MOTHER NATURE Mother Nature September 2017 | Page 8

Mother Nature Aug /Sep 2017
7
A Grim Scene in Telugu States
Thirty-two farmers have committed suicide in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
Since its birth as a new state, Telangana has recorded 1,269 suicides.
The Hyderabad-based Centre for
Sustainable Agriculture (CSA),
estimates farmer suicides in Andhra
Pradesh in the past 20 years (1995-
2014) at 38,000.
Experts and policymakers are
convinced the two states are facing
prolonged farm distress. Suicide by
farmers unable to handle crop loss
and mounting debt in the dry parts
of the two states is common during
the kharif season.
The rainfall deficit in the districts of
Mahabubnagar and Nizamabad in
Telangana and Anantapur in Andhra
Pradesh is as high as 70 per cent.
At least half the crop has failed and
interventions by the government
have hardly had an impact.
The problem is acute in Telangana
because of a large-scale shift
towards cotton. Medak, Warangal,
Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nalgonda
districts, which have large areas
under cotton, are the worst affected.
In Anantapur, groundnut farmers
also face a crisis of stagnant prices
and crop failure because of the
district being in the rain shadow
region.
"Most farmer suicides are linked to
cash crop failure, whether it is
cotton, sugarcane or maize. A
farmer invests a lot of money in cot-
ton and maize but the yield is low and
they go bankrupt," explains the
scientist.
The price of cotton plummeted all of a sudden and chilli crop
gave chills as the price fell drastically due to over produce.
Marginal and dry areas do not provide the environment for
growing such cash crops. For instance, Anantapur is not suited
for cotton because it a very dry area, as are some parts of
Telangana. The input costs for cotton, chillies and maize are
increasing rapidly and the crops are spreading to other areas
not suited for cultivation, says GV Ramanjeyulu, executive
director, CSA. A paper by K R Kranthi, director of the Central
Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur, links suicide with cotton
yields. Whenever the yield increases, the number of suicides
comes down.
Cotton is cultivated in about 2.4 million hectares in Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana put together. This accounts for 17 per
cent of the cultivated area in both the states. Undivided Andhra
Pradesh was the third largest cotton producing state in India.
After bifurcation, Telangana has become the third largest cotton
producer, with 1.6 million hectares under cultivation. Andhra
Pradesh is at fifth position, with 736,000 hectares.
FARMERS’ PLIGHT
Since its birth as a new state, Telangana has recorded 1,269
suicides CSA estimates farmer suicides in Andhra Pradesh in
the past 20 years (1995-2014) at 38,000
Medak, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nalgonda districts
of Telangana which have large areas under cotton, are the worst
affected The problem is acute in Telangana because of a large-