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
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Diversification
Option (2) Diversification — Not responsible for farmers’ suicide (Correct). Diversification means growing several crops, or adding other sources of income such as dairy, instead of depending on one crop. It spreads the farmer’s risk, so one bad crop or one fall in price does not ruin him. It works against the risks that lead to suicide; it is the reliance on a single cash crop that pushes farmers into debt.
Note: The lines that call farmers’ suicides ‘matrix events’ and name the expenses on marriages, dowries and education that add to the farmers’ distress, in the chapter ‘Change and Development in Rural Society’, were there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, the textbook of 2022. This portion has been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter and its account of farmers’ suicides are still there.
NCERT (2025-26): “Many farmers, who have committed suicide 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. Suicides of farmers is basically associated with debt, as well as, natural disasters, resulting in the failure of agricutural produce.…”
Farmers’ suicides as matrix events (Pre-rationalised NCERT) |
