Environment

Food technology driving Indian farmers towards suicide

by Sanjay Jha | October 6, 2008 at 10:15 pm

703 views | 10 Recommendations | 6 comments

Farmers in India are committing suicide and number is increasing every year. Among the various reasons being cited for the serial suicide deaths that continues unabated is new food technologies. They are acerbating the agrarian crisis in the cotton belt of India. New food technologies have led to the destruction of natural resource base of food grain, thereby adding to the cost of cultivation resulting in increased indebtedness and eventually led the farmers to the gallows.

The debate is still on about the role of technology in food crops in India.

Appalled by the increasing rate of suicides by debt trapped Indian farmers, Prince Charles of Britain has said that the tragedy is due to the use of "Genetically Modified (GM) farming techniques." Referring to the "failure of GM crop varieties in India" which have contributed to the plight of the farmers, the British Prince pushed for readopting the traditional farming methods.

"I believe fundamentally that unless we work with nature... we will fail to restore the equilibrium we need in order to survive on this planet," the Prince said in his speech to Navdanya, an Indian environmental group here.

Although the incidents of farmers suicides took place even before the GM crops were introduced, some campaigners believe that the suicide rate has increased after the farmers were pushed into buying the expensive crop, which failed to produce a significant yield. However, the view has been contested by some agricultural biotechnology companies.

It's been less than two months when the Prince, was criticised as being a "Luddite" talking "biased baloney" and abusing his position, after he, in an interview to a leading local daily here, has said that the GM crops risked causing the world's worst environmental disaster.

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Amitjha

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 22:36 on October 6th, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff.

well some the critical point regarding the GM crops sucess story in china, paticularly cotton and soya, contrdicts the whole indian paradox of farmer suicide due to seed tech. it seems that it more related to institutional faolure to provide right infirmation and back up at right time.

rumana husain

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 05:38 on October 7th, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff. i have also read that the green revolution of more than twelve years ago, particularly in the punjab, could not keep pace with millions of additional mouths that have to be fed each year in india. so it seems that on the one hand though there is need for more production but on the other the youth who have been disenchanted with farming, (seeing no recourse as their debt-ridden elders commit suicides), have taken to drugs. is that so? guess for poverty-stricken and populated countries, there are no simple solutions.

eastvanray

at 11:43 on October 7th, 2008

Doesn't this part of the report negate the entire premise and make ol' Chuck sound like an idiot on the loose with a cause?

"Although the incidents of farmers suicides took place even before the GM crops were introduced, some campaigners believe that the suicide rate has increased after the farmers were pushed into buying the expensive crop, which failed to produce a significant yield. However, the view has been contested by some agricultural biotechnology companies."

Find Your Feet

at 02:22 on October 8th, 2008

A member of Find Your Feet's team took this photo in Chhattisgarh, where we are working with 25,000 people from adivasi and other traditionally marginalised communities from 60 villages.

Find Your Feets supports people in rural communities to build sustainable livelihoods. This includes training farmers in affordable, sustainable farming practices such as composting, organic pest control, irrigation and soil conservation techniques that improve harvests while rebuilding the soil for future generations.

The farmers we work with need crops bred for resilience rather than just yield. Through developing a diversified crop mix with multiple traits including drought tolerance, insect and disease resistance, storage suitability and taste, farmers’ needs and their ingenuity can be combined in sustainable systems that treat agriculture as a biological process that works within ecological limits.

http://www.fyf.org.uk

Find Your Feet has contributed a photo to this story.

Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:05 on October 8th, 2008

Sanjay Jha, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Kt D (not verified)

at 15:35 on April 13th, 2009

It is sadly ironic that those who were originally criticizing Prince Charles as being dramatic on these issues are now investigating/discussing the crisis themselves. Now, there are some big corporations being blamed for their introduction of such seeds/fertilizers to poor Indian communities where they cannot truly afford them. And many have argued that these products are often faulty, truly forcing Indian farmers into bankruptcy and depression. Families are often left with a failing farm and the same issues as they had before--minus the head of the farm/household. The entire issue is disturbing and deserves global recognition. While there are various programs being established to encourage more organic Indian farming techniques, it really seems that these farmers need the support of their own government and protection from global money-making corporations. I watched an interesting video on all of this earlier today at newsy.com. It's worth looking at:

http://www.newsy.com/videos/farmer_suicides_in_india/