Bengaluru: In a devastating report, it has been revealed that a total of 1,182 farmers died by suicide between April 1, 2023, and July 4, 2024, due to severe drought, crop damage, the unreachability of crops, and the heavy burden of debt.
The comprehensive details of these suicides were collected by the Revenue Department and submitted during a meeting of deputy commissioners and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officers, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. This tragic data highlights the acute distress faced by farmers across Karnataka.
The highest number of farmer suicides was reported in Belagavi district, with 122 deaths, followed closely by Haveri with 120 and Dharwad with 101. Conversely, no farmer suicides were recorded in Bengaluru countryside, Kolar, or Udupi districts.
Out of the 1,182 cases, 1,003 were deemed eligible for compensation, and the affected families have already received this support in 994 cases. However, nine cases are still pending at the district collector’s level, and a decision regarding compensation distribution is pending in 18 cases.
Unfortunately, 161 cases were rejected as ineligible for various reasons.
A significant number of suicides have occurred in parts of North Karnataka. Heavy rains and subsequent crop damage have left many farmers unable to repay their bank loans, leading to extreme distress and tragic ends. In many cases, farmers have taken their own lives by hanging or poisoning themselves in their fields.
One poignant example is a farmer from Hebbuti village in Sirsi taluk, Uttara Kannada district. Unable to repay a ₹3 lakh loan from a cooperative bank, he took his life after his paddy and groundnut crops on one acre and 34 guntas of land failed due to the lowest rainfall the district had ever seen.
In Kadur taluk, a farmer from Giriyapur committed suicide after his onion crop failed without rain. Despite taking out a loan to cultivate onions on his two acres of land, the monsoon failure and drought conditions caused his crop to dry up completely, leading him to take his own life in his field. A farmer from Uduvepur village in Hunsur taluk, Yadgiri district, committed suicide due to his inability to repay both bank loans and loans from villagers.
Another farmer from Tipalapur village in Badagi taluk, who had taken a ₹3 lakh crop loan from SBI Bank, also succumbed to suicide by poisoning after suffering crop losses due to insufficient rainfall.
The state government has instructed commercial and cooperative banks to show leniency regarding loan repayments by farmers, urging them to allow repayments based on the current situation. However, despite these instructions, some bank officials have issued repayment notices, exacerbating the stress on farmers and contributing to the rise in suicides.
In the face of natural calamities and resulting crop losses, the government provides crop insurance compensation. Farmers can register for crop insurance under the Karnataka Raitha Suraksha Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima (Insurance) scheme. For the 2024–25 period, a target of registering 19.43 lakh farmers has been set, with 5.08 lakh farmers already registered for crop insurance in the monsoon season of 2024.
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