For the past one decade, over 15,000 farmers in India have been taking their own lives each year. The recent report of the National Crime Records Bureau, Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India – 2010, says 15,964 farmers committed suicide in 2010. The report has drawn a baseline of 15,000 farmer suicides each year since 2001
Analysis of the 2010 data shows that majority of the suicide victims are in the age group of 30 to 59. They number 9,910. As many as 4,409 farmers who committed suicide were below 30, while 1,645 farmers were senior citizens
The five most affected states are: Maharashtra (3,141), Karnataka (2,585), Andhra Pradesh (2,525), Madhya Pradesh (1,237) and Chattisgarh (1,126) (see map). Calculation of average number of deaths during the decade reveals that over 45 farmers are committing suicide every day. Moreover, out of the total deaths, around 15 per cent suicide victims are women farmers
The National Crime Records Bureau started recording farmer suicide cases in 1995. The data compiled from 1995 to 2010 reveals that over a quarter of a million farmers (256,913) have killed themselves. The deaths underscore the growing agrarian crisis in India
However, comparing 2009 and 2010 data reveals that farmers suicide cases decreased eight per cent in 2010 as the numbers declined from 17,368 in 2009 to 15,964 in 2010. The dip happened mostly because of fall in number in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh
