Farm sector suicides up but farmer suicides come down

NEW DELHI: Farmers' suicides in the country declined last year compared to 2020, but overall suicides among persons involved in farming operations (farmers/cultivators and agricultural labourers) increased from 10,677 in 2020 to 10,881 in 2021, accounting for 6.6% of total 1,64,033 suicides in the country, shows the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
In 2020, number of suicides by 'persons engaged in farm sector' accounted for nearly 7% of total suicides (1,53,052) in the country. In fact, both the Covid-hit years of 2020 and 2021, that showed positive growth in the farm sector, recorded an increase in such suicides over respective previous years after showing consistent decline in such figures for four consecutive years since 2016.
Though the number of suicides among farmers/cultivators (5,318) in 2021 declined over previous year (5,579), more agricultural labourers died by suicide last year (5,563) compared to 2020 (5,098), increasing the overall number of suicides by 'persons engaged in farm sector' in 2021.

"This data depicts only profession of persons who have committed suicide and has no linkage whatsoever regarding cause of suicide," said the NCRB in its report - Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2021. It means the suicide figures by themselves cannot specifically explain whether such persons died by suicide due to farm distress or for any other reasons that may not be related to farming operations.
As per the NCRB classification, farmer/cultivator is those whose profession is farming and include those who cultivate on their own land as well as those who cultivate on leased land/other's land with or without the help of agricultural labourers. On the other hand, 'agricultural labourers' are those who primarily work in the farming sector.
The report shows Maharashtra recorded highest number of suicides (4,064) in the farm sector followed by Karnataka (2,169), Andhra Pradesh (1,065), MP (671) and Tamil Nadu (599) in 2021.