Unable to bear the pressure of crop loss and loan burden, two more farmers on Saturday committed suicide in coastal and western parts of the State. With this, the farmers’ death toll has reportedly reached 90 unofficially in last two months in the State.
Arabinda Ray of Jigarana Refugee Colony of Pattamundai block in Kendrapada district committed suicide on Saturday by consuming pesticide.
Family sources said Ray had cultivated paddy in his land by taking loan from moneylenders. Though the crop was initially good, it was badly damaged later due to scanty rainfall. Ray took the poison in the field and died.
In the other incident in the day, Bibekananda Kharsel, a farmer of Gudigan village under Kolabira block in Jharsuguda district, committed suicide by consuming pesticide. The body of the farmer was found lying beside a road near a temple on the outskirts of the village on Saturday morning.
Family sources said Kharsel had borrowed loan from a bank for paddy cultivation in his five acres of land. But he sustained heavy crop loss due to scanty rainfall. Unable to repay the loan and finding no other way to run his family, the hapless farmer ended his life.