India is an agrarian economy, and thus, a majority of its population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood; despite the fact of the Indian economy being liberalized and globalized. In India, agriculture has always been regarded notable as the crucial sector in the country. Almost every plan for the growth of the Indian economy embraces the agricultural development. India is now self-reliant in food production as a result of Green revolution. Those days are vanished when India would depend on the import of food grains for daily consumption. Indian agriculture has been making constant technological advancement revealing that more and more farmers are adopting automation and mechanization for their farming.
It’s been rightly said “All that glitters is not gold”. Most of the farmers thought that their days of hardship and indigence are ending up, but all their dreams were shattered as they came face to face with the reality. In the eyes of the world, India is on the edge of being the world’s next great economy, while that standard is widely celebrated; the facts tend to be problematic. For most of the small farmers, the changes in the Indian economy lead to all pain and no gain situation.
Despite India’s economic success, the country’s small farmers have fallen into the nasty cycle of suicide to escape their debts. Strangely enough, the decline of poverty goes hand-in-hand with escalating income disparity. In the wake of all the growth, improvement, development lays the fact that Indian farmers are facing acute poverty and financial crisis driving them to commit suicide.
On one hand : upgraded farming techniques, agricultural knowledge, promising biotechnology has been rewarded by the Globalization, but regrettably it has not given them an easy access to mountable agricultural product prices, bank loans, cover against natural calamity and pests. Various factors have led to deteriorating the conditions of the farmers. Too much focus on industrialization, the mounting cost of cultivation along with falling prices of farm commodities, scarcity of resources, lack of proper credit facility, apathy shown by the government, insufficient Irrigation facilities, lack of systematic cultivation plan and alternative irrigation facilities, recurring crop failures, lack of alternative sources of earnings, the dearth of institutional finance have compelled the farmers with to end up their lives.
The farmer high suicide rates and suicide crisis has been disconcerting India for many years, bringing gradually more and more prickly political confrontation for the current Government Now, what should be done to put a stop to this gloomy state of affairs? Let’s contemplate on some solutions that could help in improving the conditions of the farmers:
* The primary aim of the Government should be the protection and prevention of crop failure.
* Reduction in the dependency of agriculture on nature is needed.
* Effective management of water during seasons of good monsoons is required.
* Institutional finance should be made available to every farmer to save them from debt traps
* Training and guidance need to be imparted to the Farmers.
* The technological progression and advancement in agriculture needs to go down directly to the small farmers.
* Small farmers need to be encouraged to come up with alternative sources of earnings
* The government should take up the accountability of providing training to the farmers in gaining proficiency and skills
* In order to reduce the dependency on agriculture as the solitary source of income, the Government could start an alternative employment generation program.
* In order to enable farmers sustain their livelihood, the Government should provide high relief packages.
* Active participation of the Government is required.
* Non Government Organizations, General public, Industrialists, Film stars can adopt the villages.
* The whole nation has to realize that farmers’ suicides are key issues happening in remote parts of the Indian states.
* Above all the Government has to come up with pro-active solutions along with proper implementations.