Indian agriculture has been on the back-foot due to persistent crop failures. What has worsened matters are man-made challenges. The Government has a herculean task to not only retrieve the sector from the vice-like grip of deteriorating environment but also restore the confidence of the farmers
Agriculture in India is not only the source of sustenance and livelihood for millions but is considered to be the backbone of the economy. However, challenges and setbacks have been plaguing this sector increasingly and making it extremely difficult for the ordinary farmer to eke out a decent living. Incessant drought, electricity shortages, crop failures, floods amid mounting debts have left the farmer with no option but to take the unfortunate step of committing suicide. The increasing rate of farmer suicides has now become an inalienable feature in the Indian agricultural landscape.
Inspite of intense dialogues and demonstrations over the years, the reasons and dynamics of the longstanding issue have been poorly understood. Even data collection and analysis of links between suicide and debt burden among farmers has been predominantly circumstantial, poorly documented and interpreted.
The fact that agriculture and its prospects have been suffering on account of vagaries of a worsening environment is a well-known matter. But a new research study from the University of California in Berkeley has identified how other variables; mainly climatic variations on agricultural yield have been instrumental in contributing to India’s burgeoning agricultural suicide rate.
The study shows a dramatic increase in suicide rates from 1967 to 2013, especially in the southern and central region in the country. Maximum surge is noted in States viz Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. It is also apparent in the study that variations in daily temperature and rainfall pattern have a direct and detrimental impact on the well-being of the farmers.
The scientific data collated under the study unequivocally proved that a spike in ambient temperature directly corresponded to increasing suicide rates. The study revealed that for days with a temperature over 20 degrees celsius, every one degree celsius increase in temperature during the growing season led to an increase of 67 more suicides on an average.
Precipitation, on the other hand, correlated negatively with suicide rates with a decrease of about seven per cent for one cm of increased rainfall during the growing season. Interestingly, it is not just the quantum that matters but also the time. While temperature and precipitation deviations during the growing season have a distinct impact on the suicide rates in the country, no such impact is clearly discernible for variations during the non-growing seasons.
The study also identified a disturbing fact that inspite of the adverse impacts of climate and environment on the well-being of agriculture, local farming communities were least prepared for climate change adaptation. This not only leaves the agricultural sector vulnerable to the vagaries of climate change but also exposes the economy to unfavorable climatic setbacks.
It is also apparent that short-term environmental episodes such as storms and heat waves are not as harmful as gradual long-term climate changes. long-term climatic changes, especially for the agri-sector can pervade in a comprehensive manner without giving a chance for the farmers to develop and intuitive adaptive behaviour, thereby exposing them to bear the brunt of the changing environment.
The study puts the focus on the fact that scientific evidence-backed data is a crucial beginning point to understand the depth of any problem, and in this situation the gravity of climate change for agriculture has been underlined by the findings of the research.
It also becomes clear that successive Governments and the policies practiced towards protecting Indian agriculture have just emphasised on managing the after-effects of environmental impacts on agriculture and doing damage control rather than empowering the farming community to understand, recognise and adapt to climate change. The intensity of the impact of climate variations on agriculture can be grasped by the fact that from 2014 to 2015, there has been a 42 per cent increase in the number of suicides by cultivators.
Rising debt in the face of increasing crop failures is the main reason in 58 per cent of the suicides. This depressing state of affairs needs urgent attention from the Government as many studies have pointed to the fact that income from farming would never enable a farmer to recover from debt trap. According to the 2013 National Sample Survey report, the average household debt of a cultivator household is Rs 103,457 whereas the average annual household income from farming is around Rs 73,000.
Persistent crop failures coupled with other man-made challenges have forced Indian agriculture onto its back foot and the Government has a herculean task ahead to not only retrieve the sector from the vice-like grip of deteriorating environment but also restore the confidence of the farmers.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)