The widespread aspect of Globalisation of agriculture is the entry of multinationals into this sector as sellers of agricultural inputs such as seeds, pesticides and fertilisers. Over the last decade or so, the Govt. has scaled down its agricultural development programmes, and agricultural extension agents have been replaced in the villages by agents of seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides companies. These agents are often the sole source of information for farmers about new seeds or cultivation practices with of course interest in selling their product. This increased dependence of farmers on expensive fertilisers and pesticides, which has reduced their profits and put many farmers into debt and created ecological crisis in rural areas.

Due to these economic and ecological crisis the spate of farmer's suicide have been occurring in different parts of the country since 1997-98. These suicides can be linked to changes in economic and agricultural policies. These include : the changed pattern of landholdings, changing crop patterns, shift to cash crops, liberalization policies that have exposed Indian agriculture to the forces of Globalisation; heavy dependence on high-costs inputs and individualisation of agricultural operations. According to official statistics, there have been 8,900 suicides by farmers between 2001 and 2006 in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra.

Farmers Suicide is a matrix event. Which of the following options is not responsible for farmers suicide ?

(1) Educational Expenses

(2) Diversification

(3) Agricultural Loans

(4) Marriage and Dowry

2

While farmers in India for centuries have periodically faced distress due to drought, crop failures, or debt, the phenomenon of farmers’ suicides appears to be new. Sociologists have attempted to explain this phenomenon by looking at the structural and social changes that have been occurring in agriculture and agrarian society. Such suicides have become ‘matrix events’, that is, a range of factors coalesce together to form an event. Many of the farmers who have committed suicides were marginal farmers who were attempting to increase their productivity, primarily by practising green revolution methods. However, undertaking such production meant facing several risks: the cost of production has increased tremendously due to a decrease in agricultural subsidies, the markets are not stable, and many farmers borrow heavily in order to invest in expensive inputs and improve their production. The loss of either the crop (due to spread of disease or pests, excessive rainfall, or drought), and in some cases the lack of an adequate support or market price, means that farmers are unable to bear the debt burden or sustain their families. Such distress is compounded by the changing culture in rural areas in which increased incomes are required for marriages, dowries, and to sustain new activities and expenses such as education and medical care.