadu were farmers.

However, embracing organic farming reduces these expenses as it does not involve these synthetic inputs. The farmers who utilize organic farming makes a lot of profits than others as they do not incur the expenses of purchasing synthetic inputs. Besides that, the research has indicated that farmers borrow funds to purchase these synthetic inputs. When there are drought, famine or poor markets, the farmers who had borrowed funds from the money lending institutions, finds it difficult to pay the funds due to losses. This contributes to suicide to many farmers. The target population of this study was the farmers in India and particularly in Tamil Nadu. For this reason, the researcher analyzed a lot of literature from different researchers concerning the issue of farmer’s suicide in India and also information relating to organic agricultural activities.

Data collection method and instruments The research is a qualitative research and therefore, the researcher analyzed documentation and journals of other researchers to obtain data related to farmer’s suicide in India and organic agricultural development. Basically, there is no research which can stand without reviewing the secondary data. For this reason, this study used documentation to analyze data from various scholars and report the findings. The use of these artificial chemicals has also led to pest-resistant hence causing a lot of loss in the agricultural sector. Due to the high expense in acquiring chemical fertilizers which have a negative impact on the soil and environment, farmers in India have started using organic farming. Due to its strong agrarian-based and cultural country, India has continued to promote organic farming by offering marketing services and training to organic farmers.

The number of farmers who have adopted organic farming has increased at a faster rate. Large pieces of land have also been put under organic management in India. Consumers’ demand for organic farm products in India Consumers have increased the demand for organic products at a very high rate. The consumers are claiming that organic farm product are much healthier than the artificial ones. According to the research, the artificial developed farm products has a lot of health problems to the consumers and therefore, consumers are adopting farm products which have been developed through an organic method for health reasons. This increase in demand for organic farm product has benefited the organic farmers a lot who are now continuing to improve their farming by expanding their land for organic farming practices.

The bar chart below shows the increase in the demand for organic products by the consumers from 2004 to 2017. NO. YEAR No. of famers suicide in India 1. Table 4. The number of famers’ suicide in India from 1995-2017 According to the research, the high number of farmers’ suicide have been reported at the Eastern Part of Vidarbha which comprises of Gondia, Chandrapur, Bhandara, and Nagpur. The other possible reason for the increase in the rate of farmers’ suicide in India is that the government does not provide enough training to the farmers who end up investing more on farming hence using the wrong methods of farming and eventually poor harvest (Rahangdale, 2016). This leads to losses to the farmers which is followed by the farmers’ inability to pay the available debts and cater to the basic needs of their family and hence suicide due to stress they have.

The government also fails to offer support to the farmers for instance by providing them with the suitable seeds which are able to sustain in the rain reason available. The poor farmers end up growing crops which are not drought resistance hence making a total loss and hence suicide. The rate of farmers suicide in increasing and therefore, there is a need to find a solution towards the problem to save the farmers from this tragedy (Oliveira et al, 2013). For instance, farmers spend a lot of money on purchasing chemical fertilizers and pesticides. When there are poor prices in the market or natural calamities, farmers end up getting losses and therefore, being unable to settle their big losses and then cases of suicides follow.

If the farmers can stick to organic farming methods, then they can reduce those expenses hence reduced cases of suicide. Therefore, it is important for the government to advise the poor farmers to stick to organic farming practices so as to reduce more expenses they have been incurring in acquiring artificial chemicals hence reducing suicide cases. Additionally, farmers should be aware that artificial agricultural methods have negative impacts on the environment hence should be avoided. Charyulu, D. K. Biswas, S.  Economics and efficiency of organic farming vis-à-vis conventional farming in India. Indian Institute of Management. Scale matters: the impact of organic farming on biodiversity at different spatial scales.  Ecology letters, 13(7), 858-869. Guthman, J.  Agrarian dreams: The paradox of organic farming in California (Vol.

Univ of California Press. Mishra, B. B. Nayak, K. C. Organic farming for sustainable agriculture. National Crime Records Bureau. Accidental deaths and suicides in India. Oliveira, A. B. Moura, C. RAHANGDALE, R. D. Farmer Suicides in India. Ramesh, P. Panwar, N.  Current Science, 1190-1194. Shiva, V. Jalees, K.  Farmer’s suicides in India. Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology. L. Hodge, I. D. Riordan, P. Macdonald, D.