India is an agricultural country. Majority of the population depends upon agriculture in one way or the other. But the economic and social condition of the farmers has never been satisfactory. Majority of the farmers lives below the poverty line. Low production of agriculture has been a major problem for them prior to 1960s. There were frequent famines in the country between 1930 and 1960. But with the hope of changing the scenario of the country Green Revolution paved its way during the early 1960s. The Green Revolution is regarded as the greatest revolution in the country which helped to transform the economy from food scarcity to food self-sufficiency. With the motive of making higher production in agriculture Green Revolution entered the developing countries of the world and made these countries as a subject of experiment. The farmers with the hope to increase their production fall easy prey to the stake holders of development. But little did they know what was holding for them in future. The use of Genetically Modified (GM) seeds became the starting point of the nightmare of these farmers. The GM seed that was introduced in India was modified in order to prevent the attack of the pests to the crops. GM seed needs correct dosage of water and pesticides. If it goes wrong then the production would not be fruitful. On top of that one cannot go with saving the seeds as the traditional method to use it for the next time. They are bound to buy the new seeds next year. Since majority of the small and marginal farmers are poor they started taking loans from the government to but the new seeds. But unfortunately the market value of their products went down and these farmers became indebt. With this the series of Farmers suicides in India started. According to the report of National Crime Records Bureau of India there were 5650 farmers suicides reported in 2014. There highest number of farmer’s suicides was recorded in 2004 when 18,241 farmers committed suicide in India. Farmer’s suicide accounts for 11.2% of all suicides in India.
It is very shameful for us to know that the hand which produces food grains for whole population is taking their own lives with the same pair of hand. Farmers are the most important stake holders here but with the passing time we are losing them. The farmers who are still alive, they are fighting their battle hard seeking help from the government but in vain. It is high time that the government should take some measures to help the farmers of the country.
