The following are the causes of farmer suicide:
(A) Changing cropping pattern
(B) Liberalisation policies
(C) Debt burden
(D) Change of occupation
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A), (B), (C) only
(A) Changing cropping pattern Correct. The spate of farmers’ suicides since 1997–98 is linked to agrarian distress, and one of its causes is changing cropping patterns, especially the shift to cash crops, which makes farmers dependent on the market.
(B) Liberalisation policies Correct. Another cause is the liberalisation policies that have exposed Indian agriculture to the forces of globalisation, together with the decline in state support for agriculture.
(C) Debt burden Correct. Farmers depend heavily on high-cost inputs such as expensive fertilisers and pesticides. This has reduced their profits and put many farmers into debt; many borrow heavily to invest in expensive inputs, and suicides of farmers are basically associated with debt, together with natural disasters that ruin the crop.
(D) Change of occupation Incorrect. The causes named for the suicides all come from structural changes in agriculture and in economic and agricultural policies. Moving to another occupation is a way some rural people find a living, not a cause of the distress of those who stay in farming.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.6 Globalisation, Liberalisation, and Rural Society … This has led to the increased dependence of farmers on expensive fertilisers and pesticides, which has reduced their profits, put many farmers into debt, and also created an ecological crisis in rural areas.” “…Suicides of farmers is basically associated with debt, as well as, natural disasters, resulting in the failure of agricutural produce.…”
Box 4.3 (NCERT 2025-26) |
